The decision
The letter asks for a number by a date. There are three ways to answer it.
Pay, dispute or ignore. Each path has a cost, a timeline and a worst case. This site walks through all three, then the mechanics: negotiating the figure, what the settlement agreement says, paying over time, when a lawyer earns the fee, and what to do once it is over.
Choose a path
Path one
Pay
Negotiate a figure, sign a release with no admission, send a traceable payment. Fixed cost, fixed end date, nothing filed.
Path two
Dispute
A written response with the evidence behind it: consent records, proof the calls were not yours, or dates outside the four-year period.
Path three
Ignore
The deadline passes. Referral to counsel, a complaint, service, and a court deadline that is not negotiable. Right only when the letter is a fraud.
The numbers every path starts from
What the letter's figure is built on
| Figure | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | Statutory damages per call or text in violation | 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5) |
| $1,500 | Up to three times that amount if the violation was willful or knowing | 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5) |
| $500 to $1,500 | Florida's own per-call damages, on top of the federal figure, for Florida numbers | Fla. Stat. § 501.059 |
| Four years | How far back a claim can reach from the date of the call | 28 U.S.C. § 1658 |
The demand is almost always below the documented calls multiplied by the floor. The gap is the discount for resolving it before counsel is involved. Every path on this site is a different way of dealing with that gap.
The mechanics
Once you have picked a path
- Negotiating the numberYes. What moves the figure in a TCPA demand letter: documented calls, consent evidence, willfulness, payment structure. How to make a counter.
- The settlement agreementThe clauses in a TCPA settlement agreement and what to check in each: the release, confidentiality, no admission, payment terms and default.
- Payment plansMost TCPA settlements can be paid over time. How instalment terms work, what an acceleration clause does, and what to ask for in the agreement.
- When to bring in a lawyerNot always. The signals that mean you should hire a lawyer for a TCPA demand letter, how to find one, and how to keep the fee below the saving.
- After you resolve itWhat to do once a TCPA demand letter is settled: records to keep, compliance changes that stop the next letter, and what one release does not cover.