Texting laws · Washington

Washington texting laws for businesses

What RCW 19.190.060, 19.190.070 and 80.36.390 says about a business texting customers in Washington, read from the statute.

Texting laws by stateStatute read October 29, 2026

The law


Law	Commercial Electronic Mail Act and telephone solicitation law
Citation	RCW 19.190.060, 19.190.070 and 80.36.390
In force	Text rules since 2003; damages amended by 2026 c 135, effective June 11, 2026
Covers texts?	Yes. RCW 19.190.010 defines an electronic text message as 'a text message sent to a cellular telephone or pager equipped with short message service or any similar capability', and RCW 19.190.060 bars initiating 'an electronic commercial text message' to a Washington resident's cell number.
Applies to	Commercial electronic text messages, meaning texts 'sent to promote real property, goods, or services for sale or lease' (RCW 19.190.010), sent by a person conducting business in Washington. The telephone solicitation law (RCW 80.36.390) covers unsolicited calls encouraging a purchase.

The rules

Rule	What the statute says	Section
Consent for commercial texts	A commercial text to a Washington resident's cell phone is allowed only if 'the subscriber has clearly and affirmatively consented in advance to receive these text messages'. The statute does not spell out how that consent must be shown.	RCW 19.190.060, 19.190.070(1)(b)
Hours for sales calls	Telephone solicitation may not be received before 8:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. at the recipient's local time. The definition of 'telephone call' in this law ('any communication made through a telephone that uses a live person, artificial voice, or recorded message') does not name texts.	RCW 80.36.390(8)
Do-not-call requests	A telephone solicitor must honor a request not to be called again for at least one year, and may not solicit numbers on the federal do-not-call registry.	RCW 80.36.390(7), (9)

Texting a customer who contacted you first

The telephone solicitation law excludes 'calls made in response to a request or inquiry by the called party', including calls about an item the person bought from the business in the previous 12 months (RCW 80.36.390(1)(b)(i)).
The commercial text message rule has no existing-customer or customer-initiated exemption. Its only exemptions are a phone carrier texting its own subscribers and prior affirmative consent (RCW 19.190.070(1)).
The text rule only reaches messages 'sent to promote' goods or services for sale or lease. The statute does not say whether a job-status or scheduling text is inside or outside that definition.

This matters for missed-call text-back, which replies to someone who just called the business. Federal rules and the reply-versus-marketing line are covered in is missed-call text-back legal?

Contractor websites in Washington

9% of the 127 Washington contractor homepages we loaded on a phone in October 2026 had an online booking tool and 14% had a chat or text option. 79% had neither, so after hours a call or a form was the only way in, and 49% had no form either.

Contractor homepages loaded as an iPhone, October 27 to 28, 2026
What the homepage has	Washington	All 21 states
Sites loaded	127	2407
A tap-to-call link coded in	79%	76%
An online booking tool	9%	12%
A chat widget or text option	14%	15%
Neither booking nor chat or text	79%	77%
Neither, and no form either	49%	41%

These are plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, landscaping, painting, carpentry and general contractor homepages listed in OpenStreetMap, checked on the homepage only, so booking and chat figures are a floor. The method and the national numbers are in our contractor website study. On those sites a customer who cannot book or message has to call, and a call you miss can still get a reply by text; Nova's missed-call text-back is $99 a month.

Penalties

For commercial texts: $100 or actual damages, whichever is greater (RCW 19.190.040, as amended by 2026 c 135 for suits filed on or after June 11, 2026), and a violation is a Consumer Protection Act violation (RCW 19.190.060(2), 19.190.100). For telephone solicitation: a person aggrieved by repeated violations may recover at least $1,000 per violation plus attorney fees (RCW 80.36.390(13)).

What the statute does not settle

Whether the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. limit and the request-or-inquiry exclusion in RCW 80.36.390 reach texts: that statute's definition of a call does not mention text messages.
Registered contractors are exempt from Washington's commercial telephone solicitor registration when the transaction is governed by the contractor registration law (RCW 19.158.020(2)(b)(vii)). That exemption is from registration only, not from the text rule.

Questions

Does Washington law cover text messages from businesses?

Yes. RCW 19.190.010 defines an electronic text message as 'a text message sent to a cellular telephone or pager equipped with short message service or any similar capability', and RCW 19.190.060 bars initiating 'an electronic commercial text message' to a Washington resident's cell number.

What happens if a business breaks Washington's texting law?

Can a business text a customer who contacted it first in Washington?

The telephone solicitation law excludes 'calls made in response to a request or inquiry by the called party', including calls about an item the person bought from the business in the previous 12 months (RCW 80.36.390(1)(b)(i)). The commercial text message rule has no existing-customer or customer-initiated exemption. Its only exemptions are a phone carrier texting its own subscribers and prior affirmative consent (RCW 19.190.070(1)). The text rule only reaches messages 'sent to promote' goods or services for sale or lease. The statute does not say whether a job-status or scheduling text is inside or outside that definition.

How many Washington contractor websites offer online booking?

Sources

Read October 29, 2026. Federal law (the TCPA and FCC rules) applies on top of state law everywhere. This page describes what the statute says. It is general information, not legal advice, and it does not cover your message content or your industry. Talk to a lawyer before relying on it.