May a real estate agency call a seller from a listing?
Phone call, text, e-mail and portal message: what an agent may and may not do, and how a seller can push back. Under the Electronic Communications Act, Act No. 480/2004 Coll., the Consumer Protection Act, the GDPR and guidance from ČTÚ, ÚOOÚ and MPO.
You post a “direct from owner” listing and within an hour three agencies call you. Are they allowed to? It depends on how they contact you. Authorities do not treat a live phone call to a number you published yourself as prohibited. A text or e-mail offering services without your prior consent is prohibited. We go through the rules for sellers, agents and buyers who post a wanted ad.
1. A live call to the number in the listing
The Electronic Communications Act prohibits offering goods or services by phone to people who have not stated in a public directory that they wish to be contacted for marketing (Section 96(1) of Act No. 127/2005 Coll.). A subscriber directory also includes a “list of telephone numbers without other identification data” (Section 95(5) of Act No. 127/2005 Coll.).
However, according to joint guidance from ČTÚ, ÚOOÚ and MPO (Telemarketing – interpretative opinion, 2022, questions A6 and B5), a number published by the person themselves is not a subscriber directory, and Section 96 of Act No. 127/2005 Coll. does not apply to it. The caller must consider the purpose for which the number was published and comply with the GDPR. If the listing limits contact (for example “buyers only” or “RK nevolat”, meaning no agencies), this must be respected. This is the authorities’ interpretation, not the law, and a court may decide otherwise.
Automated calls without human involvement may be used for direct marketing only with prior consent (Section 96(2) of Act No. 127/2005 Coll.). A recorded voice offering agency services may therefore not call anyone without consent.
If you are not selling as part of a business, the Consumer Protection Act (Act No. 634/1992 Coll.) also protects you. Under it you are a consumer, and an agency offering you brokerage is a business providing services to consumers (Section 2(1)(a) and (b) of Act No. 634/1992 Coll.). Repeated unsolicited offers by phone, e-mail or other means of distance transmission are always an aggressive commercial practice (Act No. 634/1992 Coll., Annex 2(c)). An aggressive practice is unfair and the law prohibits it (Act No. 634/1992 Coll., Section 4(3) and (4)).
2. Texts, e-mails and messages: consent only
Under the law, electronic mail means a text, voice, sound or image message sent over a public network (Section 2(b) of Act No. 480/2004 Coll.), which includes texts. Contact details may be used for commercial communications only for people who have given prior consent (Section 7(2) of Act No. 480/2004 Coll.). The ČTÚ, ÚOOÚ and MPO guidance (question B5) adds that even a text asking for consent may not be sent without consent. It is safest to treat WhatsApp or Viber messages the same way.
The exception applies only to a company’s own customers and only to similar products or services (Section 7(3) of Act No. 480/2004 Coll.). A seller found through a listing is not the agency’s customer. Every e-mail with an offer must be clearly marked as a commercial communication (obchodní sdělení), must not hide the sender and must include an address for opting out of further messages (Section 7(4) of Act No. 480/2004 Coll.).
A business that sends commercial communications in bulk or repeatedly without the recipient’s consent commits an offence (Section 11(2) of Act No. 480/2004 Coll.). The fine can reach CZK 10,000,000 (Section 11(5) of Act No. 480/2004 Coll.).
3. GDPR: who is calling, where the number came from and how to say no
The number in your listing is personal data the agent did not get from you directly. At the latest at the first contact, they must therefore tell you who they are, why they use the data, on what legal basis and from which source (Article 14(1), (2) and (3) GDPR). The legal basis may be legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR), provided your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms do not override it. Under recital 47 GDPR, direct marketing may count as a legitimate interest, but that interest always gives way to your objection.
You may object to direct marketing at any time, after which your data may no longer be processed for that purpose (Article 21(2) and (3) GDPR). The agent must bring this right to your attention clearly and separately at the latest at the first communication (Article 21(4) GDPR). It is enough to say: “Nesouhlasím s dalším kontaktem, vymažte mé číslo” (I do not agree to further contact, delete my number).
4. Portal rules
Besides the law, listing portals have their own terms (as of 9 October 2026). Bezrealitky prohibits real estate agents from registering and from sending advertising messages to users through the site, with a contractual penalty of CZK 35,000 for each case (Bezrealitky Terms of Service, Article 5(2) and (3)). Sreality’s listing terms (effective from 8 April 2026) prohibit, among other things, bulk extraction of data from its database.
5. What a seller can do
- Write “RK nevolat” or “realitní kanceláře prosím nekontaktovat” (agencies please do not contact) in your listing.
- During the call, ask which company the agent represents and where they got your number.
- If you do not want further contact, say so clearly; this is an objection under Article 21 GDPR.
- Do not respond to unsolicited texts and e-mails via links in them if you do not know the sender; keep them as evidence.
- You can report repeated unsolicited texts or e-mails to ÚOOÚ, the supervisory authority for them (Section 10(1) of Act No. 480/2004 Coll.); you can also file a GDPR complaint with ÚOOÚ.
- Does the same company call again with an offer after you said no? You can file a complaint (podnět) with the Czech Trade Inspection Authority (ČOI), which supervises compliance with the Consumer Protection Act (Section 23(1) of Act No. 634/1992 Coll.).
- A phone call does not bind you to anything: a real estate brokerage contract must be in writing (Section 9(2) of Act No. 39/2020 Coll.) and must state the commission (Section 10 of Act No. 39/2020 Coll.). You can therefore choose an agent yourself, without pressure: compare written offers and what you get for the commission.
6. Buyers with a wanted ad
Anyone who posts a wanted ad (“buying a 2+kk flat in Prague”) has the same rights as a seller: under the authorities’ guidance a live call to the published number is possible, a text or e-mail offering services without consent is not, and an objection under Article 21 GDPR can be raised at any time. If an agent offers you a specific flat, ask whether they represent the seller and who pays the commission.
7. Checklist for agents
- Call in person, one at a time, only to a number published by the seller; no automated calls.
- Skip listings with “RK nevolat” or a similar restriction.
- At the start of the call: your name, company, where you got the number (the listing), the purpose and a reminder of the right to refuse further contact.
- After a “no”, end the call and add the number to your do-not-call list.
- Never make first contact by text, e-mail, app message or through the portal.
- E-mail only after consent: marked “Obchodní sdělení”, full identification, an opt-out address.
- Do not bulk-copy data from portals; do not create an account where the terms forbid agents to do so.
- Provide services only under a written contract stating the commission.