Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
Yes, a debt collector that calls you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time is presumed to be contacting you at an inconvenient time, which the FDCPA forbids unless you agreed to it. The rule also covers other times and places the collector knows are inconvenient, such as your night-shift sleeping hours once you have told them. In Florida a separate state rule bars most communications between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.
The law draws a line around your mornings and nights. A debt collector must assume that the only convenient time to reach you is after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m., in your time zone, unless it knows something different. A call at 7:15 in the morning or 9:30 at night is presumed inconvenient, and without your consent it is a violation.
The line moves toward you, not away. If you tell the collector that a time inside the window is inconvenient, such as while you sleep after a night shift, calls at that time can be a violation too.
What it looks like
- The early call. The phone rings at 7 a.m. on a weekday, or earlier on a weekend, about a collection account.
- The late call. A call or voicemail after 9 p.m., often after a day of earlier calls.
- The wrong time zone. A call center on Pacific time dials at 7 p.m. its time. In Brooklyn or Miami it is 10 p.m. Your local time is the one that counts.
- Ignoring what you said. You told them you work nights and sleep until 2 p.m., and they keep calling at 10 a.m.
- Late texts. A text message about the debt arrives at 11 p.m. See texts, emails and social media.
The law
Without your prior consent given directly to the collector, or a court's permission, a debt collector may not communicate with you "at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer" (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1)). The statute then supplies a default: absent knowledge to the contrary, the collector must assume the convenient time is after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m. local time at your location. Regulation F carries the same rule (12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(b)(1)).
Two points follow from the text. First, the rule covers communications, not only telephone calls. Second, it has two parts: the fixed 8-to-9 window, and anything else the collector knows or should know is inconvenient. Telling the collector about your schedule creates the knowledge that makes the second part work.
Consent, and who gives it
The time limits apply "without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector" (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)). Consent you gave the original lender is not consent given directly to the collector. A collector that says you agreed to evening calls should be able to say when and how you agreed. If you did say it was all right to call late, you can take that back by telling the collector, and putting it in writing makes the change easy to prove.
Early and late contact often comes packaged with other problems. A collector that calls at 7 a.m. is often also calling more than seven times a week, or calling your workplace. Look at the whole pattern, not only the clock.
What you have to show
That the contact came from a debt collector about a consumer debt; the date and time it arrived, in your time zone; and, for a time inside the window, that you had told the collector it was inconvenient. A screenshot of your call history with timestamps is usually enough to prove the first part. The collector may argue you consented; keep a note of anything you said about calling times.
What you can recover
A collector that violates the FDCPA is liable for your actual damages plus additional statutory damages of up to $1,000 per lawsuit (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)). The FDCPA requires a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
In Florida the FCCPA provides actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000 and punitive damages in the court's discretion (Fla. Stat. § 559.77(2)), and it reaches the original creditor too. In New York, GBL 349 provides actual damages or $50, whichever is greater, which may be increased to three times actual damages up to $1,000 for a willful or knowing violation. This site does not estimate what a case is worth.
What to do now
- Screenshot the timestamp. Capture the call history entry or text with its time visible.
- Save the voicemail. Many phones show the time a voicemail arrived. Keep the file.
- Log it. The call log flags calls before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. automatically.
- Tell them your hours in writing. If a time inside the window does not work for you, say so in a letter or through the collector's written channel, and keep a copy.
- Do not give blanket consent. If a representative asks whether it is all right to call "any time," you can say no.
The clock
| Claim | Time to sue | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| FDCPA | 1 year from each call | 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d) |
| Florida FCCPA | 2 years from the violation | Fla. Stat. § 559.77(4) |
| New York GBL 349 | 3 years | N.Y. CPLR 214(2) |
In New York, New Jersey and Florida
New York. GBL 601(6) bars communicating at such unusual hours as can reasonably be expected to abuse or harass. Consumers usually bring the claim through GBL 349, which lets the court award a prevailing consumer reasonable attorney's fees. See the New York page.
New Jersey. The federal 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. rule applies in full. See the New Jersey page.
Florida. Florida has its own hours rule. A person collecting a consumer debt may not communicate with the debtor between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the debtor's time zone without the debtor's prior consent (Fla. Stat. § 559.72(17)). The current text exempts only an email sent to an email address that otherwise complies with the statute, so late calls and texts are covered. It applies to original creditors as well as collectors, and the FCCPA requires a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs. See the Florida page.
Common questions
Whose time zone counts, mine or the collector's?
Yours. The FDCPA says the convenient time is after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location. A collector in another time zone has to account for where you are.
I work nights. Can a collector call me at noon?
Noon is inside the presumed convenient window, so the collector may assume it is fine until it knows otherwise. Once you tell the collector that a time is inconvenient, calls at that time can violate the law because the rule also bars calls at a time the collector knows or should know is inconvenient. Say it, then put it in writing.
Does a text at 10 p.m. count?
Under the FDCPA the time rule covers communications, not only calls, so a late text can raise the same issue. In Florida the FCCPA bars communications between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. without prior consent, with an exception only for a compliant email sent to an email address. Texts never count toward the separate 7-in-7 call presumption.
What if I told them it was fine to call late?
Consent given directly to the collector lifts the time restriction under the FDCPA, and prior consent lifts it under the Florida statute. You can withdraw that permission by telling the collector, preferably in writing.
Tell us what they did.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which laws the collector or the credit bureau broke, which deadline runs first, and what to save this week. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510The FDCPA and the FCRA require a company found liable to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Our fee arrangement is confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language.