Debt collectors
Your rights when a debt collector calls
When they may call, how often, where they may not reach you, and how to make them stop.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the CFPB's Debt Collection Rule (Regulation F) set the limits below. They cover third-party debt collectors, the companies collecting a debt owed to someone else, not usually the original lender collecting its own account.
When they may call
Not before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time, and not at any time or place they know is inconvenient for you. If you tell a collector that a time or place does not work, such as weekends or your job, they must follow that. If they know your employer does not allow personal calls at work, they may not call you there.
How often
Calls placed to annoy, abuse or harass you are illegal. Regulation F adds a bright line: a collector is presumed to break the law if it calls about one debt more than seven times in seven days, or calls within seven days after you had a phone conversation with it about that debt. Calls that go to voicemail count. Seven calls crammed into one day can still be harassment.
Who else they may talk to
A collector may contact other people only to find out where you live or work, and generally may not tell them you owe a debt. It may talk about the debt with you, your spouse, your lawyer, or a credit bureau.
How to make them stop
Write to the collector and say that you want it to stop contacting you, or that you refuse to pay. After that it may contact you only to say it is ending contact, or that it or the creditor may take a specific legal step, such as filing a lawsuit. Stopping contact does not erase the debt, so if you think the debt is wrong, dispute it first, then ask them to stop.
What they may never do
Threaten violence, use obscene language, lie about who they are or what you owe, claim you will be arrested, or threaten a lawsuit they do not intend to file or cannot file. On a debt too old to sue on, they may not sue or threaten to sue at all (see the statute of limitations).
Keep a log and report problems
Write down the date, time and number of every call and what was said. If a collector breaks these rules you can submit a complaint to the CFPB, and you may have a claim against the collector in court; a lawyer who handles these cases can tell you whether yours is one.
Sources
- 15 U.S.C. 1692c, communication in connection with debt collection (Cornell LII)
- CFPB: 12 CFR 1006.14, harassing, oppressive or abusive conduct (the call limits)
- CFPB: When and how often can a debt collector call me on the phone?
- CFPB: How do I get a debt collector to stop calling or contacting me?
- CFPB: Are there laws that limit what debt collectors can say or do?
- CFPB: Submit a complaint
How this page was made
This page was drafted with a language model from the sources listed above. Jake Lawrence read it against those sources and signed it on October 24, 2026.
Legal information, not legal advice. Nothing here answers one reader's specific situation; state law can add to every rule above.
Found an error? See Corrections.