If a debt collector is threatening you, federal law limits what it can say and do. A debt collector may not threaten violence, represent or imply that nonpayment will result in arrest or in seizure of property or wages unless that action is lawful and intended, threaten action that cannot legally be taken or is not intended to be taken, or call repeatedly with intent to harass. Whether a particular call or letter crosses that line depends on its facts.
This page explains the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). It covers which threats the law addresses, when and how a collector may contact someone, the right to dispute a debt, and what a consumer can do next.
What the FDCPA Prohibits: Threats and Harassment Defined
The FDCPA applies to a "debt collector." Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6), that is a person who uses any instrumentality of 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 statute excludes some people. One example is a creditor's own employee collecting in the creditor's name. A "consumer" is "any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt." A "debt" is any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance or services are primarily for personal, family or household purposes.
Three sections do most of the work on threats:
- Harassment or abuse. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692d, a debt collector "may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person." The section lists examples, and the list is partial. The examples include threats of violence or other criminal means to harm a person, their reputation or their property. They also include obscene or profane language, publishing a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay (with limited exceptions, including to a consumer reporting agency), and advertising a debt for sale to coerce payment. Calling repeatedly with intent to annoy, abuse or harass is on the list. So is calling without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity, except as the FDCPA's location-information section provides.
- False or misleading statements. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692e, a debt collector "may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means" in collecting a debt.
- Unfair practices. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692f, a debt collector "may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any debt."
Conduct described in these sections may violate the FDCPA, depending on the facts.
Specific Threats the Law Addresses
Threats tend to fall into a few familiar patterns. Here is what 15 U.S.C. § 1692e says about each one.
Arrest or jail. A debt collector may not represent or imply that nonpayment "will result in the arrest or imprisonment of any person," unless such action is lawful and the debt collector or creditor intends to take it. This rule is in § 1692e(4). The CFPB explains that a collector can't threaten to have someone arrested for an unpaid debt. The CFPB also notes that a judge may issue a warrant if a person who is sued does not comply with a court order.
Seizing property or wages. The same paragraph covers threats of "seizure, garnishment, attachment, or sale of any property or wages." The condition is the same: such a threat is prohibited unless the action is lawful and the collector or creditor intends to take it.
A lawsuit the collector won't file. Under § 1692e(5), a collector may not threaten "to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken."
The status of the debt. Under § 1692e(2), a collector may not falsely represent "the character, amount, or legal status of any debt." For an old debt, the FTC says that collectors "can't sue or threaten you over" a time-barred debt, meaning one past the deadline for suing.
Posing as a lawyer or the government. A collector may not falsely imply that it is vouched for by, bonded by or affiliated with the United States or any state, under § 1692e(1). It also may not falsely imply that any individual is an attorney or that a communication comes from one, under § 1692e(3).
Each of these patterns describes conduct that may violate the statute; the actual words used, and whether the collector could and meant to act, shape the answer in a given case.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a), a collector generally may not communicate with a consumer in three situations. These limits apply unless the consumer has given prior consent directly to the collector or a court has given express permission:
- Inconvenient times or places. A collector may not contact a consumer at an unusual or inconvenient time or place, under § 1692c(a)(1). Unless it knows otherwise, the collector must assume that convenient hours are after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m., local time at the consumer's location.
- When an attorney is involved. Under § 1692c(a)(2), a collector may not contact a consumer it knows is represented by an attorney on the debt. This applies if the collector knows the attorney's name and address or can readily find them. The exceptions are when the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable time or consents to direct contact.
- At work. Under § 1692c(a)(3), a collector may not contact a consumer at work if it knows or has reason to know that the employer prohibits such communication.
Calls to relatives and coworkers are covered as well. Under § 1692c(b), a collector generally may not discuss the debt with anyone other than these people: 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 own attorney. The exceptions are location-seeking contacts the FDCPA allows, the consumer's prior consent, court permission, or contact reasonably necessary for a post-judgment remedy. For this section, "consumer" includes the consumer's spouse, guardian, executor or administrator, and a parent if the consumer is a minor. Debt collectors calling family members is covered in more depth elsewhere on this site.
Asking a collector to stop. Under § 1692c(c), a consumer may notify a collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay or wants communication to stop. After that, the collector may contact the consumer only for three purposes:
- to say its efforts are ending;
- to say that the collector or creditor may invoke remedies it ordinarily uses; or
- where applicable, to say that it intends to invoke a specified remedy.
