What Is the FDCPA? Rules, Rights, and How to Complain

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law, enacted in 1977 and codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1692 and following, that controls how third-party debt collectors can pursue you for a consumer debt. It bans harassment, lies, and unfair tactics, and it gives you concrete tools: the right to demand written proof of what you owe, the right to shut off contact, and the right to sue a collector who breaks the rules for up to $1,000 in statutory damages plus attorney’s fees. Updated federal regulations known as Regulation F, effective November 2021, added modern rules on call frequency and social media contact.

Who the Law Applies To

The FDCPA targets debt collectors, meaning people or companies whose main business is collecting debts owed to someone else, or who regularly collect on another party’s behalf.¹ That includes third-party collection agencies, companies that buy delinquent accounts in bulk, and attorneys who regularly handle collections.

Original creditors are generally not covered. The bank that issued your credit card, the hospital that treated you, the dealer that financed your car — when they collect their own debts in their own name, the FDCPA does not reach them. The one exception is a creditor who uses a different name to make it look like a third party is involved.¹

What Debts Are Covered

The law protects you only on consumer debts: obligations arising from transactions for personal, family, or household purposes.¹ Medical bills, credit card balances, auto loans, mortgages, and student loans all qualify. Business debts do not, even if you personally guaranteed the loan and the collector is calling your personal phone.

What Collectors Cannot Do

The FDCPA bans three broad categories of conduct. A collector who crosses any of these lines is liable regardless of whether you actually owe the debt.

Harassment and Abuse

Collectors cannot engage in conduct meant to harass, intimidate, or abuse you.² Threats of violence to you, your reputation, or your property are prohibited. So is profane or abusive language, publishing lists of alleged non-payers, and calling repeatedly with intent to annoy.

False or Misleading Statements

Lying to squeeze out a payment is illegal. Common violations include misstating the amount owed, falsely claiming to be an attorney or government official, and threatening arrest or property seizure the collector has no authority or intention to carry out.³ Documents dressed up to look like court papers, or fake company names, also fall here.

Unfair Practices

A collector cannot add fees, interest, or other charges unless your original agreement or applicable law authorizes them.⁴ Made-up “collection fees” are illegal. So is cashing a post-dated check early and mailing you a postcard about the debt, which would expose the account to anyone handling your mail.

When and How Collectors Can Contact You

Beyond what they say, the FDCPA controls when they can call and who else they can talk to.

Call Hours and the Workplace

Collectors cannot call before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your local time zone unless you agree otherwise.⁵ They must stop calling your job if they know or have reason to know your employer forbids those calls.⁶ Telling them “I can’t take collection calls here” is enough to put them on notice.

Third Parties

Collectors can contact other people only to find you. Even then, they must identify themselves by name, cannot mention that they are collecting a debt, cannot say you owe anything, generally cannot contact the same person more than once, and cannot use postcards or telltale envelope markings.⁷ Once they know you have an attorney handling the debt and can find that attorney, they must direct communications there instead of to you.⁵

Call Frequency

The original statute banned “repeated” calls without defining the word. Regulation F drew a line: a collector is presumed to violate the law by calling you more than seven times in seven consecutive days about a particular debt, or by calling within seven days after actually speaking with you about that debt.⁸ Those limits apply per debt.

Social Media

Collectors can contact you through social media, but only in private messages. Public posts, comments, or anything visible to your friends and followers are off limits. Any friend or contact request must identify the sender as a debt collector, and every message must include an easy way to opt out on that platform.⁹

Your Right to Make Them Prove the Debt

Within five days of first contacting you, a collector must send a written validation notice showing the amount owed and the name of the creditor.¹⁰ You then have 30 days to dispute the debt in writing. If you do, the collector must stop all collection activity until they send you verification proving the debt is yours and the amount is correct.

This right matters more than most people realize. Debts get sold and resold, account numbers get transposed, and balances swell with fees nobody can explain. Disputing within the 30-day window forces the collector to actually document what they claim. Under Regulation F, the validation notice itself must now include an itemization showing the balance as of a specific reference date, along with interest, fees, payments, and credits since then, plus the identity of both the original creditor and the current owner.¹¹ If those numbers don’t add up, that’s your cue to dispute.

How to Make Them Stop Contacting You

You can tell a collector in writing to stop contacting you. Once they receive that notice, they can only reach out to confirm they are stopping or to tell you they intend to take a specific legal step, like filing suit.⁵

A stop-contact letter does not erase the debt. The collector can still report the account to credit bureaus and can still sue you. What it buys is quiet: no more calls, no more letters, room to think through your options. Send it by certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of delivery.

Old Debts and the Lawsuit Ban

Every debt has a statute of limitations, a window during which someone can sue you to collect. The length depends on your state and the type of debt. Once that window closes, the debt is “time-barred.”

Under Regulation F, a collector cannot sue or threaten to sue you on a time-barred debt, with a narrow exception for proofs of claim filed in bankruptcy.⁶ They can still call and write about it; they just cannot use a lawsuit as leverage.

Watch out for one trap. In many states, making a partial payment or acknowledging that you owe the debt can restart the statute of limitations and hand the collector a fresh window to sue.¹² Before saying anything that sounds like acknowledgment on an old account, find out whether the limitations period has already expired.

Suing a Collector and Filing Complaints

The FDCPA has real teeth. If a collector violates any provision, you can sue and recover:

Actual damages, including financial losses and documented emotional distress.
Statutory damages up to $1,000 per lawsuit, even without provable financial harm. In a class action, total statutory damages for the class (other than named plaintiffs) are capped at $500,000 or 1% of the collector’s net worth, whichever is less.
Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs from the collector. This fee-shifting is what makes it financially realistic to hire a lawyer over a small debt.¹³

The filing deadline is short: one year from the date the violation occurred.¹³ That is one of the tightest windows in consumer law and catches people off guard. Document violations as they happen: save voicemails, screenshot texts, and keep a log of call dates and times.

You do not have to sue to push back. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which holds primary supervisory authority over the FDCPA under the Dodd-Frank Act, takes complaints online at consumerfinance.gov/complaint or by phone at (855) 411-2372, with phone assistance available in over 180 languages.¹⁴ The portal forwards your complaint to the company and requires a response. The Federal Trade Commission also enforces the law and can bring its own cases.

State Laws Can Add More Protection

The FDCPA is a floor, not a ceiling. State debt collection laws can give you greater protection, and where they do, those state protections stay fully in effect.¹⁵ Some states cover original creditors, allow more time to sue, or ban practices the federal law doesn’t address. If you think a collector has crossed a line, check both.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692a – Definitions
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692d – Harassment or Abuse
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692e – False or Misleading Representations
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692f – Unfair Practices
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection
6
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 Subpart B – Rules for FDCPA Debt Collectors
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692b – Acquisition of Location Information
8
eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.14 – Harassing, Oppressive, or Abusive Conduct
9
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can a Debt Collector Contact Me Through Social Media?
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692g – Validation of Debts
11
eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.34 – Notice for Validation of Debts
12
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can Debt Collectors Collect a Debt That’s Several Years Old?
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692k – Civil Liability
14
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692n – Relation to State Laws