TCPA Quiet Hours Lawsuit: Marketing Texts Before 8 a.m. or After 9 p.m.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the FCC's rules have long limited when telemarketers may call. The quiet hours rule says no one may initiate a telephone solicitation to a residential telephone subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., using the local time where the person being called is located.

In recent years, and especially in 2025 and 2026, a handful of plaintiffs' firms have applied that rule to marketing texts from retailers, restaurants, and online brands. The typical complaint:

• identifies two or more promotional texts that arrived at, for example, 7:40 a.m. or 9:15 p.m. in the recipient's time zone;
• argues that each is a "telephone solicitation" sent during barred hours; and
• seeks $500 per message for a nationwide class, often of people who had joined the brand's text list.

Why texts rather than calls? Most brands no longer telemarket by voice, but many send several promotional texts a week to large subscriber lists. That volume, combined with statutory damages per message, made text programs an attractive target. Many complaints describe promotional messages that arrived only minutes outside the permitted window.

The theory that drew the most attention is that even consumers who agreed to receive marketing texts did not agree to receive them outside the permitted hours. Businesses respond that consent removes the texts from the definition of "telephone solicitation" altogether.

Bon Charge

In King v. Bon Charge, No. 25-cv-00105-SB (D. Del.), a consumer subscribed to a wellness brand's marketing texts in exchange for a discount code by texting a keyword, then received dozens of promotional texts, some in the middle of the night or early morning. She brought a proposed class action that included quiet hours claims. On April 30, 2026, Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Third Circuit judge sitting by designation, dismissed the quiet hours claim.

Why most defendants are retailers and brands

Quiet hours suits target businesses that run text marketing programs through automated platforms, which may send campaigns on a schedule set in one time zone to subscribers in another. A campaign scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Pacific time lands at 11:30 p.m. Eastern, and one scheduled for 8 a.m. Eastern lands at 5 a.m. Pacific. Either can put a message outside the permitted window for part of the list.

Two 2026 decisions have reshaped these cases:

Decision	Date	Effect
King v. Bon Charge (D. Del.)	April 30, 2026	Keyword opt-in is permission; quiet hours claim dismissed
Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services (7th Cir.)	July 14, 2026	Texts are not "telephone calls" under § 227(c)(5)

In Bon Charge, the court reasoned that both the quiet hours and Do Not Call rules apply only to "telephone solicitations," which by definition exclude messages sent with the recipient's prior express invitation or permission. The court held that a consumer who voluntarily provides her number to subscribe to marketing texts has given that permission, so the quiet hours rule does not apply to those texts. Her Do Not Call Registry claim, however, was allowed to proceed, because Do Not Call rules require a stricter signed written consent that was not in the record.

The Steidinger decision matters because quiet hours rules were issued under the Do Not Call part of the TCPA, and private lawsuits over them rely on § 227(c)(5). If a text is not a "telephone call" under that provision, text-based quiet hours claims fail in the Seventh Circuit. Other circuits have not yet decided the question, and the Ninth Circuit treated texts as calls under a different section in January 2026.

The Bon Charge ruling also highlights a difference in consent standards. Do Not Call Registry claims turn on whether the business has a signed written agreement, but quiet hours claims turn on the broader idea of "prior express invitation or permission." A simple keyword opt-in can satisfy the second without satisfying the first. For consumers, that means a sign-up may defeat a quiet hours claim while leaving a Do Not Call claim alive, if the number is registered.

As of September 2026, new quiet hours suits are still being filed outside the Seventh Circuit, but defendants are moving to dismiss based on both decisions. None of these rulings is binding nationwide.

After the 2026 rulings, the strongest quiet hours claims usually involve:

1. No sign-up. You never joined the business's text list, or you opted out before the off-hours texts arrived.
2. Marketing content. Promotions, sales, or product pitches, not account or delivery messages.
3. Two or more off-hours texts in 12 months from the same business, because § 227(c)(5) requires more than one violating call in a 12-month period.
4. Your local time. The messages arrived before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. where you actually were.
5. A personal number. The rule protects "residential" subscribers; many courts treat a personal cell phone used at home as residential, but businesses contest it.
6. A court that recognizes text claims. Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin are now off the table for these claims.

Who probably does not qualify: people who texted a keyword or checked a box to join a brand's marketing texts and never opted out, people who got only transactional texts, and people in the Seventh Circuit. If you signed up but your number is also on the Do Not Call Registry, a separate Do Not Call claim may still exist, as it did in Bon Charge; see our spam text lawsuit page.

Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5), a person can recover actual damages or up to $500 for each violation, and a court may increase that to up to $1,500 per violation if it was willful or knowing. Because many brands send several marketing texts a week, the theoretical exposure in a class action can be very large, which is what drove the filing wave.

Real outcomes are more modest. Many of these cases are dismissed or settle individually for undisclosed amounts. Where a class settlement happens, payments are shared among claimants after fees and costs. We are not aware of a court-approved class settlement specific to quiet hours texts that is accepting claims as of September 2026.

There is also a statutory defense: a business that shows it established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to prevent violations can avoid liability under § 227(c)(5). Compliance systems that send by the recipient's time zone are part of that defense. See how much you can get from a TCPA lawsuit.

• 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1). No person or entity may initiate any telephone solicitation to any residential telephone subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location.
• "Telephone solicitation." A call or message to encourage buying goods or services, excluding messages sent with the person's prior express invitation or permission, to someone with an established business relationship, or by a tax-exempt nonprofit.
• 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5). The private right of action for anyone who received more than one telephone call within 12 months by or on behalf of the same entity in violation of the rules issued under § 227(c).
• Do Not Call Registry rules (§ 64.1200(c)(2)). A separate prohibition on solicitations to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, with a stricter written consent requirement.

After the Supreme Court's June 2025 McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson decision, courts decide for themselves what these terms mean rather than deferring to the FCC, which is why rulings now vary. Read the TCPA explained for the full framework.

TCPA claims are subject to the general federal 4-year statute of limitations, running from each message. Texts received in the last 4 years can still support a claim, but older off-hours texts generally cannot.

Because the law is changing quickly, timing matters in another way: a claim that is viable in your circuit today could be affected by a later appeals court or Supreme Court decision. Documenting texts now preserves the evidence whichever way the law moves.

If you are included in a class settlement over off-hours texts, the settlement notice will set its own deadlines to file a claim, opt out, or object. Those dates are usually only a few months after notice goes out, far shorter than the 4-year limit for your own lawsuit, and missing them generally means you are bound by the settlement without receiving a payment.

1. Screenshot with timestamps. Make sure the time received is visible. Note your time zone and where you were, especially if you were traveling, since the rule uses your location when the text arrived.
2. Check how you got on the list. Search your texts and email for a sign-up confirmation or a welcome message. If you never joined, save proof of that, such as the absence of any order history with the brand.
3. Reply STOP if you do not want the texts, and screenshot the reply. Texts after an opt-out are a separate, often stronger problem.
4. Turn on quiet hours on your phone if the texts disturb you. Your phone's focus or do not disturb settings do not affect your legal claim.
5. Be cautious with ads promising quick quiet hours payouts. After the 2026 rulings, many of these claims are harder to win than they looked when the wave began.
6. Get a review. Independent attorneys who handle TCPA cases can tell you whether your circuit still allows the claim and whether a Do Not Call claim is the better route.

Allegations in pending quiet hours cases are unproven. If a business texts you marketing messages you never asked for at night or early morning, a free case review takes about two minutes. See also robocall lawsuits and how to stop robocalls and spam texts.