The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The FDCPA is the federal law that tells debt collectors what they may not do: harass you, lie to you, collect amounts you do not owe, or ignore your written dispute. If a collector breaks it, you can sue for your actual damages plus up to $1,000 in statutory damages, and the collector must pay your reasonable attorney's fees if you win. You have one year from the violation.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is aimed at the things people complain about most: calls at all hours, threats of jail, and collectors telling employers and neighbors about a debt. The Act is at 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 to 1692p. It is short, and most of it is a list: things a collector may not do, followed by a private right of action that lets you sue when it does them. This page walks through that list in the order a collection usually unfolds, from the first contact to a lawsuit.
Who and what it covers
The Act covers a debt collector: anyone whose principal business is collecting debts, or who regularly collects debts owed to another (15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)). Collection agencies are covered. So are lawyers who regularly collect consumer debts, including through lawsuits (Heintz v. Jenkins, 514 U.S. 291 (1995)). A company that buys debts and collects them for itself is not covered merely because it bought them (Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., 582 U.S. 79 (2017)), but it is covered if collecting debts is its principal business. A creditor collecting in its own name is outside the Act unless it uses a name that suggests a third party is collecting. The who is a debt collector page goes through each category.
The debt must be a consumer debt: an obligation arising from a transaction primarily for personal, family or household purposes (§ 1692a(5)). A personal credit card or a household medical bill is the typical example. A business loan or merchant cash advance is not a consumer debt.
How and when a collector may contact you
Section 1692c sets the contact rules. A collector may not:
- Call at inconvenient times. Before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time is presumed inconvenient (§ 1692c(a)(1); 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(b)(1)).
- Go around your lawyer. Once it knows you have an attorney for the debt, it must deal with the attorney (§ 1692c(a)(2)).
- Call you at work after being told not to. If it knows or has reason to know your employer prohibits such calls, it must stop (§ 1692c(a)(3)).
- Tell other people about the debt. It may contact third parties only to find you, and may not tell them you owe a debt (§§ 1692b, 1692c(b)).
- Keep contacting you after a written stop request. Once you tell it in writing to stop, or that you refuse to pay, it must stop, except to say it is ending contact or to notify you of a specific remedy such as a lawsuit (§ 1692c(c)).
The calls at bad hours, calls at work and ignored stop request pages go into each rule. For call frequency, keep a record with the call log.
Harassment and abuse
Section 1692d forbids any conduct whose natural consequence is to harass, oppress or abuse. It names examples: threats of violence, obscene or profane language, calling repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, and calling without meaningfully disclosing who is calling (§ 1692d(1), (2), (5), (6)). Regulation F adds a bright line: more than 7 telephone calls within 7 days about one debt is presumed to violate the rule, and so is a call within 7 days after a phone conversation about the debt (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)). The presumption can be rebutted, and it counts telephone calls only. Texts and emails do not count toward it, though they can still be harassment.
Lies and threats
Section 1692e forbids any false, deceptive or misleading representation. Its list includes:
- Pretending to be the government or a lawyer. Falsely implying government affiliation, or that the caller is an attorney (§ 1692e(1), (3)).
- Misstating the debt. Falsely representing its character, amount or legal status (§ 1692e(2)(A)).
- Threatening arrest. Saying that nonpayment will lead to arrest or imprisonment (§ 1692e(4)).
- Empty or unlawful threats. Threatening action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended (§ 1692e(5)).
- False credit reporting. Communicating false credit information, including failing to say that a debt is disputed (§ 1692e(8)).
- Fake court papers. Documents that simulate legal process (§ 1692e(9)).
- Hiding who they are. Failing to disclose that the communication is from a debt collector (§ 1692e(11)).
Section 1692f forbids unfair practices, most often collecting an amount, fee or charge that the agreement does not expressly authorize or the law does not permit (§ 1692f(1)). The threats of arrest and wrong amount and fees pages go further.
The validation notice and your dispute
Within five days after first contacting you, a collector must send a written notice stating the amount, the creditor, and your right to dispute (§ 1692g(a); 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34). If you dispute in writing within the validation period, the collector must stop collecting until it mails you verification (§ 1692g(b)). A collector that keeps calling after a written dispute without sending verification has a problem. See no validation notice and ignored dispute.
Lawsuits against you
A collector that sues you must file where you live or where you signed the contract (§ 1692i(a)(2)). Under Regulation F it may not sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b)). If you have been sued, do not ignore the papers: the answer deadline is short. The sued by a debt collector page explains what to do, and how FDCPA violations in the lawsuit itself can become counterclaims.
What a violation is worth under the statute
Section 1692k(a) sets the remedy. A collector that violates the Act is liable for:
| Item | What the statute says | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Actual damages | Any actual damage sustained as a result of the violation | § 1692k(a)(1) |
| Statutory (additional) damages, individual | As the court allows, up to $1,000 per action | § 1692k(a)(2)(A) |
| Class action cap | Up to the lesser of $500,000 or 1% of the collector's net worth, for the class | § 1692k(a)(2)(B) |
| Costs and attorney's fees | In a successful action, costs plus a reasonable attorney's fee set by the court | § 1692k(a)(3) |
The FDCPA requires a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The same subsection lets the court award fees to the collector if the court finds the consumer's action was brought in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment (§ 1692k(a)(3)). See who pays your lawyer and what you get.
One year, from the violation
An FDCPA suit must be filed within one year from the date the violation occurs, in federal court or any other court of competent jurisdiction (§ 1692k(d)). There is no general discovery rule (Rotkiske v. Klemm, 589 U.S. 8 (2019)). Each call, letter or report is its own violation with its own date, so write the dates down. The deadlines page has every clock.
In New York, New Jersey and Florida
The FDCPA applies the same way in all three states; state law adds to it. In Florida, the FCCPA applies to "a person" collecting a consumer debt, which reaches the original creditor that the FDCPA usually misses (Fla. Stat. § 559.72). In New York, GBL § 349 reaches deceptive practices by any business, and state and city rules add duties for collectors (23 NYCRR 1; 6 RCNY 5-77). New Jersey consumers rely mainly on the federal Act. See New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Common questions
Does the FDCPA apply to the bank or credit card company itself?
Usually not. The FDCPA covers third parties who collect debts owed to someone else, companies whose principal business is collection, and most collection lawyers. A creditor collecting its own debt in its own name is generally outside it. The exception is a creditor that uses a different name suggesting a third party is collecting. Florida's FCCPA and New York's GBL 349 can reach original creditors.
Is the $1,000 per call or per violation?
Neither. The statute caps additional damages at $1,000 per action for an individual plaintiff, not per call or per violation. Actual damages, such as money lost, are added on top, and so are costs and attorney's fees if you win.
Do I have to prove I did not owe the debt?
No. The FDCPA regulates how a debt is collected, not whether it is owed. A collector that threatens arrest, calls at 6 a.m., or tells your employer about the debt violates the Act even if the debt is valid.
When does the one-year deadline start?
On the date the violation occurs. The Supreme Court held in Rotkiske v. Klemm that there is no general discovery rule, so the clock can run before you realize there was a violation. Each separate violation has its own date.
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.