DNC scrubbing for wholesalers.
What it is, what the FTC registry is, and how to check skip-traced numbers against your own copy before you dial.
What DNC scrubbing is
Skip tracing gets you phone numbers. Some of the people behind those numbers have asked not to get sales calls. DNC scrubbing is the step where you check each number against the do-not-call lists and hold back the ones on them.
For wholesalers, DNC scrubbing sits between the skip trace and the dialer. Do it every time a new list comes back, not once a year.
The FTC's National Do Not Call Registry
The National Do Not Call Registry is run by the Federal Trade Commission. People add their own numbers to it. Businesses that make sales calls buy access to download the numbers for the area codes they call.
Here is what the government's own pages say, as of September 2026:
- How often: the FTC says call lists must be synced with an updated copy of the registry at least every 31 days.
- Cost: the registry site says the first five area codes are free. Each extra area code has a yearly fee. Check the registry site for the current fee.
- Penalty: the FTC's page lists large civil penalties per violation, and says each call may count as a separate violation.
Some states keep their own do-not-call lists too. If you call into one of those states, get that list as well.
Whether a call to buy a house counts as a sales call under these rules is a question for a lawyer. Many wholesalers scrub anyway, because it is cheap and it keeps you from calling people who asked not to be called.
Scrubbing against your own FTC file
Access to the registry is tied to the business that buys it. So the clean way to scrub is against your own download, under your own account:
- Set up your own access on the FTC's telemarketing registry site.
- Pick the area codes you call into and download them.
- Write down the date you downloaded the file. The 31-day clock starts there.
- Check every new number against that file before it goes into the dialer.
- Download a fresh copy before the file is 31 days old.
Your company-specific do-not-call list
The national list is only half of it. When someone tells you to stop calling, add them to your own list and honor it. The FTC's safe-harbor guidance expects you to keep one, along with written procedures, staff training, and records of how you scrub.
Keep this list in the same place you keep your contacts, so the note and the number can't drift apart.
A simple routine
- Skip trace the list.
- Scrub the new numbers against your FTC file, your state list and your own list.
- Hold back every number that matches, or that could not be checked.
- Call and text the rest. Log every "stop" the same day.
- Re-download the registry before the 31 days are up.
How Tracepoint handles it
Tracepoint has no registry of its own and does not sell you one. You upload the file you downloaded from the FTC under your own access. Tracepoint checks your numbers against that file, keeps the download date you enter, and shows how old the file is so you can see when it passes 31 days. A number it could not check is shown as unchecked, never as clear.
The numbers themselves come from the skip trace. A new account gets 5,000 free lookups, one time, no card.
Next, read how to skip trace a property or skip tracing absentee owners. For picking a tool, see what to look for in skip tracing software.
Not legal advice. This page explains how scrubbing works. It does not tell you what the law requires for your calls. Talk to a lawyer about your situation.