Template T-09.2: Text messaging consent basics (dated)
From AI for Real Estate Agents (2026 Edition). Facts in, draft out, licensee signs.

As of October 2026. General information, not legal advice. Federal rules first, California second. Your state, your messaging platform, and your broker may require more. Re-check this page before each new campaign; the rules on consent have changed more than once in recent years. Connects to Chapter 4.6 and Figure 4.5.

Before the first automated text

[ ] I know which texts are automated (sent by a CRM, a sequence tool, or any system) and which I send by hand from my own phone. The rules below apply to the automated ones.
[ ] Every automated text to a cell phone that markets my services goes only to a contact who gave prior express written consent: an agreement in writing, bearing their signature (an electronic signature on a form counts), that clearly authorizes me to text that number. (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2) and (f)(9) require this for texts sent with an automatic telephone dialing system; I treat every automated marketing text the same way.)
[ ] My lead forms carry a consent checkbox, not pre-checked, with plain language next to it that names me and my brokerage, says I will text about real estate, says the texts may be automated, gives rough frequency, and says how to opt out. (CTIA Messaging Principles, May 2023, section 5.1)
[ ] I keep a record of each consent: who, when, which form, which number, and the exact consent wording they saw. I can find it in under five minutes.
[ ] Leads from portals or purchased lists: I have read what consent the source actually collected. If I cannot confirm written consent for automated texts, I text by hand, once, or I email. Before any marketing text or call, by hand or automated, I check the number against the National Do Not Call Registry and my own do-not-call list. A listed number gets no marketing text or call unless the person gave me written permission, asked me about a property in the last three months, or did business with me in the last eighteen months. (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(2), (e), (f)(5))

In every automated text

[ ] The first message identifies me and my brokerage. (CTIA section 5.1.1)
[ ] Every message carries an opt-out instruction using the word STOP. (CTIA section 5.1.3)
[ ] My platform honors STOP and plain-language opt-outs (stop, end, unsubscribe, cancel, quit) automatically, sends one confirmation, and sends nothing after it. I have tested this with my own phone.
[ ] Any opt-out received by any reasonable means, including a reply in a thread or a spoken request on a call, is honored within ten business days at most, and in practice the same day. (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)) My own rule is to stop every channel at once. The federal requirement to apply one opt-out to all of a sender's unrelated automated messages is delayed until January 31, 2027 and may change. (FCC DA 26-12)
[ ] Sends go out only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the recipient's local time, and my window is narrower than that. (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1))
[ ] No text pretends to be a person when it is not. If a system wrote and sent it, it says so: "This is an automated message from [name], [brokerage]. I will follow up personally."

AI voice and bots

[ ] No AI-voice call goes to any lead without prior express consent obtained before the call; if it markets my services, prior express written consent that names calls and an artificial voice. (FCC 24-17, February 2024) For California numbers, an automated call that plays a recorded or AI voice also needs a live person's introduction first, a statement that the voice is artificial, and no calls between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m., unless an exception applies. (Cal. Pub. Util. Code 2872, 2874)
[ ] Any bot that talks to a person in California on a website, app, or social account discloses that it is a bot, clearly and conspicuously, in the first message. I disclose on every channel, text included, whether or not the statute reaches it. (Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code 17940 to 17943)
[ ] The first live conversation with any lead is me.

My consent language (fill in and paste onto your forms)

> By checking this box, you agree to receive text messages, including marketing messages, from [name], [brokerage], at the phone number you entered above, about real estate and your inquiry. Messages may be sent by an automated system. Expect about [N] messages per month. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of any purchase.

My broker's answer

[ ] I sent my broker a one-paragraph description of the texting system, its disclosure, and where the consent records live. The reply is saved. Date: ______

Sources: 47 CFR 64.1200 (eCFR, accessed October 2026); FCC Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17 (released February 8, 2024); CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023); California Business and Professions Code 17940 to 17943. Full citations in Appendix F.
