What debt collectors can and can't do under the FDCPA and Reg F

Regulation F gives you a number to count against: seven. Seven calls in seven days about one debt, or any call in the seven days after you’ve talked to the collector about it, and the law presumes the collector crossed the line.

That rule and most of the others below come from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Regulation F (12 CFR part 1006), the CFPB’s rule that spells out how the FDCPA applies to phone calls, email, texts and social media. Knowing the specifics lets you tell the difference between a collector who is annoying and one who is breaking the law, and gives you something concrete to write down when it happens.

Who has to follow these rules

The FDCPA covers “debt collectors,” which under 15 U.S.C. 1692a(6) means businesses whose main purpose is collecting debts and anyone who regularly collects debts owed to someone else. In practice that means collection agencies and most debt buyers.

It generally does not cover a creditor collecting its own debt under its own name, such as your card issuer’s in-house collections department. A creditor that collects under a different name suggesting a third party is involved can be covered. Some states have their own collection laws that reach further, so a creditor that is outside the FDCPA may still be bound by state rules.

Phone calls: how the 7-in-7 presumption works

Section 1006.14(b)(2) sets two limits for calls about a particular debt. A collector is presumed to violate the law if it calls:

• more than seven times within seven consecutive days, or
• within seven consecutive days after having a phone conversation with you about that debt, counting the day of the conversation as day one.

Some calls don’t count toward those limits: calls made with your prior consent, given directly to the collector, within seven days after you gave it; calls that don’t connect to the number dialed; and calls to certain people such as your attorney. A call that rings through and goes unanswered is not on that exclusion list.

The count is per debt. If one agency is collecting two of your accounts, each has its own count.

Example: counting calls. Here is a made-up week of calls about one debt, none answered.

The window rolls. On Monday, Oct 12, the seven days run from Oct 6 to Oct 12, which held five calls, so a call that Monday would be the sixth in its window and would not trigger the presumption.

Example: the quiet period. Now say you answer on Wednesday, Oct 7, and talk about the debt. Oct 7 is day one, so the period runs through Tuesday, Oct 13. A call about that debt on Monday, Oct 12 is presumed to violate the rule. The earliest it can call without that presumption is Wednesday, Oct 14, unless you asked it to call back sooner.

Staying under these numbers doesn’t make a collector safe. The underlying rule bars calling repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass. The 7-in-7 figures only set a presumption about when that rule is broken.

When and where they can reach you

Under 12 CFR 1006.6(b), a collector can’t contact you:

• At an inconvenient time. Unless it knows otherwise, before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time counts as inconvenient. If you work nights and tell the collector that mornings are bad, it now knows.
• At an inconvenient place. Same standard: a place it knows or should know is inconvenient.
• At work, if your employer prohibits it. The collector only has to know or have reason to know. Telling it is enough.
• Directly, once it knows you have a lawyer for the debt and can readily find the lawyer’s name and contact information. That limit lifts if the attorney doesn’t respond within a reasonable time or agrees to direct contact.

These limits don’t apply if you give the collector prior consent directly, or if a court expressly allows the contact.

Email, texts and social media

Reg F lets collectors use electronic messages, with guardrails:

• Every email and text must include an opt-out. Section 1006.6(e) requires a clear and conspicuous, reasonable and simple way to opt out of messages to that address or number. The collector can’t charge a fee or ask for anything beyond your opt-out preference and the address or number.
• Texts come with number checks. Section 1006.6(d)(5) describes the procedures that protect a collector if a text reaches the wrong person: you texted it from that number about the debt or gave it direct consent, and within the past 60 days it confirmed the number is still yours, through a recent text from you, renewed consent, or a reassigned-number database check. A collector that skips those checks takes the risk of a text landing with someone else.
• Not your work email. Section 1006.22(f)(3) bars emailing an address the collector knows your employer provided, with narrow exceptions.
• Nothing public on social media. Under 1006.22(f)(4), a collector may not contact you about a debt on social media in a way that “is viewable by the general public or the person’s social media contacts.” A comment on your public post, or a message your friends can see, is off-limits. This provision doesn’t ban private messages, which still fall under the opt-out and other rules.

How to make a collector stop

You can end most contact in writing. Under 12 CFR 1006.6(c), once a collector receives your written notice that you refuse to pay or want it to stop communicating, it can contact you only to say it is ending its efforts, or that it or the creditor may use, or intends to use, a specific remedy, such as a lawsuit. The FTC suggests sending the letter by certified mail with a return receipt.

A cease letter controls contact, not the debt. The balance still exists, the collector can still report it within the credit reporting period, and it can still sue if the statute of limitations hasn’t run. If you think you may owe the money, ask for validation first so you know what you’re dealing with.

You don’t have to choose all or nothing. You can tell a collector which times, places, or channels don’t work for you, and opt out of email or texts while still taking letters. The free letter builder can draft a cease or limit-contact letter.

Threats, lies and tactics that are off-limits

A few more rules come up again and again with older debts:

That last row gets its own guide: debt validation. The statute of limitations guide covers the time-barred rules in more depth.

What to do when a collector crosses the line

1. Keep a log. Date, time, number, what was said. Your phone’s call history is a start; screenshots of texts and saved emails are better.
2. Put limits in writing. Inconvenient times, no calls at work, opt out of texts, or stop entirely.
3. Complain. The CFPB takes complaints about debt collectors, and filing a CFPB complaint explains how. Your state attorney general’s office handles collection complaints too.
4. Talk to a consumer attorney if the violations are repeated or serious. The FDCPA lets consumers sue collectors who break it.
5. If you are sued, respond by the deadline. A collector’s rule-breaking doesn’t cancel your own deadline. See what to do if you’re sued by a debt collector.