Compliance & TCPA

Knock is a tool. You are the sender. This page explains the obligations you take on and how Knock helps you meet them.

What Knock is

Knock schedules personal text messages and forwards them to your iPhone, which sends them from your own phone number. Knock does not operate a bulk-SMS gateway, does not register as a 10DLC brand, and does not route messages through a carrier shortcode. Each text comes from your real wireless line.

What you are responsible for

You are the sender of every message. Federal and state laws — including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the CAN-SPAM Act (for any email use), and applicable state mini-TCPAs — apply to your sending activity.

• Prior express consent. Do not text people who haven't agreed to receive texts from you. Knock requires you to check the consent box for each contact and will not send to contacts without it.
• Honor opt-outs. If a recipient asks you to stop, add them to the blacklist immediately. Do not re-send.
• Identify yourself. Your name and brokerage (or company) should appear in any message that is promotional in nature.
• Quiet hours. Federal TCPA prohibits telemarketing calls/texts before 8 AM or after 9 PM in the recipient's local time. Knock defaults to a 9 PM–9 AM quiet window in the recipient's time zone.
• DNC compliance. If a contact is on a federal or state Do Not Call registry and your message is solicitation, do not text them. Knock does not currently perform automatic DNC scrubs; you must verify independently for solicitation messages.

What Knock enforces automatically

• Consent gate. No send without a consent flag on the contact.
• Blacklist gate. Any number on your org's blacklist is silently dropped.
• Blackout dates. No sends on dates you mark as blackout days.
• Daily rate limit. No more than your configured per-day cap (default 20) per org.
• Quiet hours. No send if the recipient's local clock is inside your org's quiet window.
• Audit log. Every decision (sent or blocked, with reason) is recorded for at least 12 months.

What Knock does not do

• Landline detection. Knock does not currently distinguish mobile from landline numbers. Texting a landline does nothing and may produce noise; we recommend verifying before adding.
• DNC registry scrub. Knock does not query the Federal DNC Registry. If you send solicitation messages, scrub independently.
• Reply tracking. Replies go to your normal Messages app and are not visible to Knock. You must process opt-out requests yourself.

Real estate sender notes

Texts to past clients with an existing business relationship generally fall within the established-business-relationship exception for non-marketing communications (birthdays, anniversaries, check-ins). Texts that are solicitation in nature (asking for referrals, advertising listings) require explicit prior express written consent under TCPA. When in doubt, treat the message as marketing.

Disclaimer

This page is informational and not legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney for advice on your specific situation. Knock and its operators disclaim liability for messages sent through this product.

Last updated May 14, 2026.