A consumer may see the name Cavalry Portfolio Services on a letter, a call or court papers about a debt. Where a company fits the federal definition of a debt collector, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act governs its letters, calls and lawsuits, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act sets duties for a company that reports a debt to credit bureaus.
A letter, a call or court papers about a debt can raise several questions at once: whether the debt is really theirs, whether the amount is right, why a collection entry shows up on a credit report, and what this company is allowed to do next. This page explains, in plain terms, what federal consumer law requires of a company of this type and what a consumer may ask for.
Who Is Cavalry Portfolio Services?
Whether federal debt-collection law applies to a company turns on one definition. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6), a "debt collector" is a person who uses interstate commerce or the mails "in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another."
The CFPB explains that some companies buy past-due debts from creditors or other businesses and then try to collect them, and that these companies are often called debt buyers. Whether a company that buys debts is a debt collector is decided by the definition in § 1692a(6), not by the label. Where Cavalry Portfolio Services meets that definition, the FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692–1692p, applies to it as it does to any debt collector. A "debt" there means a consumer obligation for personal, family or household purposes; the FTC notes that business debts are not covered.
What the FDCPA Requires of a Debt Collector
Within five days after first contacting a consumer about a debt, a debt collector must send a written notice under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g, unless that information was already in the first communication or the consumer has paid. The notice states the amount of the debt, the creditor's name, and the consumer's right to dispute the debt within 30 days after receiving it, to have verification mailed, and to request the original creditor's name and address.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(b), if the consumer disputes in writing within that 30-day period, the collector must stop collecting the debt, or the disputed part, until it mails verification or a copy of a judgment. The same pause applies after a written request, within that period, for the original creditor's name and address, until the collector mails them.
Other core rules include:
- Third parties. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b), without the consumer's prior consent, a court's permission, or as reasonably necessary for a postjudgment remedy, a collector generally may not discuss the debt with anyone except the consumer, the consumer's attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the creditor's attorney, or the collector's attorney. A separate provision allows limited contacts to locate the consumer; see debt collectors calling family.
- Harassment. 15 U.S.C. § 1692d bars conduct "the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person."
- Deception. 15 U.S.C. § 1692e bars "any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means."
- Unfairness. 15 U.S.C. § 1692f bars "unfair or unconscionable means," including collecting any amount not authorized by the agreement or permitted by law.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c), a consumer may send a written notice refusing to pay or asking the collector to stop communicating. The collector then may contact the consumer only to say its efforts are ending, or that it or the creditor may invoke, or intends to invoke, a specified remedy. Notice by mail is complete on receipt. Whether particular conduct may violate these sections depends on its facts.
Regulation F, the CFPB's debt-collection rule at 12 C.F.R. part 1006, defines a debt collector in the same terms as 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) and adds detail to the statute's rules.
Calls. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b), a collector is presumed to comply with the ban on repeated calls if it calls a person about a particular debt neither more than seven times within seven consecutive days, nor within seven consecutive days after a telephone conversation about that debt. Calls above either level are presumed to violate the rule. Some calls do not count, including calls made with the person's prior consent given directly to the collector (within seven days of that consent) and calls that do not connect.
Communication channels. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(h), a collector must not use a medium of communication, such as email or text, that a person has asked it not to use. Narrow exceptions let it confirm an electronic opt-out, reply once when the person reaches out through that medium, or communicate where other law requires.
Validation notice. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34, the validation information includes the collector's name and the mailing address where it accepts disputes, an itemization of interest, fees, payments and credits since the itemization date, the current amount, and the date the collector treats as the end of the validation period. For a debt related to a consumer financial product or service, it also names the creditor to whom the debt was owed on the itemization date. Receiving a notice with a stranger's account history can be unsettling; these items are what let a consumer compare it against their own records.
