1. Objective

This SOP defines how a Virtual Assistant (VA) handles Do Not Call (DNC) compliance and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requirements — so the agent's outreach never contacts a number that should not be contacted, and the agent is never exposed to the financial penalties that come from non-compliance.

TCPA and DNC violations carry significant fines — up to $500 per call for negligent violations and up to $1,500 per call for willful violations, with no cap on the number of violations that can be combined in a single lawsuit. These rules are actively enforced in real estate. The VA's role is to make compliance systematic and invisible — the agent should never have to think about whether a number is safe to call, because the VA has already confirmed it.

The standard: No phone number goes into an outreach list without being confirmed as DNC-safe. No text message goes out without prior written consent confirmation. No exception.

Where this SOP starts: Any outreach campaign, list pull, or individual call/text that the VA initiates or supports.
Where this SOP ends: This SOP has no end — compliance checks are a permanent responsibility on every outreach action.

Success looks like: The agent has never made a compliant-violating call because the VA caught every issue before the call was made.

2. Your Role & Boundaries

2a. What you handle independently

• Scrubbing outreach lists against the National Do Not Call Registry before any campaign
• Maintaining the agent's internal Do Not Contact list in the CRM
• Flagging any contact with a DNC or Do Not Contact status before they are included in any outreach
• Confirming prior written consent status before adding a contact to any text message campaign
• Logging all DNC checks performed with the date and list used

2b. What requires agent approval before acting

• Any decision about whether a specific contact's established business relationship (EBR) exception applies — the agent makes the legal determination; the VA flags the question
• Any outreach to a number on the National DNC Registry that the agent believes falls under an exception — the agent confirms the exception in writing before the VA proceeds
• Any text message campaign targeting contacts whose consent status is uncertain
• Any response to a DNC complaint or opt-out request — escalate to agent immediately

2c. What you never do

• You never negotiate on the agent's behalf under any circumstances.
• You never provide pricing, legal, or strategic opinions to any party.
• You never sign or initial any document on behalf of the agent, client, or any party.
• You never communicate directly with the other party's client.
• You never make a legal determination about whether a contact qualifies for a TCPA or DNC exception — that decision belongs to the agent and, if needed, legal counsel.
• You never add a number to an outreach list without completing the DNC check first.
• You never ignore an opt-out request — any contact who asks to be removed from calls or texts is added to the internal Do Not Contact list the same day.
• You never delete opt-out records — they are permanent.

When in doubt: Do not call. Flag the contact to the agent and let the agent decide. The cost of one missed outreach is zero. The cost of one TCPA violation is up to $1,500.

3. Schedule & Trigger

Trigger: Any list is being prepared for outreach — email, phone, text, or direct mail campaign.

Trigger: A contact requests opt-out or asks to be removed from calls or texts.

Trigger: A new contact is added to the CRM with a phone number that will be used for outreach.

Recurring:
- Monthly: Review the internal Do Not Contact list — confirm it is current and complete
- Before every campaign: DNC scrub of all phone numbers in the outreach list
- Annually: Confirm the agent's DNC Registry subscription is active and current

4. The Rules: What the VA Needs to Know

This section summarizes the compliance rules in plain language for operational purposes. It is not legal advice. If the agent has questions about how these rules apply to their specific practice, they should consult their broker or a real estate attorney.

National Do Not Call Registry

The National DNC Registry (donotcall.gov) is a federal list of phone numbers that have opted out of most telemarketing calls. Calling a registered number without a qualifying exception is a federal violation.

Who manages it: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Who must comply: Any person or company making telemarketing calls, including real estate agents making prospecting calls.

Key exceptions in real estate:
- Established Business Relationship (EBR): A consumer who has done business with the agent in the last 18 months (transaction closed) or made an inquiry in the last 3 months. The EBR exception does not apply if the consumer has told the agent not to call.
- Prior written consent: A consumer who has given explicit written permission to be called.
- Personal/non-commercial calls: The DNC rules apply to telemarketing, not personal calls. An agent calling a friend or past client for a personal conversation is not telemarketing. Calls with a commercial solicitation purpose are.

What is clearly covered: Cold prospecting calls to residential numbers, expired listing calls to new numbers not previously worked, FSBO calls to new numbers.

TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)

The TCPA governs calls and texts to cell phones specifically. It requires prior express written consent before:
- Sending any text message using an automated platform or mass-sending tool
- Making any autodialed or prerecorded call to a cell phone

What counts as prior express written consent:
- A web form the contact filled out that included a consent disclosure (the specific language matters — confirm with agent's attorney or broker)
- A signed opt-in form
- A recorded verbal consent statement

What does NOT count: The contact giving the agent their phone number without any consent language. Giving a number is not consent to receive texts.

