Area code 903 calling hours: can you call now?

Area code 903 serves Tyler, Longview, and Texarkana in Texas. It is on Central time. Clocks move for daylight saving time in March and November.

Debt collection: federal — Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Texas: no separate hour rule.
Telemarketing: federal — 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Texas: 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Saturday and noon–9 p.m. Sunday.

Live check: area code 903

Turn on JavaScript for the live check. The rules table below lists every window that applies to 903.

Not checked here: consent, Do-Not-Call lists, Reg F call frequency (7 calls in 7 days), cease-communication requests or attorney representation, reassigned numbers, and whether the consumer has told you a time is inconvenient.

Calling-hour rules for 903

Hours are local time at the person you are calling. When federal and Texas rules differ, the narrower window governs; the live check applies every row at once.

Rule set	Debt collection	Telemarketing
Federal	Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1) · 12 CFR § 1006.6(b)(1)(i) (Regulation F) · Reg F Official Interpretation, comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2 (consumer's location) · 12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2) Call-frequency presumption: a collector is presumed to comply with the harassment ban if it places no more than 7 calls to a person about a particular debt within 7 consecutive days, and no call within 7 days after a telephone conversation with that person about the debt; exceeding either is presumed a violation (12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)). Conflicting location information: if the collector's information indicates the consumer may be in more than one place (e.g. an Eastern-zone area code and a Pacific-zone address), it complies only by calling at a time convenient in all of those locations (Reg F comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2). A collector may not call at any time it knows or should know is inconvenient to the consumer (e.g. after the consumer says so), regardless of the 8 a.m.-9 p.m. default (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1); Reg F comment 6(b)(1)-1). No federal Sunday or holiday ban, but a consumer's statement that a day or time is inconvenient makes calls then unlawful. The 8-9 window is a default presumption that the consumer's prior consent (given directly to the collector) or a court can override.	8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1) (TCPA rules) · 16 CFR § 310.4(c) (Telemarketing Sales Rule) No telephone solicitation to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry absent an established business relationship or the consumer's signed written permission (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)). Autodialed or artificial/prerecorded-voice telemarketing calls to wireless numbers, and prerecorded telemarketing calls to residential lines, require the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)). Sellers must honor company-specific do-not-call requests (47 CFR § 64.1200(d); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A)). TSR § 310.4(c) allows calls outside 8-9 with the person's prior consent; the TCPA time rule in § 64.1200(c)(1) has no consent exception for telephone solicitations as defined.
Texas	No separate state hours; the federal window applies.	9 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Saturday and noon–9 p.m. Sunday. Mon–Sat 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Sun noon–9:00 p.m. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 301.051 Caller must give name, business and purpose immediately; automated dial announcing devices must disconnect within the period in Utilities Code § 55.126 (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 301.051(b)). Chapter 301 does not say whose clock governs; modeled as the called party's local time. Whether S.B. 140 (2025) extends Chapter 301 quiet hours to texts is disputed by commentators.

Debt collection

Telemarketing

Federal

Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day.

Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1) · 12 CFR § 1006.6(b)(1)(i) (Regulation F) · Reg F Official Interpretation, comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2 (consumer's location) · 12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)

Call-frequency presumption: a collector is presumed to comply with the harassment ban if it places no more than 7 calls to a person about a particular debt within 7 consecutive days, and no call within 7 days after a telephone conversation with that person about the debt; exceeding either is presumed a violation (12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)).
Conflicting location information: if the collector's information indicates the consumer may be in more than one place (e.g. an Eastern-zone area code and a Pacific-zone address), it complies only by calling at a time convenient in all of those locations (Reg F comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2).
A collector may not call at any time it knows or should know is inconvenient to the consumer (e.g. after the consumer says so), regardless of the 8 a.m.-9 p.m. default (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1); Reg F comment 6(b)(1)-1).

No federal Sunday or holiday ban, but a consumer's statement that a day or time is inconvenient makes calls then unlawful. The 8-9 window is a default presumption that the consumer's prior consent (given directly to the collector) or a court can override.

8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day.

Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1) (TCPA rules) · 16 CFR § 310.4(c) (Telemarketing Sales Rule)

No telephone solicitation to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry absent an established business relationship or the consumer's signed written permission (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)).
Autodialed or artificial/prerecorded-voice telemarketing calls to wireless numbers, and prerecorded telemarketing calls to residential lines, require the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)).
Sellers must honor company-specific do-not-call requests (47 CFR § 64.1200(d); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A)).

TSR § 310.4(c) allows calls outside 8-9 with the person's prior consent; the TCPA time rule in § 64.1200(c)(1) has no consent exception for telephone solicitations as defined.

Texas

No separate state hours; the federal window applies.

9 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Saturday and noon–9 p.m. Sunday.

Mon–Sat 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Sun noon–9:00 p.m.

Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 301.051

Caller must give name, business and purpose immediately; automated dial announcing devices must disconnect within the period in Utilities Code § 55.126 (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 301.051(b)).

Chapter 301 does not say whose clock governs; modeled as the called party's local time. Whether S.B. 140 (2025) extends Chapter 301 quiet hours to texts is disputed by commentators.

Also in Texas

The Texas Debt Collection Act prohibits harassment (e.g., causing a phone to ring repeatedly with intent to harass) but sets no fixed calling hours (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.302).

Exchanges and time zones

Every assigned exchange in 903 sits in Central time, so the area code alone settles the zone for a landline. The 25 largest rate centers by exchange count:

Rate center	Exchanges
Tyler, TX	75
Longview, TX	72
Texarkana, TX	39
Sherman, TX	31
Greenville, TX	28
Paris, TX	19
Athens, TX	15
Corsicana, TX	15
Marshall, TX	15
Denison, TX	14
Palestine, TX	14
Kilgore, TX	13
Sulphur Springs, TX	13
Mount Pleasant, TX	11
Bonham, TX	10
Jacksonville, TX	10
Carthage, TX	8
Henderson, TX	8
Pittsburg, TX	8
Mabank, TX	7
Gunter, TX	6
Ben Wheeler, TX	5
Canton, TX	5
Fairfield, TX	5
Mineola, TX	5

Overlay codes — same territory as 903, same rules: 430

Other area codes in Texas:

210 San Antonio
214 Dallas
254 Waco
281 Houston
325 Abilene
346 Houston
361 Corpus Christi
409 Beaumont
432 Midland
469 Grand Prairie
512 Austin
621
682 Arlington
713 Houston
726 San Antonio
737 Austin
806 Lubbock
817 Arlington
830 New Braunfels
832 Houston
915 El Paso
936 Conroe
940 Wichita Falls
945 Grand Prairie
956 Laredo
972 Dallas
979 Bryan

Why area code alone is not enough

Mobile numbers travel with their owners, and a ported number keeps its original 903 area code and exchange. A 903 number tells you where the line was assigned, not where the person is today.
Under Regulation F, when you know of more than one location for a consumer — a mailing address in one zone, an area code in another — the time must be convenient in every one of them. Use the address-state field above to add the zones you know about.
Call only when the window is open in every location you know about, and stop calling at times the consumer tells you are inconvenient, whatever the clock says.

Questions

What time can you call area code 903?

Area code 903 is in Texas, on Central time. Debt collection: federal — Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Texas: no separate hour rule. Telemarketing: federal — 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Texas: 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Saturday and noon–9 p.m. Sunday.

What time zone is area code 903?

Area code 903 is entirely in Central time. Clocks move for daylight saving time in March and November.

Can a debt collector call a 903 number on Sunday?

Neither federal law nor Texas sets separate Sunday hours for debt collection; the 8 a.m.–9 p.m. local-time window applies, and a consumer can tell a collector that Sunday is inconvenient.

Is the 903 area code enough to know the person's local time?

No. Mobile numbers move with their owners and ported numbers keep their area code, so a 903 number may belong to someone in another time zone. If you know other locations for the person, the call should fit the window in all of them.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and some rules depend on who is calling and why; confirm with counsel. Rules last reviewed 2026-10-07.