Old Debts and the Statute of Limitations
The age of a debt can matter. The FTC explains that debt does not usually go away, but debt collectors have a limited amount of time to sue on a debt. That period is called the "statute of limitations," and it usually starts when a payment is missed. Once it runs out, the unpaid debt is considered "time-barred."
According to the FTC, how long the period lasts depends on the kind of debt and on state law, or the state named in the credit contract. In some states, a payment or even a written acknowledgment of the debt resets the clock and starts a new period, so the debt is no longer time-barred.
Whether a collector may contact someone about a time-barred debt also depends on the state, the FTC notes: some states prohibit it and others allow it, but either way a collector cannot sue or threaten a suit over it. Where a person is unsure whether a debt is time-barred, the FTC describes asking the collection company what its records show about the last payment, then checking the state's statute of limitations. If a suit is filed on a time-barred debt, the FTC states that the person should not ignore it and can tell the court the debt is time-barred, bringing records showing the date of the last payment.
If Cavalry Portfolio Services Has Filed a Lawsuit
A debt collector that sues a consumer on a debt must choose the right place. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692i, an action to enforce an interest in real property goes where the property is located; any other action may be brought only in the judicial district where the consumer signed the contract sued upon or where the consumer lives when the suit begins. The same section says nothing in the FDCPA authorizes collectors to sue.
Court papers carry a response date. The FTC's guidance states that a person sued in a debt collection lawsuit may respond personally or through an attorney, by the date specified in the court papers.
The § 1692e ban on false, deceptive or misleading representations applies to representations in connection with the collection of any debt; a formal pleading made in connection with a legal action is exempt from the debt-collector disclosure in § 1692e(11). Background on suits under these statutes appears on the consumer lawsuits overview.
Cavalry Portfolio Services and Consumer Reporting
A collection account can appear on a credit report when a company sends it to a credit bureau. A "consumer reporting agency" is a credit bureau that keeps files on consumers and sells reports from them. A "furnisher" is a person that supplies information about a consumer to a consumer reporting agency; 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2 sets out a furnisher's duties under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including not furnishing information it knows or has reasonable cause to believe is inaccurate.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a), when a consumer disputes the accuracy or completeness of an item and notifies the agency directly or through a reseller, the agency must, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation (a fresh check of the disputed item) within 30 days of receiving the dispute, unless it reasonably determines the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant. That period may be extended by up to 15 days if the consumer sends relevant information during the 30 days, but not if the item is found inaccurate or unverifiable. Within five business days, the agency must notify the furnisher.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b), a furnisher notified of the dispute must investigate, review the relevant information the agency sent, report its results, and modify, delete or block an item found inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable. For one bureau's process, see disputing an Experian report. The CFPB notes that a consumer may dispute with both the collector and the credit reporting company.
How to Submit a Complaint About a Debt Collector
The CFPB states that a person having issues with debt collection can submit a complaint with the CFPB, on its debt collector guidance page. The FTC's Debt Collection FAQs list three places to report problems with a debt collector: the state attorney general's office, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The FTC also notes that many states have their own debt collection laws that differ from federal law. An agency complaint is separate from a dispute sent to the collector or a credit bureau.
What This Page Covers — and What It Does Not
This page covers federal law, the FDCPA, Regulation F and the FCRA, as it applies to debt collectors generally and to Cavalry Portfolio Services where it meets the definition of a debt collector. It describes what the law requires, not what any company does in practice.
State law may add protections, and it differs from state to state, including on how long a debt may be sued on. This page does not cover bankruptcy, credit repair, or the specific facts of anyone's account, such as whether a particular balance is owed or how old it is. A broader map of these laws appears on the consumer rights attorney overview, and the page on Portfolio Recovery Associates describes the same rules.
A contact from a debt collector can bring several federal rules into play at once: a validation period, a written dispute, a credit-bureau reinvestigation, the age of the debt, and sometimes a court deadline. This page does not address how any of those rules apply to one person's account.
A consumer may request a consumer rights case review through Federal Consumer Rights.
