The California Do Not Call List is the federal National Do Not Call Registry: California adopted the national list as its own under Business and Professions Code section 17590, so you register once at DoNotCall.gov or 1-888-382-1222 and get both state and federal protection against sales calls.1California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code – BPC – Article 8 Unsolicited and Unwanted Telephone Solicitations There is no separate state sign-up. What California adds is enforcement muscle: a civil penalty track for state and local prosecutors, and a private right of action you can bring yourself in small claims court.
How to Register Your Number
Registration is free. Add any home or mobile number online at DoNotCall.gov, or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want on the list. Online sign-ups require you to click a confirmation link emailed to you within 72 hours.2Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry FAQs
Your number lands on the registry the next day, but sales calls can continue for up to 31 days while telemarketers refresh their call lists. After that, legitimate telemarketers are expected to drop you.2Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry FAQs
Registration does not expire. The FTC removes a number only if it’s disconnected and reassigned, or if you ask to be taken off by calling the same 1-888-382-1222 line.2Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry FAQs The old five-year renewal rule is gone.
Who Is Still Allowed to Call
The registry stops commercial sales calls. Several categories fall outside it. Political organizations can still call. So can charities calling on their own behalf, and surveyors doing genuine research rather than a sales pitch dressed up as a survey.3Federal Trade Commission. Q and A for Telemarketers and Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR Debt collectors are also unaffected because their calls aren’t sales calls; they’re governed by separate debt collection law.
The exception most people run into is the existing business relationship. A company you have bought from, made a payment to, or completed a financial transaction with may keep calling for 18 months after that last interaction. If you only made an inquiry or submitted an application without buying, the window is three months.4Federal Trade Commission. Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule – Section: Exemptions to the National Do Not Call Registry Provisions
California also lets a company call if you have given express written permission that names the specific company and the California number it may dial.5California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code BPC 17592
How to Make a Specific Company Stop Calling
Even when a caller is legally allowed to reach you, you can shut them down individually. Any company that can lawfully call must stop once you ask. The FTC’s advice is to write down the date you made the request so you have a record if the calls keep coming.2Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry FAQs
This is a separate right from the national registry. A charity, a political group, or a business with an existing relationship with you still has to honor a direct do-not-call request, and ignoring one is its own violation.
California’s Auto-Dialer Curfew
California restricts automatic dialing-announcing devices, the machines that place calls and play a prerecorded message. Under Public Utilities Code section 2872, no one may operate these devices to call a California number between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. California time.6California Legislative Information. California Code PUC 2872
The curfew does not apply to messages sent to an established business associate or customer, or to calls the recipient specifically requested.6California Legislative Information. California Code PUC 2872 Outside those situations, the overnight window is off limits.
Reporting a Violator
Once your number has been on the registry for at least 31 days, any sales call is reportable. File a complaint at DoNotCall.gov.7Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry – Submit a Complaint The same form takes robocall complaints even if you never registered, since many robocalls are illegal regardless.
Include the date and time of the call, the number on your caller ID, and what was being pitched. The FTC uses the pattern data to build cases against repeat offenders. If you lost money to a phone scam, report that separately at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.2Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry FAQs
Government-Enforced Penalties
The FTC can pursue civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. That figure is inflation-adjusted and was last updated in January 2025.8Federal Trade Commission. Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule For a company that made thousands of calls, the exposure gets large quickly.
California ties its own government-side penalty to that same FTC maximum. The state Attorney General, any district attorney, or a city attorney can bring a civil action seeking an injunction plus penalties of up to the FTC per-violation cap for each illegal call.1California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code – BPC – Article 8 Unsolicited and Unwanted Telephone Solicitations
Suing a Telemarketer Yourself
You don’t have to wait for a government lawyer to take an interest. Both federal and California law let you sue on your own.
Federal TCPA Lawsuits
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act allows a suit in state court for $500 per violation. If the court finds the violation was willful, it can triple the award to $1,500 per call. For Do Not Call Registry violations specifically, you must have received more than one illegal call from the same company within a 12-month period before you can file.9Federal Communications Commission. Telephone Consumer Protection Act 47 USC 227
The TCPA has no built-in statute of limitations, so the federal catch-all four-year period under 28 U.S.C. ยง 1658 applies. That clock runs from the date of each individual violation, not just the first.
California Small Claims Court
California offers a cheaper, lawyer-free route through small claims court. Under Business and Professions Code section 17593, a consumer who receives a prohibited call can file for an injunction ordering the company to stop. If the company then makes additional illegal calls within 30 days of the injunction, the consumer can file a follow-up action for a civil penalty of up to $1,000.1California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code – BPC – Article 8 Unsolicited and Unwanted Telephone Solicitations
The California path is a two-step process. You get the injunction first and chase money only if the calls continue. For persistent violators, the $1,000-per-call penalty adds up, and the court record you build makes it easier for a prosecutor to come back later for the far larger FTC-level fines.