Texting real estate leads, the compliant way.
Consent, quiet hours, opt-outs and 10DLC registration in plain English, built from the federal rule text and CRM vendor help pages. This is general information, not legal advice; state laws can add stricter rules, so check with a lawyer or your broker for your situation.
The short answer
Before your CRM texts a lead, you need three things: the lead's consent (written consent for marketing texts sent with automated tools), a 10DLC business registration approved through your CRM's texting provider, and a working opt-out that stops texts when someone replies STOP. Federal rules require honoring opt-outs within 10 business days, and a rule change on November 25, 2026 changes how opt-out methods can be designated.
The federal rules that matter for agent follow-up
| Topic | What the rule or regulator says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Consent for texts | The FCC says its rules ban texts sent to a mobile phone with an autodialer unless the owner consented first (or it is an emergency). Commercial texts require written consent; for informational texts, consent may be oral. | FCC consumer guide |
| What "written consent" means | A signed agreement (electronic signatures count where valid under law) that names the phone number and clearly discloses that the person authorizes automated marketing messages and is not required to agree as a condition of buying anything. | 47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9) |
| Quiet hours | No telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the recipient's location. | 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1) |
| National Do Not Call Registry | Solicitations to numbers on the registry are prohibited unless an exception applies, such as signed written permission. A solicitation definition excludes contacts with an "established business relationship," which for an inquiry lasts three months and for a purchase or transaction lasts 18 months. | 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(2), (f)(5), (f)(15) |
| Your own do-not-call list | Telemarketers must keep a written do-not-call policy, record requests, honor them within 10 business days, and keep them for 5 years. | 47 CFR 64.1200(d) |
| Opt-outs today | Consent can be revoked by any reasonable method. Replies of "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe" always count, and other wording counts if a reasonable person would read it as an opt-out. Honor within 10 business days. One confirmation text, with no marketing, is allowed and presumed fine if sent within five minutes. | 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10) to (12) |
| Opt-outs from Nov 25, 2026 | Senders may designate an exclusive opt-out method (for example, reply keywords) if they clearly disclose it in each text; naming one keyword such as "stop" satisfies that, but all seven keywords must still be honored. Senders that do not designate a method must keep honoring any reasonable means. An opt-out from a marketing text covers all future marketing texts from that sender. | FCC final rule, 91 FR 67214 (Oct 26, 2026) |
Several of these rules are written for "telephone solicitations" or "telemarketing." 47 CFR 64.1200(e) applies the quiet-hours and do-not-call rules to calls and texts to wireless numbers to the extent described in a 2003 FCC order. Whether a specific follow-up text counts as marketing is a legal question; when in doubt, get written consent.
What 10DLC registration is
A2P 10DLC is the US carrier standard for business texting from regular 10-digit numbers. Carriers use The Campaign Registry to verify that the sender is a real business and that recipients opted in. Both CRMs below say texts to US numbers will not go out until registration is approved.
| Follow Up Boss | Close* | |
|---|---|---|
| Is registration required? | Yes. Outbound texting is disabled until carriers approve the "Business Registration." Receiving texts, calls and email are not affected. | Yes. US SMS is not delivered until the A2P 10DLC registration is approved. |
| Where in the app | Admin, then Business Registration (owner or admin role; one form covers the team). | Settings, then Phone & Voicemail, then the US Compliance tab. |
| What you need | EIN, legal business name and address exactly as on the EIN, a website with a contact form carrying texting opt-in language, and a privacy policy saying phone numbers are not sold or shared for marketing. | Legal name, address, business type, EIN or other registration number, website, authorized contact, a description of your SMS use case, and a documented opt-in process. |
| Fees | Follow Up Boss says it covers registration fees at no additional cost. | Passed through from Twilio. One-time: $4.50 low-volume standard brand, $46 standard brand, $4 sole proprietor without EIN, plus a $15 campaign verification fee; $12.50 to retry a failed verification. Resubmitting a rejected campaign costs another fee. Close also lists recurring monthly campaign charges, such as $1.50 for sole proprietors without an EIN and $10 for organizations sending more than 6,000 segments a month. |
| Review time | About 48 hours once compliant; longer if information is missing. | Not stated as a fixed time; new numbers on an approved account can take up to 24 hours to propagate. |
| Gotchas | Brokerage-wide sites (for example kw.com or exp.com), Zillow profiles and Realtor.com pages are not accepted as your business website. | Automatic STOP blocking only triggers on single-word replies such as STOP, and only for the number that was texted. A reply like "please stop" needs manual handling. |
| Source | How to register, Why it matters, Rejections, Impacted accounts | A2P 10DLC, Stay compliant |
Other real estate CRMs that text from local numbers go through the same carrier process; check your vendor's help center for its steps and fees. Fees and steps above are as published on October 30, 2026.