State DNC Lists

Some states maintain their own DNC registries in addition to the federal list. The VA should confirm with the agent during onboarding whether the state they operate in has a separate state DNC list that requires separate scrubbing.

5. DNC List Scrubbing Process

Before any phone number is used in an outreach campaign, it must be checked against:
1. The National DNC Registry
2. The agent's internal Do Not Contact list in the CRM
3. The state DNC list (if applicable per agent's state — confirm during onboarding)

Step 1: Pull the outreach list from the CRM

Export the contact list with phone numbers in CSV format.

Step 2: Scrub against the National DNC Registry

Tool: The National DNC Registry Telemarketer subscription at donotcall.gov.

Note: To legally scrub against the National DNC Registry, the agent's business must have an active subscription. The VA should confirm during onboarding that this subscription is active. If it is not, flag to the agent before any prospecting campaign.

Upload the CSV to the DNC Registry portal. The tool returns which numbers are on the registry. Remove those numbers from the outreach list.

Keep a record: Log the scrub date, list name, number of records submitted, and number of records flagged.

Step 3: Scrub against the internal Do Not Contact list

In the CRM, pull all contacts tagged "Do Not Contact." Cross-reference against the outreach list and remove any matches.

Step 4: Flag EBR exceptions for agent confirmation

If any numbers were removed in Step 2 that the agent believes may qualify under the EBR exception (recent client or recent inquiry), flag those specific numbers to the agent with the relevant dates. The agent confirms whether the exception applies before any of those numbers are added back.

Step 5: Confirm the clean list

Provide the scrubbed list to the agent with a brief summary: "[X] numbers submitted / [X] removed (National DNC) / [X] removed (Internal DNC) / [X] flagged for agent EBR review / [X] cleared for outreach."

6. Text Message Consent Protocol

Before adding any phone number to a text message campaign:

1. Confirm the contact provided explicit written consent — web form with consent language, signed opt-in, or recorded verbal consent
2. If consent is confirmed: proceed
3. If consent is not confirmed or is uncertain: do not add to the text campaign — flag to agent

Consent documentation: Log where and when consent was obtained for each contact added to a text list. This documentation is the agent's defense in a TCPA dispute.

Opt-out handling: If a contact replies STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT, CANCEL, or any equivalent opt-out language:
1. Remove from all text lists immediately — same day
2. Add to the internal Do Not Contact list in the CRM with the opt-out date
3. Log: contact name, phone, opt-out date, opt-out channel
4. Never text them again, regardless of any future instruction to do so without the agent's written re-consent confirmation

7. Internal Do Not Contact List

The CRM must maintain a permanent Do Not Contact list. This is not the same as a "Cold Lead" stage — it is a hard stop on all outreach.

Who belongs on this list:
- Contacts who have asked to be removed from calls or texts (opt-out)
- Contacts who have registered a complaint
- Contacts flagged as Do Not Contact by the agent for any reason

CRM tag: "Do Not Contact" — applied to the contact record with a note explaining the reason and date.

What "Do Not Contact" means operationally: These contacts are excluded from every outreach list, every text campaign, every phone list, and every email campaign. The only exception is a legally required communication (e.g., a transaction document the contact is a party to) — which requires agent instruction.

8. Opt-Out Handling

When any contact opts out of calls, texts, or email:

Log every opt-out: Contact name, phone/email, opt-out channel, date. This record is permanent.

9. Compliance Log

Maintain a compliance log in a dedicated Google Sheet or CRM note area:

File at: Compliance / DNC Scrub Log

10. Checklist

Before Every Outreach Campaign
- ☐ Phone numbers exported from CRM
- ☐ National DNC Registry scrub completed — results logged
- ☐ Internal Do Not Contact list cross-referenced — matches removed
- ☐ State DNC scrub completed (if applicable)
- ☐ EBR exceptions flagged to agent — agent confirmation received before adding back
- ☐ Clean list confirmed with summary to agent

Text Campaigns
- ☐ Consent status confirmed for every number in the campaign
- ☐ Consent documentation on file for each contact
- ☐ Opt-out keywords confirmed as active in the text platform

Per Opt-Out Received
- ☐ Contact removed from all active lists same day
- ☐ CRM Do Not Contact tag applied with date and channel
- ☐ Opt-out logged in compliance log

Monthly
- ☐ Internal Do Not Contact list reviewed — confirmed current
- ☐ Any new opt-outs processed and logged

Annually
- ☐ DNC Registry subscription confirmed active
- ☐ State DNC list requirements reviewed (if applicable)

11. Tools & Access