A2P 10DLC is the registration system the U.S. wireless carriers use to decide whether business text messages sent from ordinary ten-digit phone numbers get delivered. Application-to-person means a message sent by software rather than typed by a thumb; ten-digit long code means a normal local number rather than a short code. Since February 1, 2025, A2P traffic from unregistered numbers is blocked by the carriers, and to register a number a business has to describe, in writing, what it will send, to whom, and how those people agreed to receive it.<\/p>\n
That last clause is the whole subject. Texting in real estate is governed by two rulebooks that most agents treat as one. The law, which is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and its rules, decides whether a text was legal to send. The carriers, through 10DLC, decide whether it was delivered at all. They were written by different people for different reasons, and they converge on the same requirement: the person receiving the message consented to it. A cold list has no consent. So both rulebooks give the same answer about cold texting, and the interesting question is what texting is still for.<\/p>\n
The TCPA piece<\/a> covers the statute in full, and three of its points carry over to texting without modification.<\/p>\n A text is a call. The FCC has treated text messages as calls under 47 U.S.C. 227<\/a> for years, which means a marketing text sent by an automated platform to a cell number needs prior express written consent: a signed agreement, electronic signatures included, that authorizes marketing texts to that number and discloses that consent is not required to do business. An expired seller, a FSBO and a farm household have given none of that.<\/p>\n The do-not-call rules apply to texts. The FCC confirmed in 2023 that a number on the National Registry may not receive marketing texts any more than marketing calls, and the internal do-not-call list under 47 CFR 64.1200(d)<\/a> covers texts. The do-not-call rules<\/a> piece describes the obligations, and none of them change because the message is written rather than spoken.<\/p>\n Revocation is by any reasonable means. Since April 2025, “stop,” “quit,” “end,” “cancel,” “unsubscribe,” “revoke” and “opt out” must be honored, within ten business days, and since April 2026 a revocation delivered on one channel covers every automated channel from that sender. A homeowner who texts “stop” to a follow-up has revoked consent for calls made with automation and for texts alike.<\/p>\n States add layers. Florida’s telemarketing statute reaches texts, requires prior express written consent for automated ones, and since 2023 requires a consumer to text “STOP” and wait fifteen days before suing over continued messages, which is a defense only for the agent who actually stops. The state mini-TCPA piece<\/a> covers the rest.<\/p>\n The carrier layer has no statute behind it. It is a set of industry requirements that the wireless carriers enforce by filtering and blocking, and it applies whether or not a message was legal.<\/p>\n To send A2P texts from a local number, a business registers a brand, which is its legal identity, and a campaign, which is a description of the messages: the use case, sample content, the expected volume, and the opt-in process by which recipients agreed to receive them. Registration runs through a central registry the carriers use, carries a one-time brand fee of a few dollars and a monthly campaign fee that ranges from a couple of dollars to around ten depending on the campaign type, and takes days rather than weeks when the submission is clean. Reviewers check the opt-in language specifically. They expect to see, at the point of consent, the brand name, a description of what will be sent, a statement of frequency, the words “message and data rates may apply,” and instructions to reply STOP and HELP. They expect web forms to use an unchecked box and to separate marketing consent from anything operational.<\/p>\n Read that against a cold texting campaign and the problem is visible before the first message. There is no opt-in process to describe, because there was no opt-in. A registration that claims one is a false statement to the carriers, and a campaign that is honest about cold outreach to purchased numbers will not be approved. Unregistered traffic, which is what a cold campaign becomes when it cannot be registered, has been blocked since February 2025. The carriers arrived at the same answer as the statute by a different road.<\/p>\n Quite a lot, and it is the part the vendor pages skip because the honest use of texting is smaller than the product they are selling.<\/p>\n The pattern in the table is the same one that runs through every compliance piece on this site. The channel is legal and deliverable exactly to the extent that the person on the other end asked for it, and the work is in capturing that ask correctly and keeping the record.<\/p>\n Because the two rulebooks converge, one piece of language serves both. On a web form, a lead-capture page, an open house sign-in or a listing inquiry, the consent element reads something like: “Check this box to receive texts from [brokerage] about [what you will send], up to [frequency]. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to end, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of any purchase.” Unchecked by default. Separate from any box that covers calls or email. Stored with the date, the number, and the exact text the person saw.<\/p>\nRulebook two: the carriers<\/h2>\n
What that leaves<\/h2>\n
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\n \nMessage<\/th>\n Legal basis<\/th>\n Carrier status<\/th>\n Do it?<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Cold text to an expired, FSBO or farm number from a platform<\/td>\n None. Automated marketing text without consent<\/td>\n Cannot be truthfully registered; unregistered traffic is blocked<\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cold text typed by hand from your own phone to the same number<\/td>\n Person-to-person on the autodialer question; still a solicitation to a possibly registered number<\/td>\n Outside 10DLC, but carriers filter high-volume manual patterns too<\/td>\n No, as a practice. One text to one seller who is expecting a call is a different thing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Follow-up text to a seller who said “just text me” on a call<\/td>\n Their request is consent for that conversation; record the date and words<\/td>\n Low volume, conversational; a registered campaign covers it cleanly<\/td>\n Yes, on the record<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Appointment confirmation to a seller who booked one<\/td>\n Transactional; consent is implicit in the appointment<\/td>\n Register a transactional or mixed campaign<\/td>\n Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Market note to a farm household who opted in on a form with the required language<\/td>\n Prior express written consent, if the form met the standard<\/td>\n Register as marketing; keep the form as evidence<\/td>\n Yes, and keep the frequency you promised<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Any text after “stop”<\/td>\n Consent revoked; do-not-call applies<\/td>\n Carriers monitor opt-out handling<\/td>\n Never<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Capturing consent that satisfies both rulebooks<\/h2>\n