Opt-in language: what both vendors ask for
Follow Up Boss and Close each publish a list of what an opt-in on your website form must include. The overlap is useful as a checklist:
- Who is sending the texts (your legal business name or team name).
- What the texts are for (for example, "for real estate services").
- "Message frequency varies" and "Msg and data rates may apply."
- How to opt out and get help: "Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Reply HELP for help."
- A link to your privacy policy, which says mobile numbers and opt-in data are not shared with third parties for marketing.
- Close also asks for a linked terms page and an unchecked checkbox, separate for promotional and transactional texts, with texting consent optional.
Follow Up Boss suggests wording to the effect of: "I agree to be contacted by [Business Name] via call, email, and text for real estate services. To opt out, you can reply 'stop' at any time or reply 'help' for assistance. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency may vary." (source). Have a lawyer check that it also meets the written-consent definition above if you send marketing texts.
Day-to-day habits that keep texts delivered
- Identify yourself in the first text and include opt-out wording such as "Reply STOP to opt out." Close's guidance says to repeat opt-out wording at least once a month for ongoing contacts and to check in every 6 months on long-running lists.
- Put STOP wording in the first text of every automated drip (action plans, workflows), not just manual texts.
- Skip public link shorteners like free bit.ly links; Close says carriers discourage them.
- Watch your opt-out and failed-delivery rates. Close says carriers monitor both and can filter messages across the whole account.
- Respect quiet hours in the lead's time zone, not yours, when scheduling drips.
- Treat "please stop texting me" as an opt-out. Keyword automation may miss it; mark the contact as do-not-text in your CRM by hand.
- Keep a record of consent (form, date, wording). Close says its telephony partner can ask for proof of consent for random numbers if texting is suspended.
A 7-step setup checklist
- Publish a website with a contact form you control (not only a brokerage profile page).
- Add the opt-in wording above, with a privacy policy link, under the phone field.
- Update your privacy policy to say mobile data is not shared for marketing.
- Have your EIN letter handy; the legal name must match IRS records exactly.
- Submit the 10DLC registration inside your CRM and fix any rejection notes.
- Add STOP wording to the first text of each automated plan, and schedule sends between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. recipient time.
- Before November 25, 2026, decide whether you will designate reply keywords as your exclusive opt-out method under the new FCC rule, and disclose it in every text if you do.
FAQ
Do I need 10DLC registration if I only text from my personal phone?
The vendor pages here cover texting through a CRM or texting service. Close says carriers treat all Close traffic as business (A2P) texting. This guide does not cover texting from a personal phone app, and the federal consent and do-not-call rules above apply to telemarketing regardless of the tool.
Does a lead who filled out my website form count as consent?
Only if the form had clear texting consent language. The written-consent definition in 47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9) requires a clear disclosure and that agreeing is not a condition of purchase. A bare phone field without that wording is the most common rejection reason listed by Follow Up Boss.
What changes on November 25, 2026?
The FCC's October 26, 2026 final rule lets senders designate an exclusive opt-out method if it is disclosed in each text, and lets an opt-out from one kind of informational text apply only to that kind. Opt-outs from marketing texts still stop all marketing texts from that sender.
How much does registration cost?
It depends on the CRM. Follow Up Boss says it covers the fees. Close passes through Twilio fees, for example $4.50 plus a $15 campaign verification fee for a low-volume standard brand, plus recurring monthly campaign charges listed on its help page.
Sources (all checked October 30, 2026)
- 47 CFR 64.1200, eCFR (current text)
- FCC final rule, "Enhancing the Ability of Consumers To Control the Robocalls," 91 FR 67214, published Oct 26, 2026, effective Nov 25, 2026
- FCC, Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts (page last updated Feb 27, 2026)
- Follow Up Boss Help, How to register your phone numbers (updated July 22, 2026)
- Follow Up Boss Help, Why Business Registration Matters
- Follow Up Boss Help, Business Registration: Rejections and Solutions
- Follow Up Boss Help, Business Registration: Impacted Accounts
- Close Help, A2P 10DLC
- Close Help, A2P 10DLC: Stay Compliant
Comparing CRMs that text? See pricing compared, the CRM shortlist, or try Close* or Follow Up Boss. We have not used either product's texting hands-on; everything above is from their public help pages.
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