Call Recording Consent, by State

Federal law lets you record a call as long as one person on it agrees — and since you're on the call, that person is you. Most states follow the same rule. A minority require everyone on the line to agree, and recording without that can be a crime as well as grounds to sue you.

The catch on a collection call is that the collector is usually calling from somewhere else. If either end of the call sits in a state that requires everyone's consent, the safe assumption is that the stricter rule governs.

Recording is the riskiest way to document a call and it isn't the only one. Logging the call — who rang, when, and what was said — is lawful everywhere and is what actually builds the timeline. An off-hours call is a potential violation because of when it happened, which a log captures perfectly well.

A voicemail is different again: someone who leaves you a message has handed you the recording themselves, so there's no consent question. Those are safe to keep and upload anywhere in the country, and they're often better evidence than a log entry because they preserve what was actually said.

If you do decide to record where everyone must agree, saying so at the start of the call and capturing the other side's answer on the recording is the usual way consent is established.

Recording a private conversation in these states generally requires the consent of every party to it. Several are marked unsettled: the statute and the case law point in different directions, or the rule differs between a phone call and an in-person conversation. Treat those as requiring consent.

• California

  Every party to a confidential communication must consent before it is recorded.

  Cal. Penal Code § 632

• ConnecticutUnsettled

  Connecticut splits: the criminal wiretap rule is one-party, but a separate civil statute requires consent from all parties to a phone call and creates a private right to sue. Treat phone calls as all-party.

  Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-570d (civil); § 53a-187 (criminal)

• Delaware

  Delaware's privacy statute requires all parties to consent, though a separate wiretap provision reads as one-party — treat it as all-party.

  Del. Code tit. 11 § 1335

• Florida

  All parties must consent before a private conversation is recorded.

  Fla. Stat. § 934.03

• Illinois

  Illinois requires consent from all parties to a private conversation. The eavesdropping statute was rewritten after the prior version was struck down, so the current rule is comparatively recent.

  720 ILCS 5/14-2

• Massachusetts

  Massachusetts bans secret recording outright. Unlike most states it turns on secrecy rather than consent, which makes it among the strictest in the country.

  Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272 § 99

• Maryland

  All parties must consent before a private conversation is recorded.

  Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-402

• MichiganUnsettled

  The statute reads as all-party, but Michigan case law has held that a participant in a conversation may record it. The conflict has never been fully resolved — treat it as all-party.

  Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539c

• Montana

  All parties must be notified before a conversation is recorded.

  Mont. Code § 45-8-213

• New Hampshire

  All parties must consent before a conversation is recorded.

  N.H. Rev. Stat. § 570-A:2

• NevadaUnsettled

  Nevada's statute is one-party on its face, but the state Supreme Court read the telephone provision to require consent from all parties. In-person and telephone are treated differently — treat phone calls as all-party.

  Nev. Rev. Stat. § 200.620

• OregonUnsettled

  Oregon splits by medium: telephone calls follow the one-party rule, while in-person conversations require that everyone be informed.

  Or. Rev. Stat. § 165.540

• Pennsylvania

  All parties must consent before a conversation is recorded.

  18 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 5703–5704

• Washington

  All parties must consent. Consent can be established by an announcement recorded on the call itself.

  Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.030

The remaining states follow the federal one-party rule (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)): recording is permitted when at least one party to the call consents. Because you're on the call, you are that party — so recording your own conversation is allowed.

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · Colorado · District of Columbia · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Nebraska · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Puerto Rico · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Collector Audit is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice. These rules turn on facts a summary can't know — whether a conversation was “confidential”, where each party actually was, and which state's law a court would apply. Some entries above rest on court decisions rather than plain statutory text and could change.

If you're deciding whether to record a specific call, check your own state's current statute or speak to a licensed attorney in your state. See our full disclaimer and state debt-collection protections.