SMS compliance for real estate agents.

Text messaging has the highest open rate of any outreach channel - 98% within three minutes. It also has the most aggressive legal framework: the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), with statutory damages of $500–$1,500 per message sent without proper consent. For a 100-contact blast to people who haven't opted in, that's a six-figure exposure.

Most real estate agents aren't aware of this risk because they use personal phones, not business platforms, to text clients. That's changing. TCPA enforcement actions against individual agents and small teams have increased substantially since 2022. This guide covers what you need to know and what Yapii handles for you.

The TCPA requires prior express written consent before sending any marketing text message. "Written" in this context includes digital consent - a checkbox on a form, a reply to an opt-in prompt, or a signed agreement. Verbal consent is not sufficient for marketing messages.

Three categories of contact need three different consent standards:

• Existing clients. You can send transactional texts (showing confirmations, document requests) under the existing relationship. Marketing texts - including market updates and listing alerts - still require written opt-in consent.
• Past clients and sphere. Same rule as existing clients. The relationship doesn't carry over as implicit consent. You need a written opt-in.
• Cold contacts from a purchased list. Do not text these. Full stop. No exceptions. The exposure is severe.

The cleanest path is a checkbox at the point of capture - your valuation-request form, open-house sign-in sheet, or buyer consultation agreement. The language needs to be explicit:

For contacts already in your database who haven't opted in, the best approach is a one-time consent request by email or phone. Something like: "I've started sending market updates by text - would that be useful for you?" If they say yes, log the date and method. If they say no, mark them email-only.

When a contact replies STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, or QUIT to any text message, you are legally required to stop texting them immediately. "Immediately" means within the same session - not next business day, not after you review your queue.

Yapii intercepts opt-out replies in real time and flags the contact as SMS-blocked before the next step in any active plan can execute. You don't have to do anything manually - the system handles it. What you do need to do is:

• Not re-enroll an SMS-blocked contact in any plan that includes text steps (Yapii will warn you and prevent this).
• Not import and re-add the same contact under a different record to get around the block.
• Keep records. If you're ever in a dispute, you want logs showing the opt-out was received and honored.

Here's what happens without any manual intervention on your part:

• Opt-out interception. STOP and all variants are processed in real time. The contact's SMS status updates before the next scheduled step.
• Quiet hours enforcement. No texts go out before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time for the contact. Yapii uses the contact's address to determine time zone.
• Opt-in gate on plan enrollment. If you try to enroll a contact in a plan with SMS steps and they don't have a confirmed opt-in, Yapii flags it and asks you to confirm before proceeding.
• Consent logging. Every opt-in source, date, and method is stored in the contact record and exportable as a CSV if you ever need to demonstrate compliance.

Since 2021, all business SMS sent in the US must be registered under the A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person, 10-digit long code) framework. This is a carrier-level requirement, not just a Yapii one. Unregistered numbers get filtered or blocked by major carriers - even if the messages are fully compliant.

Yapii handles A2P registration as part of onboarding. You provide your business legal name and EIN; we submit the registration and get your number approved. It takes 3–5 business days. Until it's approved, outbound SMS is disabled. Don't skip this step.

If you're already texting from a personal number and want to migrate to the Yapii SMS line, contact our support team. We can walk you through the transition without dropping your contact list.