Published
October 3, 2026
The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the CFPB’s Regulation F limit when and how often third-party debt collectors can call, bar threats of arrest and talk about the debt with family or employers, and let a consumer cut off contact with a written request. A collector that breaks those rules can be sued within one year for actual damages plus up to $1,000.
Who the FDCPA Covers — and Who It Does Not
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 and the sections that follow it, governs debt collectors: businesses whose principal purpose is collecting debts, and anyone who regularly collects debts owed to someone else. That covers collection agencies and, since the Supreme Court’s 1995 decision in Heintz v. Jenkins, lawyers who regularly collect consumer debts, including by filing lawsuits.Two limits shape almost every FDCPA question:
• The debt must be a consumer debt — one taken on mainly for personal, family or household purposes. Credit cards, car loans, medical bills, student loans and mortgages qualify. Business debts do not.
• The original creditor collecting its own debt in its own name is generally not covered. A bank chasing a late payment on its own credit card is outside the federal law, even though a collection agency it hires for the same account is inside it.
Debt buyers fall in between. In Henson v. Santander Consumer USA (2017), the Supreme Court held that a company collecting debts it bought for its own account is not covered under the “regularly collects debts owed another” part of the definition. The Court expressly did not decide the other part, so a debt buyer whose main business is collection can still be a debt collector under the principal-purpose test.
State laws fill some of the gap. The CFPB notes that most states have their own debt collection laws and that some of them cover original creditors. Florida’s Consumer Collection Practices Act and the North Carolina Debt Collection Act are two examples. A pending Florida case shows how that plays out: a proposed class action alleges PNC Bank kept sending collection letters after customers asked it to stop, a claim brought under the Florida statute because PNC was collecting its own accounts.
When and How Often a Collector Can Contact You
The CFPB’s debt collection rule, Regulation F (12 C.F.R. Part 1006), took effect November 30, 2021, and turned several of the FDCPA’s general standards into specific numbers.Call frequency. A collector is presumed to violate the law if it calls a person about a particular debt more than seven times within seven consecutive days, or calls within seven days after having a phone conversation with that person about the debt. Calls that go to voicemail count toward the seven. The presumption can be rebutted, and the count is per debt, so a person with several accounts in collection can lawfully get more calls. Texts and emails are not counted.
Time of day. Unless the collector knows otherwise, only the hours between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the consumer’s local time are presumed convenient. A collector also may not contact someone at any other time or place it knows, or should know, is inconvenient.
Work. A collector may not contact a consumer at work if it knows or has reason to know the employer prohibits it. Regulation F separately bars emailing an address the collector knows the employer provided, with narrow exceptions such as the consumer having used that address to contact the collector.
Texts, email and social media. Every collection text and email must include a clear, simple way to opt out of that channel. A collector may reach out through social media only by private message, never by a post the public or the person’s contacts can see. A consumer can also tell a collector to stop using a particular channel altogether — no calls to a cell phone, for example — and the collector must honor it.
An attorney. Once a collector knows the consumer has a lawyer for the debt and can find out the lawyer’s name and address, it must deal with the lawyer instead.
What a Collector Cannot Say or Do
Section 1692d bans conduct meant to harass, oppress or abuse. The statute’s own examples include threats of violence or harm to a person’s reputation or property, obscene or profane language, publishing lists of people who allegedly refuse to pay, making a phone ring repeatedly or continuously to annoy, and calling without disclosing who is calling.Section 1692e bars false or misleading statements. Among them:
• Misstating the amount, character or legal status of a debt.
• Falsely implying that the caller is a lawyer or that a letter comes from one.
• Suggesting that nonpayment will lead to arrest or jail.
• Threatening a lawsuit, garnishment or other action that cannot legally be taken or that the collector does not intend to take.
• Falsely accusing the consumer of a crime, or reporting credit information the collector knows is false.
• Failing to say that the communication is from a debt collector. Regulation F requires the first communication to say it is an attempt to collect a debt.
