15 USC 1692c is the section of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that controls when a debt collector can contact you, where they can reach you, who else they can talk to about your debt, and how you can force them to stop. The rules cover time-of-day limits, workplace calls, communication through your attorney, third-party disclosure, and your written right to end contact altogether.
When and Where a Collector Can Reach You
A debt collector cannot contact you at any time or place it knows or should know is inconvenient. The statute sets a safe harbor: unless the collector has reason to believe otherwise, contact between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. in your local time is presumed convenient. Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. are presumed inappropriate.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection
If you tell a collector that a specific time doesn’t work for you, the collector is on notice and has to respect that even during the 8-to-9 window. The statute’s “inconvenient” standard is broader than the presumption. A convenient hour in the abstract can still be inconvenient for you if the collector has been told so.
Workplace calls are treated the same way. A collector cannot contact you at work if it knows or has reason to know your employer prohibits you from receiving those calls.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection You do not need a written company policy. Telling the collector that your job doesn’t allow personal calls is enough to put them on notice. Any further workplace contact after that is a violation.
When You Have an Attorney
Once a debt collector knows you have a lawyer representing you on the debt, and the collector knows or can easily find the lawyer’s name and address, direct contact with you has to stop. The collector must communicate with your attorney instead.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection
Two narrow exceptions let the collector go back to contacting you directly: if the attorney fails to respond in a reasonable time, or if the attorney consents. Regulation F extends the same rule to third-party location calls, so once the collector knows you have counsel, even the “just looking for your address” calls have to go through the attorney.2eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 Subpart B – Rules for FDCPA Debt Collectors
Who Else the Collector Can Talk To
Section 1692c bars a debt collector from discussing your debt with almost anyone other than you. The short list of people the collector may talk to is: you, your attorney, a consumer reporting agency where the law allows, the creditor, the creditor’s attorney, and the collector’s own attorney.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection Calling your neighbors, family members, or coworkers to talk about the debt is off limits. Even implying that a debt exists to someone outside that list can be a violation.
“You” is defined more broadly than it sounds. For purposes of these communication rules, the term “consumer” also covers your spouse, your parent if you are a minor, your guardian, executor, or administrator.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection A collector who talks to your spouse about the debt is not automatically violating the third-party rule.
There is one location-only exception. Under 15 USC 1692b, a collector may reach out to a third person to confirm or correct your address, phone number, or workplace. When doing so, the collector has to identify itself by name, cannot state that you owe a debt, cannot use any language or symbol suggesting the call is about debt collection, and generally cannot contact the same person more than once.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1692b – Acquisition of Location Information
How to Make a Collector Stop Contacting You
Section 1692c(c) gives you a direct shutoff. If you notify a debt collector in writing that you refuse to pay the debt or that you want the collector to stop communicating with you, the collector must stop.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection After that notice, the collector is allowed only three types of further contact:
- To confirm that it is ending its collection efforts.
- To notify you that the creditor may pursue specific remedies it ordinarily invokes.
- To notify you that a specific remedy, such as a lawsuit, is being pursued.
The statute says “in writing,” but Regulation F reads that to include electronic notices sent through a medium the collector already uses to accept electronic communications from consumers. If the collector has been emailing you, you can send the stop request back through that email channel.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1006.6 Communications in Connection With Debt Collection For a paper letter, the notice is complete when the collector receives it. Certified mail with a return receipt is the cleanest proof of delivery.
What a Cease Letter Does Not Do
Cutting off contact does not cut off the debt. A collector who receives a valid cease-communication notice can still sue you and can still report the account to the credit bureaus. If a collector goes quiet after your letter, the next thing you hear may be a lawsuit. Think through the consequences before sending one, especially if you were hoping to negotiate a settlement or payment plan.
Restricting Only Certain Channels
The rules are not all-or-nothing. Under Regulation F, you can tell a collector that a particular place is inconvenient, and it has to treat future contact at that place the same way it would treat any inconvenient time or place. Say your home is off limits, and calls to your home phone and letters to your home address both stop. You can also opt out of messages to a specific email address or cell number without shutting the whole relationship down.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1006.6 Communications in Connection With Debt Collection Every electronic message from a collector has to include a simple, no-fee way to opt out.5eCFR. Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices, Regulation F
Who Counts as a “Debt Collector”
Section 1692c only binds people the FDCPA classifies as debt collectors. That mainly means third-party collection agencies, law firms doing collection work, and companies that buy delinquent accounts and collect on behalf of the original creditor. A creditor collecting its own debts under its own name is generally outside the FDCPA. If a creditor uses a different name that suggests a separate company is doing the collecting, though, it gets treated as a debt collector.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1692a – Definitions
Debt buyers collecting for their own account fall into a gray zone the Supreme Court resolved in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc. The Court held unanimously that a company that buys defaulted debt and then collects it for itself is not a “debt collector” under the FDCPA. The statute targets third-party agents collecting for a debt owner, not a debt owner collecting its own accounts.7Supreme Court of the United States. Henson v Santander Consumer USA Inc If the entity chasing you bought the debt and is collecting on its own behalf, the 1692c rules may not reach it.
Mortgage servicers sit in a similar spot. A servicer is a debt collector under the FDCPA only if the loan was already in default when the servicer took it over. If the loan was current at transfer, the servicer is outside the definition.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1692a – Definitions
What to Do If a Collector Breaks These Rules
Violations of 1692c are enforceable in court. You can sue in federal or state court within one year of the violation. The clock runs from the date of the violation, not the date you learned about it.8Federal Trade Commission. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
A successful FDCPA suit can recover:
- Actual damages, including emotional distress, lost wages from workplace disruption, and other losses caused by the violation.
- Statutory damages of up to $1,000 per lawsuit, at the court’s discretion, regardless of how many separate violations occurred.8Federal Trade Commission. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- Attorney’s fees and court costs, paid by the collector if you win. This fee-shift is what makes it realistic to find a lawyer for these cases.
Build the Record First
Whether or not you sue, start documenting the moment you suspect a violation. For each contact attempt, capture:
- The date and exact time in your local time zone, especially for anything outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- The channel: phone, text, email, letter, or social media.
- How many calls have come within any seven-day window. Regulation F treats more than seven calls about the same debt in seven consecutive days, or any call within seven days after an actual conversation about that debt, as presumptively harassing.5eCFR. Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices, Regulation F
- Who called, whether they identified themselves as a debt collector, and what they said about the debt or threatened.
- Any contacts with third parties, including who was contacted and what was disclosed.
Save voicemails, screenshots, and every piece of mail. If you sent a cease-communication letter, keep the copy and the certified mail receipt. Collectors are required to maintain their own call logs under Regulation F, and those logs can be pulled through discovery if a lawsuit is filed.5eCFR. Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices, Regulation F
You can also file a complaint with the CFPB or your state attorney general. Those agencies can bring their own enforcement actions against collectors with a pattern of violations, and a public complaint record can help other consumers dealing with the same company.