Colorado Federal Court Limits TCPA Do-Not-Call Claims Based on Text Messages
A federal court in Colorado has ruled that text messages do not qualify as “telephone calls” under a specific part of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s Do-Not-Call provisions.
In a September 23, 2026, order, U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer dismissed a lawsuit against 1st Class Medical. The court found that the TCPA’s private right of action under 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5) applies to certain telephone calls, but does not extend to text messages. The claim was dismissed with prejudice, closing the case.
Lawsuit Focused on Marketing Text Messages
Plaintiff Ethan Radvansky alleged that 1st Class Medical sent marketing text messages to his personal cellphone in March and April 2025. His complaint said the number had been registered with the National Do-Not-Call Registry since 2015 and that the messages were intended for someone else.
Radvansky also alleged that he had not given the company permission to send the marketing messages. He brought one claim under Section 227(c)(5) of the TCPA.
That section allows a person to bring a private action after receiving more than one qualifying telephone call within a 12-month period from or on behalf of the same entity in violation of regulations issued under the provision.
The dispute therefore came down to a specific question: Does the term “telephone call” in Section 227(c)(5) include a text message?
The Colorado court concluded that it does not.
Court Finds Seventh Circuit’s Interpretation Persuasive
In reaching its decision, the court relied on the Seventh Circuit’s July 2026 ruling in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services. The Seventh Circuit examined how the words “telephone” and “call” were understood when Congress enacted the TCPA in 1991.
That court concluded that a telephone call referred to communication through sound and that text messages did not fall within that meaning. The Colorado court found that reasoning persuasive.
The Colorado court also pointed to the different language Congress used within the TCPA. While some portions of Section 227(c) refer more broadly to a “telephone solicitation,” Section 227(c)(5) specifically gives consumers a private right of action for certain “telephone calls.”
The court found that difference significant and declined to interpret the narrower term as also covering text messages.
FCC Treatment of Text Messages Did Not Change the Outcome
Radvansky argued that Federal Communications Commission interpretations supported treating text messages as calls under the TCPA.
The court was not persuaded. It explained that FCC treatment of texts in connection with other Do-Not-Call provisions did not determine how the term “telephone call” should be read in Section 227(c)(5).
The court also noted that the Tenth Circuit has not yet decided this specific issue. That means the Colorado ruling is a federal district court decision rather than a circuit-wide ruling for states within the Tenth Circuit.
Ruling Is Limited to a Specific TCPA Provision
The decision should not be read to mean that text messages are outside the TCPA entirely.
Instead, the ruling addresses whether unwanted text messages can support a private claim under Section 227(c)(5), which specifically refers to receiving more than one telephone call within a 12-month period.
Because Radvansky’s claim was based entirely on text messages, the court found that he had not stated a claim under that provision. The court therefore granted 1st Class Medical’s motion to dismiss and closed the case.