Section 1692f covers unfair practices, most importantly collecting any amount — interest, fees, charges — that the underlying agreement or the law does not authorize. It also bars collecting by postcard and printing anything on an envelope that reveals the letter is about a debt. Fees charged just for paying by phone or online have been a recurring fight under this section: according to the CFPB’s 2025 FDCPA report, the Eleventh Circuit held in Glover v. Ocwen (2025) that such “convenience” fees violate § 1692f(1) when the agreement or law does not expressly allow them. A North Carolina mortgage case over the same kind of fee produced the $9 million Dovenmuehle pay-to-pay fee settlement.
Family, Friends, Neighbors and Employers
A collector may contact other people only to locate the consumer — to get an address, a home phone number or a place of work. In those calls it may not say that the person owes a debt, and it generally may contact each third party only once.The debt itself may be discussed with the consumer, the consumer’s spouse, the parent of a minor, a guardian, an executor or administrator, and the consumer’s attorney, along with credit bureaus, the creditor and the lawyers on each side. Telling a neighbor, a co-worker or an adult child about the debt is outside that list.
The Validation Notice and the 30-Day Dispute Window
Within five days after first contacting a consumer, a collector must send written validation information: how much is owed, who the creditor is, and how to dispute the debt. Regulation F includes a model form, and a collector that uses it gets a safe harbor for the form’s content.The consumer then has 30 days to dispute the debt in writing or ask for the name and address of the original creditor. Under § 1692g(b), a timely written dispute stops collection of the disputed amount until the collector mails verification or a copy of a judgment. Not disputing within 30 days cannot be treated by a court as an admission that the debt is owed.
The dispute right matters more than it used to. In its annual report on 2025 complaints, the CFPB said it received about 387,400 debt collection complaints, up from about 207,800 the year before. Complaints by people who did not recognize the kind of debt being collected rose about 240% compared with the prior two years’ monthly average, and complaints about attempts to collect a debt not owed rose about 115%. The CFPB said a main driver was unfamiliar collection accounts showing up on credit reports — errors that have their own correction process, covered in how to dispute a credit report error.
How to Make a Collector Stop Contacting You
Under § 1692c(c), a consumer who tells a collector in writing that they refuse to pay, or that they want the collector to stop communicating, ends most contact. After that the collector may write only to say it is ending its efforts, or that it or the creditor may take — or intends to take — a specific step such as filing a lawsuit.The CFPB’s guidance is to send the letter by certified mail with a return receipt and keep a copy. Two cautions come with it: a stop-contact letter does not make the debt go away, and the creditor or collector can still sue or report the debt to a credit bureau.
Ignoring a stop request is the kind of conduct that produces lawsuits. A proposed class action in Florida alleges that the collector Bounce AI kept texting people after they replied STOP; no class has been certified and the claims are unproven.
Old Debts and the Statute of Limitations
Every state sets a deadline for suing on a debt. The CFPB says most fall between three and six years, some are longer, and federal student loans have none. Once that period runs out the debt is “time-barred.” Regulation F flatly prohibits a collector from suing or threatening to sue on a time-barred debt, but the collector can still ask for payment.Two traps make old debts dangerous:
• In some states, a partial payment or a written acknowledgment that the debt is owed can restart the limitations period. Both the CFPB and the FTC warn about this.
• If a collector does sue on a time-barred debt anyway, the consumer usually has to raise the statute of limitations as a defense. A court will not necessarily raise it on its own.
Credit reporting runs on a separate clock. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a collection account cannot be reported once it is more than seven years old, counted from 180 days after the delinquency that led to collection — roughly seven and a half years from the first missed payment. Because that period is tied to the original delinquency, it is a different clock from the one that governs lawsuits.
Regulation F also bars what is sometimes called passive credit reporting. Before reporting a debt to a credit bureau, a collector must first speak with the consumer or send a letter or electronic message and wait a reasonable period — the CFPB’s official interpretation treats 14 days as reasonable — to see whether it comes back undeliverable.
Medical Debt: What Changed and What Did Not
The three nationwide credit bureaus changed their own medical debt policies in 2022 and 2023. Since July 1, 2022, paid medical collections are removed from credit reports and unpaid medical collections cannot appear until they are a year old. Since April 11, 2023, medical collections under $500 are not reported at all. The CFPB has told consumers to dispute any such item that still appears.A broader federal rule did not survive. The CFPB finalized a rule in January 2025 that would have generally kept medical debt off credit reports used by lenders. On July 11, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated it in Cornerstone Credit Union League v. CFPB, holding that it exceeded the agency’s authority; the CFPB itself had joined the industry plaintiffs in asking for that result. In May 2025 the CFPB also withdrew dozens of guidance documents, including a 2024 advisory opinion on medical debt collection. None of that changed the FDCPA or Regulation F, which apply to medical debt like any other consumer debt.
