Regulation F
Regulation F is the CFPB's rule under the FDCPA, in effect since November 30, 2021. It turns the Act's general words into specific limits: more than 7 telephone calls in 7 days about one debt is presumed harassment, every text and email must offer a way to opt out, public social media messages are forbidden, and a collector may not sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt. A Regulation F violation is enforced through the FDCPA's damages and fee rules.
For decades the FDCPA said collectors could not call "repeatedly or continuously" with intent to annoy, and courts argued about what that meant. Regulation F (12 C.F.R. part 1006), effective November 30, 2021, answered many of those arguments with numbers and procedures. It also brought the Act into the age of texts, emails and social media. If a collector is contacting you, this is the rule that says how often, when, and through which channels it may do so. Keep your own record in the call log; it flags the 7-in-7 pattern for you.
The call-frequency rule: 7 in 7
A collector must not place telephone calls or engage anyone in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse or harass (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(1)). Regulation F then sets a presumption. A collector is presumed to violate the rule if it places a telephone call to a person about a particular debt:
- More than 7 times in 7 days. More than seven telephone calls within seven consecutive days.
- Within 7 days after a conversation. Any telephone call within seven consecutive days after having had a telephone conversation with the person about that debt.
12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2).
Three details matter. First, the presumption is rebuttable: the collector can try to show the calls were not meant to harass, and a consumer can show that fewer calls were. Second, it counts telephone calls only. Texts, emails and letters are not counted, although they can still be harassment. Third, some calls are excluded from the count, including calls that do not connect and calls made with your direct prior consent given within the previous seven days (§ 1006.14(b)(3)).
Why a log wins these cases
Collectors keep call records. You should too. Write down the date, time, number and whether you spoke with someone for every call, and save screenshots of your call history before your phone deletes it. The call log does the counting and flags any 7-day window over the line. See also too many calls.
Hours, places and channels
A communication before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in your local time is presumed inconvenient (§ 1006.6(b)(1); 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1)). If you tell a collector not to use a particular medium, such as your work email or your cell phone, it must stop using that medium (§ 1006.14(h)(1)). If you tell it in writing to stop contacting you altogether, it must stop, subject to narrow exceptions (§ 1006.6(c)).
Texts and emails
Regulation F allows electronic messages, with conditions. Every email or text from a collector must include a clear and conspicuous statement describing a reasonable and simple way to opt out of further electronic messages to that address or number (§ 1006.6(e)). A collector that texts you with no opt-out, or keeps texting after you opted out, is violating the rule. See texts, emails and social media.
Social media
A collector may not communicate or attempt to communicate with you through a social media platform in a way that is viewable by the general public or by your friends, contacts or followers (§ 1006.22(f)(4)). A public comment on your post, or a message visible to your contacts, crosses that line.
The validation notice
Regulation F standardized the notice a collector must send at the start. The notice must include the collector's name and address, the creditor, an itemization date, the amount on that date, an itemization of interest, fees, payments and credits since then, the current amount, and an explanation of your dispute rights, with a response section for disputing (§ 1006.34(c)). The CFPB's Model Form B-1 is a safe harbor for the format. The validation period ends 30 days after you receive, or are assumed to receive, the notice (§ 1006.34(b)(5)). A written dispute within that period makes the collector stop until it mails verification (15 U.S.C. § 1692g(b)). See no validation notice.
Credit reporting and debt transfers
A collector may not report a debt to a credit bureau before it has spoken to you about the debt, or mailed or electronically sent you a message and waited a reasonable time for notice that it was undeliverable (§ 1006.30(a)(1)). The point is that a debt should not appear on your report before you have heard from the collector. A collector also may not sell or transfer a debt it knows or should know was paid, settled or discharged in bankruptcy, with limited exceptions (§ 1006.30(b)).
Time-barred debt
A collector must not bring or threaten to bring a legal action against a consumer to collect a time-barred debt (§ 1006.26(b)). Whether a debt is time-barred depends on state law: three years for most consumer credit in New York (CPLR 214-i), six years for contract claims in New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1), and five years on a written contract in Florida (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b)). See zombie debt. If a collector has already sued you, do not ignore the papers; the answer deadline is short. The sued by a debt collector page explains what to do.
The FDCPA's one-year clock applies
A Regulation F violation is sued on as an FDCPA violation, so the one-year limit in 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d) applies, running from each violation. There is no discovery rule (Rotkiske v. Klemm, 589 U.S. 8 (2019)). Actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000 and fees are available as under the Act (§ 1692k(a)).
In New York, New Jersey and Florida
Regulation F applies the same way in all three states. New York City's own collection rules (6 RCNY 5-77) were amended to adopt protections similar to the federal and state rules, effective September 1, 2026 (see the news post). Florida's FCCPA has its own calling-hours rule, which since 2025 does not apply to email (Fla. Stat. § 559.72(17)). See New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Common questions
Do texts and emails count toward the 7 calls in 7 days?
No. The presumption in 12 C.F.R. 1006.14(b)(2) counts telephone calls only. Texts and emails are not counted toward it. They can still violate the general ban on harassment, and every text or email must include a simple way to opt out of further electronic messages.
If a collector calls 7 times or fewer, is it automatically legal?
No. Calling within the limits creates a presumption of compliance, and calling beyond them creates a presumption of violation. Both presumptions can be rebutted. Fewer calls can still be harassment if the content, timing or pattern shows intent to annoy or abuse, and calls at forbidden hours or after a written stop request are separate violations.
Can I sue under Regulation F directly?
You sue under the FDCPA. Regulation F interprets and implements the Act, and a violation of the rule is pleaded as a violation of the corresponding FDCPA section. The FDCPA's damages, fee rule and one-year deadline apply.
Does Regulation F apply to the original lender?
Generally no. Regulation F applies to debt collectors as the FDCPA defines them. A creditor collecting its own debt in its own name is usually outside it, although Florida's FCCPA and the New York City rules can reach creditors.
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.