One letter shuts most of it down. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a third-party collector that receives a written request to stop contacting you has to stop, apart from a final notice saying it’s ending contact or naming a specific legal step like a lawsuit. You can do this without paying anything and without admitting the debt is yours, though the debt itself doesn’t go away.
It’s often smarter to mail a different letter first, a dispute that forces the collector to prove the debt. Both are below, with sample wording you can copy.
Who the law covers
The FDCPA and the CFPB’s Regulation F, in effect since November 2021, apply to third-party debt collectors: collection agencies, debt buyers such as Midland Credit Management or Portfolio Recovery Associates, and law firms that collect debts regularly. They mostly don’t cover the original creditor collecting its own account. If your card issuer’s own collections department is calling, a stop letter carries far less legal weight, though many state laws add protections of their own.
For covered collectors, the CFPB’s page on how often a debt collector can call sets out the limits. No calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your time. And a collector is presumed to break the law if it calls about one debt more than seven times in seven days, or calls within seven days after actually talking to you about it. That presumption covers phone calls only, not texts or emails. Collectors also can’t threaten arrest, use abusive language, pretend to be a lawyer or a government official, or misstate what you owe.
First letter: make them prove it
Within five days of first contacting you, a collector has to send a validation notice listing the creditor, an itemized amount, and the end date of a 30-day dispute period. The CFPB explains what that notice must contain in What information does a debt collector have to give me about the debt? If you dispute in writing, or ask for the name and address of the original creditor, inside that 30-day window, the collector has to pause collecting the disputed amount until it responds properly.
That matters most with old debt that’s been sold and resold. Each sale is a chance for the wrong balance, the wrong person, or a debt that was already paid. A sample dispute:
[Your name and address] / [Date] / [Collector name and address] / Re: Account number [from their notice]. I dispute this debt. Please send me verification of the amount, the name and address of the original creditor, and documentation showing you own or are authorized to collect this account. Until you have done so, stop collection of this debt. This letter is not an acknowledgment that I owe it. [Signature]
Send it by certified mail with a return receipt, keep a copy, and note the date on the receipt. The letter makes no promise to pay and never says “yes, that’s my old Capital One card.” On an old debt, that silence protects you, for reasons the next section explains.
Is the debt too old to sue on?
Every state sets a statute of limitations, the window for suing over a debt. The CFPB’s page on statutes of limitations on debt says most fall between three and six years, sometimes longer, depending on the state, the type of debt and the law named in your contract. Once it runs out, a collector generally can’t sue or threaten to sue. In some states a partial payment, or acknowledging the debt, can restart the clock.
Picture a debt buyer calling about a credit card you stopped paying five years ago, in a state with a four-year limit on that kind of debt. The collector can still call and send letters. What it can’t do is sue, or threaten to. If you tell the caller “I know, I’ll send $25 this month,” you may have handed it a fresh four years in a state where a payment restarts the clock. So you say nothing about owing it, send the dispute letter, and check the statute with your state attorney general’s office or a legal aid office.
The CFPB mentions one thing almost in passing. An expired statute of limitations is a defense you have to raise. If a collector sues on a time-barred debt anyway and you don’t show up and say so, the court can still enter a judgment against you. Answer every summons by its deadline.
The lawsuit clock and the credit report clock are separate. A collection can generally stay on your credit report for about seven years from the original delinquency, whether or not it can still be sued on.
Second letter: stop all contact
If you just want the calls to end, the CFPB’s page on getting a debt collector to stop contacting you says to put it in writing, and you can submit it electronically if the collector offers a way. There’s no magic phrase. Something like this works:
[Your name and address] / [Date] / [Collector name and address] / Re: Account number [from their notice]. I request that you stop all communication with me about this account. [Signature]
That letter stops the contact and nothing else. The collector can still report the account, still sue if the debt is within the limit, and a garnishment that’s already been ordered keeps going. It also means you stop hearing settlement offers, which is a reason some people send only the dispute letter, or tell the collector by phone that calls at work or after 6 p.m. are inconvenient. A collector has to respect those instructions too.
When a collector breaks the rules
Keep a log: date, time, number, who called, what they said. Save voicemails and letters. If a collector keeps calling after your stop letter, calls at 7 a.m., or threatens jail, you can sue under the FDCPA. Section 813 of the act’s text allows actual damages, additional damages of up to $1,000 in an individual case, and reasonable attorney’s fees, which is why some consumer attorneys take these cases without charging upfront. Don’t sit on it, because the suit has to be filed within one year of the violation. You can also file a complaint with the CFPB or at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, which creates a record even if it doesn’t stop the calls right away.
Nobody goes to jail for ordinary consumer debt. A collector that says otherwise is breaking the law.
Cleaning up the credit report
If a collection on your report has the wrong balance, isn’t yours, was paid, or is older than the seven-year reporting period, dispute it with each bureau that shows it. The FTC’s guide Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports says the bureau has 30 days to investigate, and it includes a sample letter. A collection the collector can’t verify should come off. And while you’re disputing a debt with the collector, it has to show the account as disputed if it reports it.
If the debts are more than you can handle and lawsuits are coming, a bankruptcy filing creates an automatic stay that halts most collection, including calls, lawsuits and most garnishments. That’s a decision to make with a bankruptcy attorney or a legal aid office, many of which offer free consultations.
This week, in order
- Find the validation notice and write down the date its 30-day dispute period ends.
- Send the dispute letter by certified mail before that date, without acknowledging the debt.
- Check your state’s statute of limitations for that kind of debt.
- Send the stop-contact letter if you want silence, and keep a call log either way.
- If you’re served with a lawsuit, file an answer by the deadline.
Related reading
- What Happens If You Ignore a Collections Account
- How to Settle Debt for Less Than You Owe
- How to Remove Collections From Your Credit Report
Regulation F covers third-party collectors, not most original creditors, and the time limit for a lawsuit depends on your state and your contract. Look up your state’s limit with the attorney general’s office or a legal aid office before you say anything to a collector about paying.
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