In an effort to comply with TCPA regulations from the FCC, Company Admins may request their Account Manager enable an account-wide setting called "Enforce Opt-In".

There have been an increasing amount of lawsuits targeting real estate organizations for violating the TCPA, which was passed in 1991. Arguments center around whether or not marketing texts using automated technology fall under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) restrictions.

To ensure TCPA compliance, Inside Real Estate is creating a second layer of acceptance of terms & conditions for all non-BoldTrail generated leads before sending any automated text communication.
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Once Enforce Opt-In is activated, leads who have been manually added, imported, or entered the system from a third party source will be unsubscribed from automated text messages, as they have not explicitly accepted the terms & conditions.

Agents will not be able to send manual texts or other campaign communications (e.g. Search Alerts via email) through BoldTrail's Smart CRM, and the unsubscribed contact will not receive any automated texts.

To ensure all websites remain compliant with TCPA guidelines, opt-in checkboxes will appear in any location on your Agent websites where a phone number is collected:

These checkboxes are critical safeguards against significant fines and potential litigation that could arise if proper consent is not captured, ensuring that your customers are fully aware of, and consent to being contacted.

Additionally, the language and privacy policies displayed on your sites clarifies the capturing of consent and use of consumer information, aligning with TCPA requirements.

To enable the checkbox for your website, select Web and IDX from the left-hand menu. In Website Settings, search for "Enable TCPA Consent" to find the toggle.

Enable TCPA Consent Checkbox - Enables the TCPA Opt-In checkbox and consent language for all fields requiring a phone number on your website.

Default TCPA Consent Box to be Checked - This will automatically check the consent box when a lead lands on a form that captures a phone number.

The opt-in box will be reflected on any US-based Agent, Team, Office, or Company website.

Yes! You will still be able to communicate with your leads through the CRM as usual.

If the lead did not mark the opt-in checkbox, then they will come into the CRM unsubscribed to text messages. A note will be added to the contact timeline indicating that the contact did not mark the opt-in check box at the time of registration on the website.
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You may still override the unsubscribed status, but please note that you do so at your own risk with the knowledge that the lead did not opt-in.

There is no impact to imported leads - the checkbox only refers to leads newly captured on websites.

There will be no changes for existing leads already in your CRM.

The Enforce Opt-In setting and the Opt-In Checkbox will only apply to leads that directly registered through your website through the following sources:

However, the TCPA Compliance settings will not apply to leads generated through Smart Social and PropertyBoost. This is because these programs rely on Facebook's Lead generation ad units, meaning that they will instead be subject to Facebook's term agreements and privacy policies within the Facebook lead forms.

The TCPA is defined by the Federal Communications Commission on their website which says:

"In an effort to address a growing number of telephone marketing calls, Congress enacted in 1991 the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The TCPA restricts the making of telemarketing calls and the use of automatic telephone dialing systems and artificial or prerecorded voice messages."

In 2012, the FCC expanded the Act to also include SMS and MMS (text) messages.

Disclaimer: Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and is neither intended as nor should be substituted for consultation with appropriate legal counsel and/or your brokerage's regulatory compliance team.

If a Company Admin requests their BoldTrail Account Manager to enable the "Enforce Opt-In" setting, BoldTrail will require "written consent" as specified in the TCPA guidelines.

This means that imported contacts, manually added contacts, and leads forwarded from 3rd party lead sources will NOT have the option to be subscribed to text messages.

The contact will have to first accept a Terms of Use by logging into their account on their agent's website which will automatically opt them into receiving text messages.

This function was created as a preventative measure for increases in spam reporting for text messages.

You are easily able to tell whether or not this setting is currently enabled by logging into BoldTrail, navigating to the Search Bar drop-down at the top of your Dashboard, and clicking on "Add Contact".

If you see 'Text' as an option to choose from the "Enable Permission to:" section, the "Enforce Opt-In" setting is NOT enabled on your account.

If you do not see 'Text' as an option to choose from the "Enable Permission to:" section, the "Enforce Opt In" setting IS enabled on your account.

In order to be subscribed to text messages in BoldTrail, a contact will need to accept the Terms of Use on your BoldTrail website.

To do this, they simply go to your website and log into their consumer account by clicking the 'Login' link in the top right corner.

Once at the register/login page they will see the portion of the Terms of Use that specifically refers to receiving calls and texts. Registering/logging in will be viewed as acceptance of those Terms and they will subsequently be opted into receiving calls and texts.

Alternatively, they may also reply to a text message sent by you to opt-in.

Have more questions? Please reach out to Customer Support via the blue chat bubble to the right or by emailing support@insiderealestate.com!