Billing disputes over medical balances are a growing source of litigation. A proposed class action in Michigan alleges Corewell Health kept pursuing patients for balances insurers had already paid, and a Florida suit alleges Tulsa Adjustment Bureau sought payment from injured workers for workers’ compensation medical care. Both cases are at the allegation stage.
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Suing a Debt Collector: Damages, Deadlines and Standing
Section 1692k sets the remedies. A consumer who wins an individual case can recover:• Actual damages — the losses the violation caused.
• Additional statutory damages of up to $1,000. The statute sets that cap per lawsuit, not per violation.
• Court costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee in a successful case.
In a class action, each named plaintiff can receive up to $1,000, and the rest of the class shares no more than $500,000 or 1% of the collector’s net worth, whichever is less. That cap is why FDCPA class settlements are often small per person. A collector can avoid liability by showing the violation was an unintentional, bona fide error despite reasonable procedures to prevent it.
The deadline is short. A suit must be filed within one year of the violation, and in Rotkiske v. Klemm (2019) the Supreme Court held that the year runs from when the violation occurred, not from when the consumer discovered it.
Federal courts have also narrowed which violations can be sued over. After TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez (2021) required every class member seeking damages to show a concrete injury, several appeals courts dismissed FDCPA cases built on letters alone. The Eleventh Circuit, sitting en banc in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection (2022), held that sending debt details to a letter vendor did not cause a concrete harm, and the Seventh Circuit in Pierre v. Midland Credit Management (2022) said confusion and worry over a collection letter are not enough. Cases involving actual harassment, money paid or credit damage stand on firmer ground. State courts can apply their own standing rules — an Illinois court dismissed a no-injury FDCPA class action over envelope markings in 2026 on similar reasoning.
Some collection cases end in settlements that pay class members directly. Maryland tenants pursued by a collector for rent on unlicensed rental homes are receiving $350 per household automatically from the Hunter Warfield settlement.
Where to Report a Debt Collector
• The CFPB complaint portal forwards complaints to the company, and the CFPB says companies generally respond within 15 days.• The FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• The state attorney general’s consumer protection office enforces state collection laws; the state-by-state directory of consumer protection offices lists each one.
Federal enforcement has been thin. The CFPB’s 2025 FDCPA report says that no federal agency other than the FTC brought or resolved a public FDCPA enforcement action in 2024. The FTC has focused on so-called phantom debt operations. In one case filed in 2024, the FTC alleged a Georgia operation threatened people with arrest and lawsuits over debts they did not owe; in May 2025 the agency announced a settlement that would permanently ban the defendants from debt collection and impose a $9.68 million judgment, suspended once they surrender their assets.
Fake collectors use the same tactics as abusive real ones. The FTC tells consumers that a caller who threatens to have them arrested, suspend their driver’s license or call their employer is running a scam, and that the way to confirm a debt is real is to get the validation information and dispute anything unrecognized. A legitimate collector has to provide that information, so a consumer who is unsure can ask for it before paying anything.
A Checklist for Dealing With a Collector
• Ask for the validation information, and dispute the debt in writing within 30 days if the amount, the creditor or the debt itself looks wrong.• Keep a log of every call — date, time, the caller’s name and company, and what was said — and save letters, texts, emails and voicemails.
• Tell the collector which times and channels are off limits, including calls at work.
• Send a written stop-contact letter if the calls need to end, keeping proof of mailing.
• Check the state’s statute of limitations before paying or acknowledging an old debt.
• Never ignore court papers; answer by the deadline.
• Report violations to the CFPB, the FTC and the state attorney general, and keep in mind the one-year deadline to sue.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many times can a debt collector call me?
Under Regulation F, a debt collector is presumed to violate federal law if it calls about a particular debt more than seven times within seven days, or calls within seven days after a phone conversation about that debt. Calls that go to voicemail count. The limit applies per debt and does not cover texts or emails, which must instead include a way to opt out.
