TCPA Consent for AI Calls to B2B Loan Leads: What Brokers Should Check

Business-loan brokers often assume the Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a consumer problem, so calls to business owners are safe. That's too neat. The owner of a three-person trucking company usually gives you a mobile number, and a mobile number is where the TCPA bites hardest. This is general information, not legal advice. Have a lawyer who knows your states review your script and your consent process.

Key Takeaways

• In a February 2024 declaratory ruling (FCC 24-17), the FCC confirmed that AI-generated voices count as an artificial voice under the TCPA.
• Marketing calls that use an artificial or prerecorded voice generally need the recipient's prior express written consent.
• Statutory damages are $500 per violation, and up to $1,500 if willful or knowing, and they accrue per call.
• Telemarketing calls are barred before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time.
• Topcalls records every call, but it doesn't keep a do-not-call list or track consent for you.

1. Do AI calls fall under the TCPA?

Yes. In its February 2024 declaratory ruling, the FCC confirmed that AI-generated voices are an artificial voice under the TCPA. So an AI call is treated like a prerecorded call when the rules on artificial voices apply. The details are on our TCPA cold calling rules page, and the ruling itself is on the FCC's telemarketing page.

2. Does it matter that the lead is a business?

It can, and that's why you shouldn't stop at "it's B2B." The rules differ by the kind of number you dial. A business landline is treated differently from a mobile phone, and many small-business owners answer loan-inquiry calls on their personal mobile. If the number you hold is a mobile, assume the consent question is live until your counsel says otherwise.

Some states add their own telemarketing rules on top of the federal ones. A call that is fine in one state can need extra steps in another, so check where your leads live.

3. What consent should a broker be able to show?

For a marketing call with an artificial voice, the standard is prior express written consent: a signed or electronically signed agreement that names the seller and says the person agrees to receive such calls at that number. Keep the record for each lead, because the burden of showing consent usually falls on the caller.

Here's a short list worth keeping per lead:

• The consent text the person saw when they submitted the form, with the date and time.
• The number they gave, and whether it is a mobile or a business line.
• The seller named in that consent, which must be you or a company you can show was covered.
• The source, meaning the site or form, and the IP address or other proof of submission.

• Opt-outs received since, with the date you honored them.

4. What about hours, do-not-call lists and opt-outs?

The Telemarketing Sales Rule bars telemarketing calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time zone. Telemarketers also have to scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry, re-scrub regularly, and keep an internal list for anyone who tells the company to stop. Business-to-business calls have their own carve-outs, so don't assume the registry rules map one to one. Ask counsel which apply to you.

Topcalls gives you calling-window controls and a recording of every call. It doesn't keep a do-not-call list or track consent, so remove opted-out leads from your campaigns yourself.

5. What should the AI say at the start of the call?

The opener should state that it's an automated assistant calling on behalf of your brokerage, name the brokerage, and say why it's calling. A lead who knows they're talking to an AI and still answers is a much easier record to defend than one who found out at question four.

Give the owner a clear way out, too: a spoken opt-out that the AI honors on the spot, with the number removed from future calls. The AI call disclosure guide for brokers covers wording in more depth.

6. How do you show you did it right?

Keep the evidence together. The call recording and transcript sit with the lead in your CRM, next to the consent record and the opt-out log. If a complaint arrives, you want to produce the consent text, the number, the call time in the lead's time zone, and what was said, within a day, not a month.

The broker page shows how the recording, transcript and dispositions attach to each lead. For the qualification script that sits inside those rules, read the AI qualification flow for MCA brokers.

Questions about how a compliant campaign gets set up on our side? Contact us.