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TCPA damages calculator

The number in a demand letter is not pulled from the air. It is the count of calls and texts multiplied by a figure Congress wrote into the statute. Put your letter's numbers in and see the range.

Statutory minimum
$6,000
If willful or knowing (trebled)
$18,000

Federal: $500 per violation under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) or § 227(c)(5), up to $1,500 where the court finds the conduct willful or knowing. Florida: $500 per violation under Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10), up to $1,500 if willful. The figures exclude actual damages, attorney fees in a contested case and the cost of your own defence. A single call can breach more than one provision; some courts allow recovery under each. This is arithmetic, not legal advice.

How the statute sets the figure

The TCPA gives the person who received the call a private right of action. For autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts without consent, 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) allows the greater of actual loss or $500 per violation. For calls to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry, § 227(c)(5) allows the same $500 per call once a person has received more than one call in a 12-month period from the same business. If the court finds the business acted willfully or knowingly it may increase the award up to three times, to $1,500 per violation.

Willful or knowing does not require intent to break the law. Courts have treated it as knowing that you were making the call. Calls that continue after a STOP request, after a Do Not Call registration, or after a previous letter are the clearest cases.

Why Florida is different

The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.059, carries its own private right of action with the same $500 and $1,500 figures. A call or text to a Florida recipient can be a violation under both the federal and the state statute, which is why the calculator stacks them.

What the calculator leaves out

  • Your own defence costs if the matter is contested, which are paid win or lose. See lawyer cost vs the demand.
  • Class exposure. The same dialer and list reached everyone else on it, and the federal limitation period is four years under 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a). The recipients field is there so you can see that number.
  • Defences. Documented prior express written consent, a wrong-number call where the reassigned numbers database was checked, or calls that were not made by or for your business can remove items from the count. See consent explained.

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