SMS is one of the most powerful tools in modern marketing. Compliance should enable growth, not slow it down.
SMS has transformed how brands connect with customers. It's the most direct channel there is—reaching people the moment they're paying attention, with results that show up in revenue. That's why more and more brands are building around it.
But it also operates within a legal framework. State and federal laws and regulations exist to protect consumers and hold brands accountable for how they communicate. Brands that follow them earn trust. Brands that don't face real consequences. The good news: getting it right is well within reach.
Building a compliance-first SMS program is not as daunting as it might feel. Brands doing it well treat compliance as a foundation, built in from the start rather than added after a problem surfaces. Done right, compliance is what makes sustained SMS growth possible. Brands that combine the right safeguards with expert guidance protect revenue and grow their programs without increasing risk. That's a standard worth holding.
At Attentive, compliance is the cornerstone of our platform. We have eleven in-house attorneys, including TCPA and privacy law specialists. Our proprietary Litigator Defender has suppressed 170,000-plus known litigators from customer subscriber lists. And we’ve processed more than one million fuzzy opt-outs—responses that signal opt-out intent without a standard keyword like “STOP.”
In this update, I’ll share how we build compliance into our SMS product, what we’re seeing in the litigation landscape, and what we think every SMS operator should be paying attention to right now.
How Attentive supports compliance
Most SMS providers treat TCPA compliance as a settings page. We treat it as a product discipline, built into how every feature works from the ground up. Our customers aren’t handed a checklist and left to figure out the rest. The protections below are designed and maintained by Attentive so your program is covered at every layer, from the moment a subscriber opts in to the moment a message is delivered and beyond.
That extends to the legal relationship. Attentive’s in-house attorneys are available to partner directly with customer legal teams to help them understand and respond to the claims and litigation trends they are seeing. We don’t wait for a crisis to make that introduction. We proactively build relationships with customer legal teams before they are faced with litigation, so they know they have a partner inside Attentive and aren’t navigating it alone. Compliance isn’t just a requirement for the brands we work with. It is the foundation for sustainable growth, and we approach it that way on every side of the relationship.
“Attentive’s TCPA-compliant sign-up solution protects our brand while delivering a great user experience for our subscribers.”
– LensDirect
A system of record that holds up
The starting point for TCPA compliance is defensible records: the documentation that stands up when a plaintiff’s attorney comes asking questions. Attentive maintains that record for you across every dimension of the subscriber relationship:
- Consent collection records – How and when each subscriber joined a program, what language they agreed to, and which campaign or touchpoint brought them in
- Opt-in evidence – Timestamped, campaign-specific records of each subscriber’s opt-in so you can reconstruct any experience at any time
- Opt-out evidence – Every recognized opt-out request captured, honored, and documented. Attentive processes standard opt-out signals and maintains the records to prove it.
- Opt-out evasion is a real and growing tactic – Our fuzzy opt-out tools and compliance experts help brands navigate nuances that fall outside standard keyword matching. We continuously monitor trends and refine our capabilities to manage these edge cases.
- Message history and audit trails – A comprehensive account of what was sent, to whom, and when
Compliance across every jurisdiction, automatically
Attentive manages compliance across all 50 states without requiring manual workarounds. Our quiet hours engine honors state-specific delivery windows automatically. Brands can also set stricter requirements at the program level. A subscriber in Texas and a subscriber in California have different protections. Attentive knows the difference and acts accordingly.
Compliance is a partnership, not only a platform feature
Compliance technology is only as strong as the expertise behind it. Attentive pairs enterprise-grade tools with legal support built directly into the customer relationship. Brands have a real partner when the landscape shifts.
Attentive’s TCPA attorneys work directly with marketing teams. Compliance guidance is practical, accessible, and connected to how your program actually runs. Customers have access to:
- 1:1 compliance consultations – Personalized guidance for your specific program and subscriber base
- Dedicated program reviews – Proactive assessments to surface gaps before they become exposure
- Live Q&A sessions – Real questions answered by people who know the law and the platform
- Escalation support – Expert guidance when a situation requires immediate attention
- Referrals to outside counsel – Access to preferred partners at negotiated rates when independent legal representation is needed
This level of platform infrastructure and partnership matters more than ever as TCPA litigation has reached record levels.
“And the team at Attentive partnered with us to quickly scale our program while navigating the legal and regulatory side of things.”
– FinditParts
What’s happening right now with TCPA
In April 2026 alone, 330 TCPA cases and 255 class actions were filed, a 40% increase over April 2025. And class actions are up 23% year-over-year. Each of those filings represents a brand that had to stop what it was doing, engage legal counsel, and face a potential judgment running into seven or eight figures.
Understanding why litigation is accelerating matters, because the pressures behind it are
structural. Several converging forces explain why the litigation climate is ramping up so sharply.
Why TCPA litigation has intensified
1. SMS has gone mainstream
SMS now powers campaigns across every vertical. Mid-market brands, DTC startups, and businesses of all sizes have adopted it. The channel scaled quickly. Compliance infrastructure has not always kept pace across all SMS platforms.
2. Litigators are getting more creative and more aggressive
Plaintiff firms are no longer looking only for obvious mistakes. They’re probing for gaps, testing edge cases, and developing tactics that are hard to anticipate. Working with a partner that monitors the landscape continuously and closes gaps as they emerge is critical. That’s what Attentive does for our customers.
3. State-level regulations are expanding
Compliance now depends on where your subscribers are located. States including Texas and Florida have implemented requirements stricter than federal TCPA standards. More states are expected to follow over the next 12 to 24 months. Opt-out standards are also evolving as courts grapple with the limits of keyword-only approaches.
Brands that haven’t conducted regular audits of their compliance posture as their subscriber lists have scaled are exposed in ways they may not fully appreciate. A compliance review should not be a one-time exercise. We recommend reviewing your setup at least annually, and ideally every six months, to assess which features you’re using, surface gaps, and evaluate whether additional safeguards are available to you.
What our data shows brands are getting wrong
Knowing why litigation is rising is useful. Knowing where programs actually break is more actionable. After reviewing thousands of brands across the compliance spectrum, two areas dominated our Q1 2026 audit findings.
- STOP failures – Brands sending messages to subscribers who have already opted out. The leading driver of audit requests in 2026 and one of the easiest violations to document and litigate.
- Quiet hours violations – Messages reaching consumers at times restricted by state law. The second most common trigger. Delivery windows vary across all 50 states, and requirements catch programs off guard more often than they should.
These aren’t the only ways compliance exposure shows up. Plaintiff firms are actively searching for gaps and loopholes, and state law nuances create new surface area for risk on an ongoing basis. What we can say with confidence is that the failure modes above are significantly more preventable with the right products, processes, and partnership in place. They stem from operational gaps where technology or program oversight broke down. Attentive is built to close them.
Protection you can plan around. Partnership you can count on.
The current environment is not the ceiling. More states are expected to pass SMS-specific legislation over the next 12 to 24 months. Opt-out standards will keep evolving. The compliance floor is rising, and it will continue to rise.
We're also continuously building our compliance features in the platform, expanding the Litigator Defender database, deepening the in-house legal team, and investing in the proactive communications and customer education that keep our customers informed before the landscape shifts. When a new state law passes or a new litigation tactic emerges, Attentive customers should already be covered. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to.
Interested in learning how Attentive's compliance tools can protect your SMS program? Request a compliance demo today.
