Spam Text Lawsuit: Can You Sue for Unwanted Texts in Florida?

Your phone buzzes again. Another text about a car warranty you never asked about, a loan offer from a company you have never heard of, or a "final notice" from a brand you never gave your number to. You replied STOP a week ago and the messages kept coming.

Unwanted marketing texts are not just an annoyance. Federal law, and Florida law on top of it, treats them as a legal wrong with a price tag attached. Companies that text your cell phone without permission can owe you money for every single message. This guide explains when a spam text crosses the line, what a claim is worth, and how to build one.

What counts as an illegal spam text

Not every unwanted text is unlawful. The messages that create claims usually share one of these traits:

• The text is marketing or advertising something, and you never gave written permission to be texted.

• You told them to stop, by replying STOP or any other clear method, and the texts continued.

• Your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry and you still received more than one telemarketing message from the same seller within a year. Florida federal courts are currently divided on whether the do not call rules reach text messages as opposed to voice calls, so treat this as a point to raise with a lawyer rather than a settled answer.

• The sender is a company you have no relationship with at all, which usually means your number was bought from a list broker.

By contrast, a text you genuinely signed up for, a one-time confirmation code, or a message from a business you just did business with is usually lawful. The legal question is almost always about consent: what you agreed to, and whether you took it back.

What the TCPA says

The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, is the main law here. It was written about phone calls, but the Federal Communications Commission and most courts have long treated a text message as a "call" for purposes of the statute, and the Supreme Court's own leading TCPA case was itself a text message case. Courts have recently begun to divide over how far that reading carries into every part of the statute, so which section a claim is brought under now matters more than it used to.

Two consent standards matter:

• Marketing texts sent to a cell phone with automated dialing technology generally require your prior express written consent. That is a real signature or electronic agreement, disclosed clearly. A company cannot bury it or claim you agreed by buying something once.

• Purely informational texts, like a delivery notice, require a lower level of prior express consent.

Just as important, you can take consent back. Under FCC rules a consumer may revoke consent through any reasonable means, and the sender must honor that request promptly. Replying STOP is the clearest way to do it, but it is not the only one. A company that keeps texting after a valid revocation is in a much worse position than one that texted you once by mistake.

One important limit is worth knowing before you get your hopes up. In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021), the Supreme Court narrowed what counts as an "automatic telephone dialing system," holding that the equipment must use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers. That decision closed the door on some autodialer theories. It did not touch the do-not-call rules or the consent requirements. Where a text claim lands after Duguid turns heavily on what technology the sender used and which part of the statute the claim is brought under, which is one reason Florida's own telemarketing statute has become so important in these cases.

You can read more about how we handle these claims on our TCPA practice page.

Florida has its own law on top of the federal one

Florida consumers get a second layer of protection from the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.059, sometimes called Florida's mini-TCPA. It restricts unsolicited telephonic sales calls, including text messages, made using an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers without the consumer's prior express written consent.

Be aware that the Florida Legislature narrowed this law in 2023. Among other changes, a text message recipient must now reply STOP to the number the messages came from, and the sender then gets 15 days to stop. Under Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10)(a) a damages claim generally moves forward only if texts keep arriving after that 15 day period. The sender is allowed to send one message confirming your opt out, so that one does not count. The practical effect is simple and worth acting on: reply STOP once to the sending number, keep the timestamp, and save everything that arrives afterward. Messages that land more than 15 days later are often the strongest part of a Florida case.

How to tell if you actually have a claim

Work through these questions honestly. The more that apply, the stronger the file:

1. Was the message selling something? Advertising and promotional content is held to the highest consent standard.

2. Did you ever give this specific company your number in writing? Signing up with one brand does not authorize its affiliates or a company that bought its list.

3. Did you ask them to stop? Note exactly when and how.

4. How many messages arrived after that? This is the number that usually drives the value of the case.

5. Is your number on the National Do Not Call Registry? If so, note it. Registration has historically supported a separate claim where more than one telemarketing message arrives in a twelve month period from the same seller, though Florida courts are actively divided right now over whether that rule covers text messages.

6. Do you still have the messages? Deleted texts are much harder to prove.

If the texts came from a debt collector rather than a marketer, you are in different territory with an additional statute in play. We cover that situation separately in Can debt collectors text you in Florida. If the contact came as a ringing phone call instead of a text, see how to sue for robocalls in Florida.

What you can recover

The TCPA sets damages per message, not per campaign, which is what makes these cases meaningful even though a single text feels trivial.

• $500 for each violating message under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3).

• Up to $1,500 per message where the violation was willful or knowing. Continuing to text after you said STOP is exactly the pattern courts look at for this.

• Possible separate do-not-call damages of up to $500 per violation, and up to $1,500 for willful or knowing conduct, under § 227(c)(5), if your number was on the registry. Whether that route is open for text messages specifically is being litigated in Florida right now, so treat it as a possible addition rather than a certainty.

• Florida's statute carries its own $500 per violation figure, rising to $1,500 for willful or knowing violations.

Do the arithmetic on a real fact pattern. Thirty unwanted messages, most of them after a clear STOP request, is not a $500 problem. That is the reason companies settle these cases rather than litigate them.

One honest caveat. Unlike the FDCPA and the FCRA, the TCPA does not contain a provision shifting your attorney's fees to the other side. Consumer text cases are normally handled on a contingency basis out of the statutory damages instead, so you are not paying out of pocket either way. Ask any firm you speak with to explain its fee structure in plain terms before you sign.

What to do right now

Evidence decides these cases, and the evidence lives on your phone. Before you do anything else:

1. Stop deleting. Keep every message from the sender, including the ones you already ignored.

2. Screenshot each text so the sender's number, the message body, and the date and time are all visible in one image.

3. Reply STOP one time to the number the texts came from and screenshot that too. Florida's statute requires the reply go to that number. Do not argue with the sender and do not send it repeatedly.

4. Do not tap links in the messages. Beyond the malware risk, clicking can be characterized later as engagement with the campaign.

5. Write down what you remember about any point you may have given the number out, and to whom. Being straight about this early makes your case stronger, not weaker.

6. Check your registration on the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov, and register if you have not.

7. Keep a simple running log of messages received after your STOP request.

Move reasonably promptly. Federal TCPA claims carry a four year deadline that runs from each individual message, and the Florida claim has its own filing deadline. Waiting also means carriers and senders purge the records that corroborate your account.

When it makes sense to bring in a lawyer

You do not need a lawyer to reply STOP or to file a complaint with the FCC or the Florida Attorney General, and for a single stray text that may be all the situation deserves.

It is worth a conversation with a consumer attorney when:

• The messages continued after you asked them to stop.

• You have received many messages, or they arrive from rotating numbers for the same product.

• You cannot identify who is actually behind the campaign. Tracing a sender through a marketing chain is ordinary work for a consumer firm and very hard to do on your own.

• A company claims you consented and you do not believe you ever did. Making them produce the alleged consent record is often the moment a case resolves.

Consumer Law Florida represents Florida residents in claims against telemarketers and the companies that hire them. If unwanted texts keep landing on your phone, especially after you told the sender to stop, you can request a free case review. Bring your screenshots. There is no fee unless we win.