What Debt Collectors Can and Cannot Do: Your Rights Under the FDCPA, Call Limits, Disputes and How to Make Them Stop
The federal law is forty-nine years old and the rule that enforces it is five. Between them they give you more leverage over a collector than most people use.
The short version
- A collector must send you a written validation notice and give you 30 days to dispute; if you dispute in writing, collection stops until it verifies the debt.
- More than seven calls in seven days is presumed harassment; no calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; no contact at work if your employer forbids it; no discussing your debt with others.
- A written request to stop contact ends the calls and letters, but not the debt; a collector cannot sue on a debt whose limitations period has run, and paying on one can restart the clock in some states.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was passed in 1977 to stop the abuses of an industry that then worked mostly by telephone and intimidation. It applies to third-party collectors — agencies collecting for a creditor and companies that buy old debts for pennies on the dollar — and it is enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, by state attorneys general and, most often, by consumers who sue. Regulation F, the CFPB's rule in force since November 2021, translated the statute into specific limits on calls, texts, emails and notices. This guide covers what a collector may do, what it may not, and what you should do at each stage.
Who the law covers
| Collector | Covered by the FDCPA? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Collection agency working for a creditor | Yes | The classic case |
| Debt buyer collecting debts it purchased | Yes | Most old credit card, medical and utility debts end up here |
| Law firm that regularly collects debts | Yes | Including when it sues |
| Original creditor collecting its own debt (bank, hospital, utility) | No | Covered by the CFPB's prohibition on unfair and deceptive practices and by state laws; California's Rosenthal Act and several others extend FDCPA-style rules to creditors |
| Loan servicer that took over before default | No | Covered if the loan was already in default when the servicer acquired it |
What a collector can do
- Contact you by phone, mail, email, text and social media direct message, with required opt-out instructions for electronic messages.
- Call up to seven times in seven days about each debt, between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. your local time.
- Contact other people once each, only to find your address or phone number, without saying you owe a debt.
- Report the debt to credit bureaus, after notifying you first.
- Sue you within the statute of limitations, which runs from three to ten years depending on the state and the type of debt.
- Offer a settlement for less than the balance; collectors who bought the debt often accept 30 to 60 percent.
What a collector cannot do
- Harass. Repeated calls intended to annoy, threats of violence, obscene language, publishing your name on a list of debtors.
- Lie. Pose as a lawyer or government agency, claim you committed a crime, threaten arrest, threaten a lawsuit or wage garnishment it cannot or does not intend to pursue, misstate the amount or the legal status of the debt, send documents that look like court papers.
- Overcharge. Add interest, fees or charges that the original contract and state law do not permit.
- Tell others. Discuss your debt with your employer, family, neighbors or anyone but you, your spouse, your attorney and, in some cases, a co-signer.
- Call at work once it knows your employer prohibits it, or call you directly once it knows you have a lawyer.
- Sue or threaten to sue on time-barred debt. Once the limitations period has expired, the collector may ask you to pay but may not sue or imply that it can.
- Ignore a dispute made within the 30-day window, or a written request to stop contact.
The validation notice and the 30 days
Within five days of first contacting you, a collector must send a validation notice. Under Regulation F it must identify the creditor and the account, state the amount on an itemization date and the interest, fees and payments since, state your right to dispute within 30 days, and include a tear-off form for doing so. Read it. If anything is wrong — the amount, the creditor, the dates, a debt you paid, a debt that is not yours, a debt discharged in bankruptcy — dispute it in writing within the 30 days, by mail with proof of delivery or through the collector's electronic channel. The collector must then stop collecting until it sends verification. Many cannot; debts sold several times arrive with a spreadsheet line and little else, and a collector that cannot verify must close the file.
Time-barred debt: a trap to know about
Every state limits how long a creditor has to sue on a debt, typically three to six years for credit cards and longer for written contracts and judgments. After that the debt still exists but cannot be enforced in court. Collectors buy time-barred debts cheaply and collect what they can by persuasion. Two cautions: a collector may not sue or threaten suit on such a debt, and if it does you have a defense and an FDCPA claim; and in many states, a partial payment or a written acknowledgment restarts the limitations period and revives the right to sue. Before paying anything on an old debt, find out whether it is time-barred — the date of your last payment and your state's limitations period will tell you — and get advice if the answer is yes.
Making them stop
- Write. A written request to cease contact, delivered with proof, ends calls, letters and messages, except to confirm the stop or to notify you of a specific action such as a lawsuit.
- Hire a lawyer, or tell them you have one. Once a collector knows you are represented, it must deal with your lawyer.
- Keep records. Dates and times of calls, what was said, copies of every letter and message. Many phones log calls automatically; screenshots count.
- Complain. The CFPB accepts complaints online and forwards them to the collector, which must respond; state attorneys general enforce their own collection laws.
- Sue. The FDCPA gives you one year from the violation to sue for actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000, and attorney's fees — which is why consumer lawyers take these cases without a fee from you. Class actions are capped at the lesser of $500,000 or one percent of the collector's net worth.
Credit reports and medical debt
Collectors may report debts to the credit bureaus, and the entry stays for seven years from the first delinquency. The three national bureaus have, since 2023, excluded paid medical collections and medical collections under $500, and wait a year before reporting new medical collections. A federal rule that would have removed all medical debt from credit reports was adopted in January 2025 and set aside by a federal court that July, so the bureaus' voluntary policies are what apply. Several states have enacted their own limits on medical debt reporting; check yours.
How many times can a debt collector call me?
More than seven calls in seven days about one debt, or a call within seven days of a conversation about it, is presumed harassment under Regulation F; no calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., and none at work if your employer forbids them.
What can't a debt collector do?
Threaten, lie about who it is or what it can do, misstate the amount, add unauthorized fees, discuss your debt with others, call once it knows you have a lawyer, or sue on time-barred debt. The rules cover third-party collectors and debt buyers.
How do I dispute a debt?
In writing within 30 days of the validation notice, requesting verification; collection must stop until the collector verifies, and many cannot.
How do I make a collector stop contacting me?
A written cease-contact request, with proof of delivery; the collector may then contact you only to confirm or to notify you of a specific action. The debt itself remains, and you can complain to the CFPB or sue within one year for violations.
If you are being sued on a debt, do not ignore the summons; a default judgment is how most collection suits are won. Legal aid organizations and consumer law attorneys handle these cases, often at no cost to you.
The Counsel Rights Desk
The Rights Desk writes explainers on consumer, employment, housing and health law for readers without lawyers. Every guide is reviewed by a practicing attorney before publication.
This guide is for general information only and is not legal advice. Statutes of limitations, state collection laws and credit reporting rules vary; consult a consumer law attorney or legal aid office about your situation.