A Major TCPA Defense Win: Seventh Circuit Rejects Do-Not-Call Text Claims

Businesses facing TCPA claims over marketing texts now have a significant new defense in the Seventh Circuit.

In Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, No. 25-2398, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 20613 (7th Cir. July 14, 2026), the Seventh Circuit held that the TCPA’s Do-Not-Call provision does not allow consumers to sue based on unwanted texts. The court concluded that  § 227(c)(5) creates a private right of action for repeated “telephone calls,” but not messages.

The decision highlights a growing divide in how appellate courts treat texts under different portions of the TCPA. Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit held in Howard v. Republican National Committee, 164 F.4th 1119, 1124 (9th Cir. 2026), that a text message is a “call” under § 227(b). The Seventh Circuit considered Howard but declined to follow it because Howard involved § 227(b), while Steidinger involved the narrower language of § 227(c)(5).

Congress used “call,” not “call or message”

The plaintiffs alleged that Blackstone Medical Services continued sending marketing texts and calls promoting home sleep tests after they replied “STOP” or placed their numbers on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. They brought TCPA claims under § 227(c)(5), which permits a lawsuit when a person receives more than one prohibited telephone call within a 12-month period.

The Seventh Circuit focused on the difference between a “telephone call” and a “telephone solicitation.” The TCPA defines a telephone solicitation as a “telephone call or message” encouraging the purchase of goods or services. Section 227(c)(5), however, authorizes private lawsuits only for repeated telephone calls. The court concluded that Congress’s use of different terms required different meanings.

The court also examined the ordinary meaning of “telephone call” when Congress enacted the TCPA in 1991. At that time, a telephone call referred to communication by sound, and the first text was not sent until the following year. The statute also treated comparable text-based communications, including faxes, as “messages,” not calls.

The ruling is limited, but significant

The decision does not hold that texts are never covered by the TCPA. The Seventh Circuit repeatedly distinguished cases arising under § 227(b), including decisions from the First, Second, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits that treated texts as calls under that provision. Its holding is limited to the private right of action under § 227(c)(5).

The court also recognized that the FCC has extended National Do-Not-Call Registry protections to texts. But it concluded that those regulations arise under statutory provisions addressing “telephone solicitations” and cannot expand the narrower private right of action Congress created for telephone calls.

For businesses defending TCPA lawsuits in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, Steidinger provides a strong basis to seek dismissal of § 227(c)(5) claims based solely on text messages. It also makes the specific TCPA provision asserted more important than ever. A text may be treated as a call under one subsection but not another.