MESSY BUT GOOD: Texas Court Holds TCPA Does not Apply to Text Messages… Sort of

Add a comment

Every once in a while you see really oddball TCPA decisions out there.

There was the one where a prerecorded call from an elevator was treated as outside the TCPA because it wasn’t marketing (weird.)

There was the one where a court enforced a consent form in an adhesion contract that didn’t comply with any of the usual rules (weird.)

And now we have a case in Texas that holds the TCPA does not apply to text messages.. like, at all.

Now this is a weird ruling because although courts are split on whether the TCPA’s DNC rules apply to the TCPA no court that I am aware of has held the TCPA just doesn’t apply to text messages period.

So let’s dive in.

In Uwagbi v. Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC 2026 WL 1804231 (S.D. Tex. June 23, 2026) Plaintiff sued defendant claiming receipt of unwanted “prerecorded text messages.” Defendant moved to dismiss the claim and the Plaintiff did not respond to the motion– so you see where this is going.

Since Plaintiff failed to respond the court was free to treat the motion as unopposed and merely dismiss the case. But the Court conducted an “independent review” of the record and reached its own odd conclusion about texts and the TCPA:

“Based on the Court’s own independent review of the record in this matter, the Court finds that the communications in question in this case are nothing more than text messages and that no call was made. Based on the foregoing, and the Fifth Circuit’s clear guidance that the TCPA only applies when a prerecorded voice actually plays, the Court finds that the TCPA is inapplicable here. As such, the Court finds that Defendant’s motion should be granted.”

Huh?

Now this is a bit jumbled but what it comes down to is the Court applying apples (prerecorded call analysis) to oranges (SMS messages) and concluding because a text message does not play a voice it is not actionable.

This is a really interesting but ultimately incorrect (in my view) approach that likely only works in this case because plaintiff alleged his text messages were “prerecorded”– so really this is more of a “sms-messages-aren’t-prerecorded-calls” case than a “SMS-messages-aren’t-covered-by-TCPA” case but the court’s ruling appears broader than that.

So there you go– messy but good.

Make of it what you will.

Also welcome to July everyone!

Much love. Chat soon.

Discover more from TCPAWorld

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Categories:

Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

Leave a Reply