NO CHANGE: The W.D. Tex. Isn’t Budging–Text Messages Are Still Calls Under the TCPA’s DNC Rules in El Paso

Add a comment

Law Conference of Champions V ticket prices as I type: $449.00 (and rising (what are you waiting for??))

As TCPAWorld readers know courts across the nation have been holding the TCPA’s DNC rules do not apply to SMS messages. This means if you are sued for sending unsolicited marketing text messages under the TCPA in many jurisdictions the suit may be subject to dismissal.

The nation’s courts have broken up to tribes on the issue, visualized on Troutman Amin, LLP’s famous heat map as red–courts that hold SMS are calls– and green– courts that hold SMS are not calls.

It is little surprise to many that courts California and New York lean toward allowing litigation here– what else is new?– but an unlikely jurisdiction has been heavily in favor of permitting these TCPA lawsuits against businesses large and small…

Texas.

That trend continued yesterday with the decision in Feliciano v. Red McCombs 2026 WL 3232870 (W.D. Tex. Oct. 28, 2026).

There the court denied a car dealership’s motion for judgment on the pleadings concluding SMS are subject to the TCPA’s DNC rules.

The analysis was limited.

Essentially the court found other courts in the jurisdiction had previously ruled that way so it would to.

That’s it.

And so the tribalism continues.

We’ll continue to keep a close eye on this.

And you should keep a close eye on the rising prices for Law Conference of Champions V. Ticket cost has already more than doubled since tickets went on sale earlier this month– and they will double again by the end of the year! Two full days of CLE on TCPA, data privacy and AI reg topics– plus some of the most incredible (and unusual) networking opportunities.

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