Who the FDCPA Covers
The FDCPA (15 U.S.C. § 1692 and following) applies to third-party debt collectors: collection agencies, debt buyers, and lawyers who regularly collect consumer debts for others. It generally does not apply to original creditors collecting their own debts, although many states have laws that do. The CFPB's Regulation F fills in detailed rules for calls, texts, emails, and validation notices.
The law covers consumer debts — debts for personal, family, or household purposes, such as credit cards, medical bills, car loans, and mortgages — but not business debts.
The Validation Notice and Your Right to Dispute
Within five days after first contacting you, a collector must send a validation notice that includes:
- The name of the creditor and the amount owed, with an itemization
- How to dispute the debt and the deadline to do so
- Your right to request the name and address of the original creditor
You have 30 days after receiving the notice to dispute the debt in writing. If you do, the collector must stop collecting until it mails you verification of the debt (15 U.S.C. § 1692g). Not disputing the debt does not mean you admit you owe it.
Limits on Contact
Collectors may not:
- Call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time, unless you agree
- Contact you at work if they know your employer prohibits it
- Contact you directly if they know a lawyer represents you on the debt
- Discuss your debt with third parties such as family, neighbors, or coworkers, except to locate you (and then without mentioning the debt), or your spouse and certain others allowed by law
- Call more than seven times within seven days about a particular debt, or within seven days after a phone conversation about it, under Regulation F's presumption
Under Regulation F, collectors who use email or text must give you a simple way to opt out of those messages.
Practices That Are Banned
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Harassment | Threats of violence, obscene language, repeated calls intended to annoy |
| False statements | Pretending to be a lawyer or government official, lying about the amount owed, falsely threatening arrest |
| Empty threats | Threatening a lawsuit, wage garnishment, or property seizure they do not intend or are not allowed to take |
| Unfair practices | Collecting fees not authorized by the agreement or law, depositing post-dated checks early, threatening to take property they have no right to |
Telling a Collector to Stop
You can send a written letter telling the collector to stop all communication. After that, the collector may contact you only to confirm it will stop or to tell you about a specific action, such as filing a lawsuit. Stopping contact does not erase the debt, and the collector or creditor can still sue.
Old (Time-Barred) Debts
Each state has a statute of limitations for suing on a debt, often three to six years. After that period, the debt is "time-barred." Under Regulation F, collectors may not sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt. In some states, making a payment or acknowledging an old debt can restart the limitations period, so be careful before paying a very old debt.
Credit reporting has a separate limit: most collection accounts can stay on credit reports for seven years from the original delinquency.
If You Are Sued
- Do not ignore the lawsuit. If you do not respond by the deadline, the court can enter a default judgment, which can lead to wage garnishment or bank levies.
- File an answer and raise defenses, such as that the debt is not yours, the amount is wrong, the collector cannot prove ownership, or the statute of limitations has expired.
- Certain income, such as Social Security and some other federal benefits, is generally protected from garnishment.
Remedies and Complaints
If a collector violates the FDCPA, you can sue in state or federal court within one year of the violation for actual damages, statutory damages of up to $1,000, and attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1692k). You can also file complaints with the CFPB, the FTC, and your state attorney general.