What hours can a debt collector call?
Unless the collector knows otherwise, federal law presumes only the hours between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the consumer’s location are convenient. A collector also may not call at any other time or place it knows or should know is inconvenient for that person.
Can a debt collector call me at work?
Not if the collector knows or has reason to know the employer prohibits those calls, and telling the collector is enough to give it that knowledge. Regulation F also generally bars a collector from emailing an address it knows the employer provided.
Can a debt collector text me or message me on social media?
Yes, but every text and email must include a clear, simple way to opt out of that channel. A collector may use social media only through private messages; it may not post anything the public or the person’s social media contacts can see.
Can a debt collector have me arrested for not paying?
No. Implying that nonpayment will lead to arrest or imprisonment is a false and misleading representation under the FDCPA, and the FTC treats an arrest threat as a warning sign of a fake debt collector.
How do I make a debt collector stop contacting me?
Send the collector a written notice saying you refuse to pay or want all contact to stop, and keep a copy. After that, the collector may only confirm it is ending contact or notify you of a specific step it or the creditor may take, such as filing a lawsuit. Stopping contact does not erase the debt.
Can a debt collector talk to my family or employer about my debt?
Generally no. A collector may contact other people only to find a consumer’s address, phone number or place of work, usually only once, and may not tell them a debt is owed. It may discuss the debt with the consumer’s spouse, the parent of a minor, a guardian, executor or administrator, and the consumer’s attorney.
How long can a debt collector try to collect an old debt?
A collector can keep asking for payment after a state’s statute of limitations runs out, but it may not sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt. The CFPB says most states set limits of three to six years, and in some states a partial payment or written acknowledgment can restart the clock. Most collection accounts leave credit reports about seven and a half years after the original delinquency.
What should I do if a debt collector sues me?
Respond by the deadline on the court papers. A consumer who ignores a debt lawsuit can lose by default, and the FTC warns that a judgment can let the collector garnish wages or a bank account or place a lien on property. Whether the debt is past the statute of limitations is a defense the consumer usually has to raise.
Can I sue a debt collector for harassment?
Yes. The FDCPA lets a consumer recover actual damages, up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages per lawsuit, and court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. The suit must be filed within one year of the violation, and the Supreme Court held in Rotkiske v. Klemm that the year runs from the violation, not from when it was discovered.
Sources
• 15 U.S.C. § 1692a — FDCPA definitions (Cornell LII)• 15 U.S.C. § 1692c — Communication in connection with debt collection
• 15 U.S.C. § 1692d — Harassment or abuse
• 15 U.S.C. § 1692e — False or misleading representations
• 15 U.S.C. § 1692f — Unfair practices
• 15 U.S.C. § 1692g — Validation of debts
• 15 U.S.C. § 1692k — Civil liability
• CFPB — Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14 (call frequency)
• CFPB — Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.22 (unfair practices, workplace email, social media)
• CFPB — Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.30 (credit reporting)
• 12 C.F.R. § 1006.26 — Time-barred debt (Cornell LII)
• Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., 582 U.S. 79 (2017)
• Rotkiske v. Klemm, 589 U.S. 8 (2019)
• TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 594 U.S. 413 (2021)
• Hunstein v. Preferred Collection & Management Services (11th Cir. 2022) (en banc) (PDF)
• Pierre v. Midland Credit Management (7th Cir. 2022) (PDF)
• CFPB — Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Annual Report 2025 (PDF)
• CFPB — Consumer Response Annual Report, 2025 (PDF)
• CFPB — What is a statute of limitations on a debt?
• CFPB — How do I get a debt collector to stop contacting me?
• CFPB — Medical debt already paid or under $500 should no longer be on your credit report
• CFPB — Medical information rule (Regulation V) and its vacatur
• FTC — Debt Collection FAQs
• FTC — What to do if a debt collector sues you
• FTC — Fake and abusive debt collectors
• FTC — Press release on the Consumer Impact Recovery settlement (May 2025)
About This Page
OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news and information site, not a law firm. This page is general information about federal debt collection law, not legal advice, and state laws can add protections or differ in detail. Anyone facing a debt lawsuit or considering a claim against a collector should speak with a licensed attorney in their state.
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