TEXAS FALLS: First Court in Texas Holds SMS Messages Are NOT “Telephone Calls” for TCPA DNC Purposes and This is Huge!

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Law Conference of Champions V ticket prices as I type: $589.00 (and rising!)

Well folks Texas is no longer all red– and I am not talking about the election.

The first district court in the Lone Star State has held SMS messages are not telephone calls for TCPA DNC purposes and this is a huge change.

In Siringi v. Crust Pizza, 2026 WL 3417126 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 14, 2026) the court tosssed a putative TCPA involving SMS messages promoting a local pizza chain.  The consumer had apparently texted stop but the messages continued.

The Plaintiff argued the pizza joint was liable under both 227(b) and 227(c) of the statute– an overreach that may have cost them.

As to 227(b) the court easily held no random or sequential number generator was used– a requirement for an ATDS finding after the U.s. Supreme Court in Facebook– since Plaintiff had provided his number directly to the pizza place. So the claim was dismissed.

The 227(c) analysis was lengthier and thoughtful. The court walked through the plain language of the text and rejected analysis that unduly focused on the word “telephone” when looking at the phrase “telephone call” in connection with that broader “telephone solicitation” definition that expressly includes SMS messages.

The court did not spend too much time addressing other Texas district court cases and instead kept the analysis focused on the statutory language itself, which is appropriate.

Again this is a critical first step for TCPA defendants looking to have TCPA SMS DNC suits dismissed in Texas– until now every one of the several courts to look at the issue have disagreed.

I will note that this is a magistrate judge ruling that has not yet been adopted by the Article III judge assigned to the case– so we will have to see how this all turned out.

And you will have to see how Law Conference of Champions V turned out in July, 2027! Will be the BEST networking and CLE on TCPA, data privacy, AI, CIPA CEMA, and the like. Two full days of brilliant content from the nation’s best lawyers and brands. Prices rise DAILY so get your tickets now!

Chat soon!

 

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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.

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