Tag: Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s New Telemarketing Law Is Live. Here’s How to Rebuild Your Outbound Playbook for It.

Pennsylvania is a big market for almost any outbound program, and since October 18, 2026, it is a harder one. Senate Bill 992, signed into law on July 20, overhauled the state’s telemarketing law. For growth and revenue teams, the changes touch the levers that drive pipeline: when you can reach people, which channels count, how you capture consent and who carries the risk when an agency or vendor sends the message.

Fewer hours means rebuilding cadences

The legal window for solicitations in Pennsylvania moved from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with no solicitations on Sundays. That removes the early-morning and evening slots many teams rely on for consumers who work during the day, along with weekend sends that often perform well in e-commerce and home services.

Practically, your Pennsylvania cadence now has fewer slots to work with. Expect to concentrate attempts in late afternoon and early evening before 7, move Sunday SMS promotions to Saturday or Monday, and measure Pennsylvania conversion separately so a drop in contact rates is not mistaken for a creative problem.

SMS and ringless voicemail are now in scope

The law’s definition of telephone solicitation now covers text messages and ringless voicemail. Teams that moved spend into SMS or RVM partly because those channels felt lighter on regulation need to apply the same time windows, consent rules and opt-out handling they use for voice.

Consent capture needs a refresh

Law firm summaries from Kelley Drye and Mac Murray & Shuster say the law shifts to a prior express written consent standard that largely mirrors federal rules, and requires it for robocalls using prerecorded or artificial voice. Electronic signatures count. The law also prohibits unfair or deceptive practices to obtain consent.

For growth teams, that points to a review of lead forms, landing pages and partner lead sources. Consent language should name the phone number, state that the person agrees to marketing calls or texts, and make clear that agreeing is not a condition of purchase. Lead-generation partners that use vague or bundled consent are now a bigger liability in Pennsylvania.

Your vendors’ risk is your risk

SB 992 reaches anyone who “initiates or causes to be initiated” a solicitation. TCPAWorld reads that as extending liability to the company that hired the telemarketer. Brands that outsource outbound to agencies, BPOs or lead buyers should update contracts to require compliance with Pennsylvania’s rules, call-time controls and audit rights, and ask vendors to show their Pennsylvania settings, not just promise them.

The law also bans caller ID spoofing and the use of synthetic or computer-generated messaging to deceive. If your team is testing AI voice for outbound, review scripts and disclosures with counsel before scaling in Pennsylvania.

What it costs to get wrong

Penalties run up to $1,000 per violation, or $3,000 when the person contacted is 60 or older, with enforcement by the Attorney General and district attorneys. Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office has been active on robocalls, including co-leading a bipartisan coalition in July 2026 that urged the FCC to strengthen “Know Your Customer” rules for voice providers.

Protect the pipeline before you send

The fastest way to lose margin on outbound is to fund someone else’s lawsuit. Before Pennsylvania campaigns go out, running lists through TCPALitigatorList.com flags known TCPA litigators, a simple step that keeps your best-performing segments from carrying a hidden legal cost.

The takeaway

Pennsylvania did not ban outbound; it narrowed it. Growth teams that rebuild cadences around the new window, bring SMS and RVM into the same compliance process and tighten vendor contracts can keep the state productive. The rest will find out from a letter.

Sources

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