FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)

The federal law that limits what debt collectors can say and do when contacting consumers.

The FDCPA is the federal law setting the rules for how a debt collector is allowed to talk to you. It mostly covers third-party collectors and debt buyers, not the original company you borrowed from directly — which is exactly why a lot of states (check your state’s page on this site) have their own version extending similar protections to original creditors too.

Here’s what it actually guarantees you: no calls before 8am or after 9pm your time, no contacting you at work once they know your employer forbids it, no harassment or obscene language, no threatening something they can’t or won’t actually do, and they have to identify themselves as a debt collector and send you validation information within 5 days of first contact.

It also flatly bans lying to you — misstating what you owe, pretending to be a lawyer or a government official, threatening arrest or a lawsuit that was never actually planned. And you don’t need a lawyer’s help to enforce any of this: you can sue a collector yourself for actual damages, up to $1,000 in statutory damages, and your attorney’s fees — without even having to prove you lost money because of it.