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Texting prospective tenants: consent, STOP and quiet hours

DoorKeeping team

3 min read

You can text a rental prospect, but get their consent first, tell them how to opt out, honor a STOP request at once and avoid early or late hours. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act and FCC rules set most of these limits, and they apply when texts go out through automated systems. A prospect who only emailed you has not agreed to texts, so ask before you start.

Which rules apply

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. 227) limits calls and text messages sent with certain automated systems, and the FCC's rules (47 CFR 64.1200) fill in the details. In general, automated texts to a mobile number need the recipient's prior express consent, and marketing texts need prior express written consent. Whether your texting setup counts as an automated system depends on how it works, and the law has been interpreted differently over time, so this is a place to be careful and, if you are unsure, to ask a lawyer.

A simple way to stay well inside the rules is to treat every text the same way: get consent, say who you are, and honor opt-outs fast.

Honor STOP and every other way of saying it

Tell people in the first text that they can reply STOP. When someone says stop, unsubscribe, cancel, end, quit, or says it in plain words such as "please don't text me", treat it as an opt-out. The FCC's rules allow one short confirmation text after an opt-out, and nothing more. Under the rule text, opt-outs must be honored within a set time; see 47 CFR 64.1200 for the current period, and do it right away anyway.

Mark the lead "do not text" in your records the same day. They can still hear from you by email if they agreed to that.

Quiet hours

FCC rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the called party's location (47 CFR 64.1200(c)). Whether a showing reminder counts as a "solicitation" depends on the content, but a rule of thumb that works for everyone is to send nothing before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the prospect's local time. Many landlords stop at 8 p.m. out of courtesy.

Example a made-up prospect in the Eastern time zone with a showing at 9:30 a.m. You would send the reminder the evening before, at about 6 p.m., or at 8:30 a.m. that morning. A text at 7:15 a.m. would be too early, and one at 9:45 p.m. would be too late.

What a rental text should and should not say

  • Say who you are and which unit: "Sam at Oak Street Rentals about 12 Oak."
  • Keep it to logistics: times, addresses, the apply link.
  • Do not put sensitive details in a text, such as a Social Security number or a bank account number.
  • Use the same wording for every prospect, with no remarks about the person.

How DoorKeeping handles it

DoorKeeping records each lead's contact preferences, including whether they agreed to texts and when. Messages are drafted for your approval, and a lead who opts out is marked so no sequence picks them up again. DoorKeeping does not give legal advice; talk to a lawyer about your own texting program. See listings.

Sources

  1. 47 U.S.C. 227, Restrictions on use of telephone equipment (TCPA), Cornell Legal Information Institute, read Oct 30, 2026
  2. 47 CFR 64.1200, Delivery restrictions (FCC rules under the TCPA), Cornell Legal Information Institute, read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

Can I text a prospective tenant who emailed me?
Not without their consent if your texts use an automated system. Ask first by email, and keep a record of their yes.
What time can I text a rental prospect?
FCC rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time. Many landlords send only within a narrower daytime window.
What if a prospect replies STOP?
Stop texting that number right away. One short confirmation text is allowed. Mark the lead so no later message is sent by text.

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