Your End-of-Year Compliance Review: The Most Common Mistakes B2C Lead Generators Still Make and the Tools That Catch Them Early

An end-of-year compliance review won’t be fun, but it’s necessary. As the year winds down, B2C lead generation companies should review performance metrics, optimize funnels, and plan for the year ahead. But one area that can’t be overlooked in your annual audit is regulatory compliance, especially as TCPA, DNC, and data privacy enforcement continues to tighten.

If your business relies on outbound calling, texting, data enrichment, or high-volume lead intake, even small compliance oversights can quickly turn into major financial and reputational risks. This end-of-year compliance review guide highlights the most common mistakes companies make and shares the tools you can use to prevent these mistakes before they become problems.

Common TCPA Mistakes

Despite years of enforcement and industry education, TCPA violations remain among the most expensive mistakes in the lead generation world. Here are the patterns that show up most often in audits:

1. Storing Proof of Consent Inconsistently (or Not at All)

Lead providers often assume the original vendor retains proof of consent. But when regulators or litigators ask for the exact consent record, there is some specific information they expect. Be prepared to show 

• date and timestamp
• source URL or publisher
• full consent language
• user’s activity log or IP
• double-opt-in, where required

Missing even one data point can invalidate your consent.

2. Relying on Scrubbed Lists That Aren’t Actually Up to Date

There are a number of factors that can cause internal scrubbing routines to fail. DNC files can be outdated. There can be rate-limits or API failures. Integration between CRM and dialer can be improper. And vendors might not sync data automatically.

If you think you’re calling clean data but your scrubs aren’t real-time, you’re at risk.

3. Not Blocking High-Risk Litigators or Frequent TCPA Plaintiffs

Repeat TCPA litigators actively sign up for lead forms. Without tools that flag known serial litigants, many companies inadvertently call or text them.

Common Do-Not-Call (DNC) List Mistakes

The National DNC Registry and state-level lists continue to expand and enforcement has increased. These are some typical DNC list pitfalls:

1. Failing to Scrub Against Both National and State Lists

Some states, Florida and Oklahoma for example, maintain their own registries with distinct rules. Missing these rules can result in violations even if the national list is clean.

2. Believing Consent Always Overrides DNC Status

In many cases, believing consent does override DNC status—but not always. If you prioritize belief over DNC status and you’re wrong, consequences could be costly. Remember that consent must be documented, brand-specific, and compliant with state-by-state disclosure rules. Generic or lead-aggregated consent, therefore, often doesn’t qualify.

3. Not Revalidating Phone Numbers That Age Out

Remember that consent records are fluid and change over time. A consumer who opted in, say, six months ago may have changed their number, revoked consent, or been reassigned to a new owner in that time. Therefore, numbers need ongoing monitoring so you avoid calling reassigned or DNC-registered consumers.

Data Privacy Mistakes (CCPA, CPRA, GDPR, and Emerging State Laws)

With about 20 states now implementing their own privacy regulations, many lead gen companies still struggle to follow a few procedures:

1. Failing to Track Data Provenance Across Multiple Vendors

If you can’t identify exactly where a record originated, you can’t:

• provide consumer disclosure
• process opt-outs correctly
• fulfill deletion requests
• prove compliant collection

2. Ignoring “Sale or Sharing” Classification Rules

Under laws like CPRA, sharing data with some partners counts as “selling.”

This requires:

• updated disclosures
• data processing agreements
• opt-out mechanisms

Unfortunately, many companies still classify incorrectly. Don’t be one of them.

3. Missing Live Compliance Signals in Real Time

Privacy enforcement now prevents issues before they happen.

Companies that rely solely on manual review miss high-risk patterns such as:

• improper consent language
• missing privacy notices
• overcollection of data
• tracking without proper permissions

End-of-Year Compliance Review Tools 

Fortunately, there are a number of tools you can use to catch mistakes early and dramatically reduce your risk. Whether you’re a lead buyer, seller, or full-stack generator, the right compliance tools can eliminate most of your vulnerability. Here, we list various categories and recommended use cases.

TCPA & DNC Compliance Tools

Number verification and DNC scrubbing tools help ensure that numbers are safe to call. Check national and state DNC lists. Identify reassigned or invalid numbers. Validate line type (mobile, VoIP, landline). Confirm carrier information. And identify high-risk litigators.

Upload batches of data to a phone validator to get phone data for all line types. This includes a DNC list check as well as a TCPA litigation check which identifies numbers involved in TCPA litigation between 2000 and the present.

Consent collection and audit tools ensure proof of consent is captured, stored, and easily retrievable.

Source-level lead validation platforms like Jornaya (LeadiD) track consumer activity and provide consent verification focusing on publisher transparency and lead authenticity. ActiveProspect (TrustedForm), too, captures proof of consent at the form level and provides certificates showing how/when data was collected.

Data Privacy Compliance Tools

Identity and data verification utilities help validate the accuracy and legitimacy of the consumer data you’re storing. Phone/email/name/address verification, for example, ensures the data you have for each lead matches. You can use a separate verification tool for each individual dataset, or you can use a batch append tool to verify each dataset you select.

Data verification tools, reverse lookup, and identity cross-checks help ensure the data you store actually belongs to the consumer who submitted it which is critical for privacy compliance.

Furthermore, privacy request automation tools like OneTrust manage data access requests, CCPA/CPRA opt-outs, deletion requests, and consumer identity verification. 

Lead Verification and Fraud Detection Tools

Lead verification and fraud detection tools catch low-quality, fake, or risky leads before they enter your system. Email validation APIs can verify email data in real time at the point of entry, supporting form hygiene and validation. 

Identity and phone/email verification tools detect fraud from bots, high-risk IPs, and disposable emails. They also aid in duplicate prevention and identification of geolocation mismatches.

How to Complete Your End-of-Year Compliance Review

Here’s a quick audit checklist you can copy directly into your internal SOP:

1: Consent Collection

• Do you have timestamped, URL-specific proof of consent?
• Is consent stored in one accessible location?
• Do you use tools like TrustedForm or LeadiD where appropriate?

2: DNC and TCPA Compliance

• Are your DNC scrubs real-time (or checked every 6 months) and multi-state?
• Do you verify line type and carrier before dialing?
• Are litigators and VoIP farms blocked?

3: Data Privacy

• Is every lead traceable back to its origin?
• Are you compliant with each state’s privacy laws?
• Can you fulfill access, deletion, and opt-out requests within required timelines?

4: Data Accuracy

• Are you validating contact info proactively?
• Are you removing stale or impossible combinations like mismatched names and phone numbers?

If your answer to any of these is “not consistently,” now is the time to fix it.

Now Is the Time for Your End-of-Year Compliance Review

An end-of-year compliance review isn’t just about avoiding lawsuits. It’s about protecting your brand, improving lead quality, and maintaining trust with consumers. With stronger enforcement coming in 2026, companies that invest in automated compliance tools now will be far better positioned in the new regulatory landscape.

Searchbug has the tools you need to get started. Verify all of your phone data against DNC and TCPA litigation databases, and maintain privacy compliance by appending up-to-date contact data to your leads. Try it today!