A notice sent by mail is complete when the collector receives it.
Regulation F adds call-frequency presumptions to the rule on repeated calls. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2), a collector is presumed to comply with that rule if it calls a person about a particular debt neither:
- more than seven times within seven consecutive days, nor
- within seven days after a telephone conversation with that person about the debt.
Placing calls in excess of either frequency creates a presumption of a violation, and the presumption is subject to the regulation's exclusions. Some calls do not count toward these frequencies. Examples are calls that never connect and calls made with the person's prior consent within the period the rule allows.
The Debt Validation Right
Debt validation is the process that lets a consumer learn what a collector claims is owed and challenge it in writing. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a), the collector must send a written notice within five days after its initial communication. It may skip the separate notice if the initial communication already contained the information or the consumer has paid. The statute lists five things the notice must contain (Regulation F requires further validation information as well):
- the amount of the debt;
- the name of the creditor;
- a statement that the debt will be assumed valid unless the consumer disputes it within thirty days after receiving the notice;
- a statement that if the consumer disputes in writing within that period, the collector will get verification or a copy of a judgment and mail it to the consumer; and
- a statement that, on written request within that period, the collector will give the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current one.
Under § 1692g(b), a consumer may dispute the debt, or any part of it, in writing within the thirty days. The collector must then stop collecting the disputed amount until it obtains verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment and mails a copy to the consumer. Collection during the thirty days may not overshadow the dispute right. Under § 1692g(c), not disputing is not an admission of liability.
Sometimes the debt sounds unfamiliar. The CFPB notes that a collector may be trying to reach someone else, or trying to locate a person the recipient knows. A written dispute is one way a consumer may ask the collector to show what its records say.
A consumer may keep a record of each call, noting the date and time and what was discussed.
Written communications can be kept exactly as received. That includes letters and their envelopes, texts, emails, and voicemails. The CFPB's guidance on harassment says it is important to keep a record of letters, documents and communications, and to write down dates, times and notes of conversations. The CFPB adds that these records can help when disputing a debt or going to court. It also cautions that collectors keep records too, and that statements made to them could be used against the person who made them.
A consumer who sends a dispute or stop-contact letter may keep a copy. The FTC mentions certified mail with a return receipt as a way to show the collector got it. The CFPB states that it accepts complaints about debt collection. The FTC lists reporting a collector as an option on its debt collection page.
Filing a Complaint and What the Law Makes Potentially Available
A complaint and a lawsuit are different steps. The CFPB pages cited above state that a person having trouble with debt collection can submit a complaint with the CFPB, and that a person can also contact their state's attorney general. The FTC describes reporting a collector and also suing in state or federal court. What a consumer lawsuit involves is explained on the consumer lawsuits page.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a), a debt collector "who fails to comply with any provision" of the FDCPA is liable for three things:
- any actual damage sustained as a result;
- in an individual action, "such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1,000"; and
- in a successful action, costs plus a reasonable attorney's fee determined by the court.
Class actions follow separate limits. These remedies are what the law makes potentially available. Each depends on proving a violation and, for actual damages, harm caused by it. Under § 1692k(b), the court weighs factors in setting additional damages, including the frequency and persistence of noncompliance, its nature, and how far it was intentional. Under § 1692k(c), a collector is not liable if it shows the violation was unintentional and resulted from a bona fide error despite procedures reasonably adapted to avoid it. A court may also award fees to a defendant if an action was brought in bad faith to harass.
Under § 1692k(d), an action may be brought "within one year from the date on which the violation occurs." The FTC notes that a person may still owe the debt even if a court finds a violation.
State law may add protections, and it differs from state to state. California's rule, in Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.17, provides that every debt collector, a term California defines in its own words, collecting or attempting to collect a consumer debt shall comply with Sections 1692b to 1692j, inclusive, of Title 15 of the United States Code, and is subject to the remedies in Section 1692k of that title, with the federal references read as those codes stood on January 1, 2001. Under that California section, subsection (11) of Section 1692e and Section 1692g do not apply to a person specified in paragraphs (A) and (B) of 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) or that person's principal. The FDCPA itself, the federal debt collection law, applies across the United States.
If You'd Like a Consumer Rights Case Review
This page does not cover credit-report disputes or defending a collection lawsuit. An overview of consumer rights attorneys and the law is available separately.
A reader may request a consumer rights case review about a debt collector's threats through Federal Consumer Rights.
