Texts, emails and social media
Debt collectors may text and email you, but the rules still apply. Texts and emails do not count toward the 7-in-7 telephone call presumption, yet a flood of them, or abusive ones, can be harassment. Every collection text or email must give you a simple way to opt out, a collector must stop using any channel you ask it not to use, and it may never contact you on social media where the public or your contacts can see.
Collectors increasingly reach people by text and email, and some try social media. These channels are legal to use, but they come with their own rules, and one common myth runs the wrong way: texts and emails do not count toward the 7-in-7 telephone call presumption. That rule is about telephone calls only.
What protects you from electronic harassment is different: the general ban on harassment, the right to opt out of any electronic channel, the right to shut off any medium, time-of-day limits, and a flat ban on public social media contact.
What it looks like
- A text storm. Several collection texts a day, every day, often alongside calls.
- STOP ignored. You replied STOP or clicked the opt-out link, and messages kept arriving at the same number or address.
- Late-night texts. Texts after 9 p.m. or before 8 a.m. your time.
- Work inbox. Collection emails to the address your employer gave you.
- Public posts or tags. A comment on your social media, a tag, or a message your friends can see.
- Abusive or threatening messages. Insults, profanity or threats in writing.
The law
Harassment still applies, the call count does not
The 7-in-7 presumption in 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2) counts telephone calls. Texts and emails are not part of it. But the FDCPA's core rule forbids any conduct whose natural consequence is to harass, oppress or abuse any person in connection with collecting a debt (15 U.S.C. § 1692d), and obscene, profane or abusive language in writing is covered by name (§ 1692d(2)). Volume, timing and content of messages all count toward that question.
Opt-outs and medium requests
Every email or text a collector sends must include "a clear and conspicuous statement describing a reasonable and simple method by which the consumer can opt out of further electronic communications" to that address or number (12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(e)). Separately, a collector must not communicate through a medium you have asked it not to use (§ 1006.14(h)(1)). And a written request to stop all communication ends contact across every channel, with narrow exceptions (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)).
Time, place and work email
The rule against communicating before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., absent knowledge of a different convenient time, applies to communications, not only calls (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1)). A collector may not email an address it knows your employer provided, with narrow exceptions such as an address you used to contact the collector yourself (12 C.F.R. § 1006.22(f)(3)).
Social media
A collector may not communicate or attempt to communicate with any person through a social media platform "if the communication or attempt to communicate is viewable by the general public or the person's social media contacts" (12 C.F.R. § 1006.22(f)(4)). A post about your debt on your page, or where your friends can see it, can also be a third-party disclosure under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b).
What you have to show
That a debt collector sent the messages about a consumer debt, and the messages themselves: dates, times, content, your opt-out, and what came after it. Screenshots with the sender and timestamps visible are the evidence.
What you can recover
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a), a collector that violates the FDCPA or Regulation F is liable for your actual damages plus additional statutory damages of up to $1,000 per lawsuit. The FDCPA requires a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
Automated texts to a cell phone without consent can also raise a TCPA claim, which carries statutory damages of $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if willful or knowing, but has no fee-shifting clause (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)). See robocalls and texts. In Florida the FCCPA provides statutory damages up to $1,000 (Fla. Stat. § 559.77(2)); in New York GBL 349 provides actual damages or $50, whichever is greater, increased up to three times actual damages capped at $1,000 for a willful violation. This site does not estimate what a case is worth.
What to do now
- Screenshot, do not delete. Capture each text with the sender number and time. Export or print emails with their headers.
- Use the opt-out, then screenshot it. Your STOP reply or opt-out confirmation is the anchor for everything that follows.
- Tell them which channels to stop. In writing, name the medium: "Do not text this number" or "Do not email this address."
- Capture social media contact. Screenshot the post, comment or message, the account, the date, and who could see it.
- Log calls separately. Calls still count toward 7-in-7. Use the call log for those.
The clock
| Claim | Time to sue | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| FDCPA and Regulation F | 1 year from each violation | 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) |
| TCPA (automated texts) | 4 years | 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a) |
In New York, New Jersey and Florida
New York. GBL 601(6) bars communication with such frequency or in such a manner as can reasonably be expected to abuse or harass, whatever the channel. New York City's DCWP rules at 6 RCNY 5-77 add more limits for collectors working in the City. Consumers usually sue through GBL 349, which lets the court award a prevailing consumer reasonable attorney's fees. See the New York page.
New Jersey. The FDCPA and Regulation F apply in full. See the New Jersey page.
Florida. The FCCPA bars communicating with a debtor between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the debtor's time zone without prior consent, and the current text exempts only a compliant email sent to an email address, so late texts are covered (Fla. Stat. § 559.72(17)). It reaches original creditors too, 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
Do collection texts count toward the 7 calls in 7 days?
No. The Regulation F presumption counts telephone calls only. Texts and emails are not added to the count. They can still violate the general ban on conduct whose natural consequence is to harass, oppress or abuse.
I replied STOP and the texts kept coming. Is that a violation?
Every collection text must include a reasonable and simple way to opt out, and a collector must not communicate through a medium you have asked it not to use. Texts to that number after you opted out can violate Regulation F. Screenshot the STOP reply and everything after it.
Can a collector send me a friend request or a private message?
Regulation F bars social media communications that are viewable by the general public or your social media contacts. A public post, a comment on your page, or a message your contacts can see is prohibited. Keep screenshots of anything a collector sends or posts.
Are automated collection texts covered by the TCPA?
They can be. The Supreme Court has treated a text to a cell phone as a call under the TCPA's autodialer rule, though after Facebook v. Duguid the autodialer definition is narrow. The robocalls and texts page explains when the TCPA applies.
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.