Are Debt Collectors Allowed to Text You? Rules, Limits, and Opt-Outs

Yes, debt collectors can text you. Federal law allows third-party debt collectors to send text messages about a debt, but the CFPB’s Regulation F, which took effect November 30, 2021, requires every text to identify the sender as a debt collector, include a simple way to opt out, and follow the same anti-harassment and timing rules that apply to phone calls.¹ A separate law, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, also requires your prior consent before a collector uses an autodialer to send those texts to your cell phone.²

One boundary to keep in mind: the FDCPA applies to third-party debt collectors, meaning companies that collect debts owed to someone else.³ If your original creditor texts you directly about a bill, most of the rules below don’t apply to them under federal law, though the TCPA’s consent rules still do and some states extend their own protections to original creditors.

What a Legal Debt Collection Text Must Contain

Text messages don’t qualify as “limited-content messages,” the abbreviated format the CFPB created for voicemails. Every text from a debt collector counts as a full “communication” under Regulation F, so each one has to carry the standard disclosures, including that the message is from a debt collector.⁴

Every text must also include a clear and conspicuous opt-out instruction with a reasonable and simple way to stop receiving texts at that number. The collector can’t charge a fee for opting out or require you to provide anything beyond your opt-out preference and the phone number you want removed.⁵ A text with no sender identification, no opt-out language, or demands for information beyond that is not compliant.

When and How Often Collectors Can Text

Debt collectors can’t contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in your time zone, and that applies to texts as much as to calls.⁶ They also can’t contact you at a time or place they know is inconvenient, even during those hours. If you tell a collector that texts during work hours cause a problem, they’re supposed to stop.⁷

Frequency is where texts sit in a gray area. Regulation F caps phone calls at seven within seven consecutive days per debt, with no calls for seven days after an actual conversation.⁸ That cap does not apply to texts.⁶ There’s no specific numeric ceiling for messages.

That doesn’t mean unlimited texting is legal. The FDCPA still bans repeated contact intended to annoy, abuse, or harass. Twenty texts in a day would likely qualify. Save every message. Screenshots of the timestamps and phone numbers are what turn a feeling of being harassed into evidence.

Why the Collector Has Your Number in the First Place

Under the TCPA, a collector using an autodialer needs your prior express consent before sending texts to your cell. For non-marketing debt collection messages that consent doesn’t have to be written down, but it does have to exist.² Giving your cell number on a credit application or loan agreement is generally treated as consent to be contacted about that account.

Consent transfers with the debt. If a collector later acquires or is assigned the account, they can rely on the consent you gave the original creditor. You can revoke it at any time, and once you do the collector has to stop.

What Collectors Can’t Say or Do in a Text

The FDCPA’s substantive rules apply to texts the same way they apply to letters and calls. Collectors can’t:

Threaten violence, arrest, or criminal prosecution, or use language designed to intimidate.
Misrepresent the amount owed, falsely claim to be an attorney or government official, or suggest that not paying is a crime when it isn’t.
Deliberately expose your debt to third parties. They can’t contact you on a social media platform in a way that’s visible to your connections or the public. Private direct messages are allowed, but they carry the same disclosure and opt-out requirements as texts.⁷

How to Stop the Texts

You have two tools, and using both is the strongest move.

The quickest is the opt-out that Regulation F requires in every message. Replying “STOP” or following the instructions in the text should end messages to that number. Under the TCPA, the collector can send a single confirmation message within five minutes of your opt-out, and nothing after.²

The broader tool is a written cease-communication request under the FDCPA. It covers every form of contact, not just texts to one number. Once the collector receives it, they must stop communicating with you except to confirm they’re stopping collection efforts, to notify you that a specific legal remedy may be pursued, or to tell you they intend to take a specific action like filing suit.⁹ Send it by certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of delivery.

A cease-communication letter silences the collector. It doesn’t erase the debt, and it doesn’t stop them from suing you.

Validate the Debt Before You Respond

When a collector first contacts you, they have to provide validation information: the creditor’s name, the amount owed, and a statement of your right to dispute. If it isn’t in the first message, they have five days to send it. Validation notices can arrive electronically, including through links in a text, with hyperlinks to the collector’s site or the CFPB’s debt collection portal and fillable fields for submitting a dispute online.¹⁰

Dispute the debt in writing within 30 days and the collector must pause collection until they send you verification. That pause is one of the most useful tools you have. Use it, especially if the debt looks unfamiliar.

Be careful with old debts. Every state sets a statute of limitations after which a collector can no longer sue you for payment. In many states, making even a small payment or acknowledging the debt in writing restarts that clock. If a text arrives about something old or unrecognized, request written validation before you respond substantively.

Telling a Legitimate Collector From a Scam Text

Text scams pretending to be debt collectors are common. The FTC reported losses to text scams overall reached $470 million in 2024.¹¹ A real debt collector will give you their name, company name, mailing address, and phone number. A sender who demands payment but refuses to provide these basics is almost certainly a scam.¹²

Warning signs:

Threats of arrest or criminal charges for nonpayment.
Demands for bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, or card details before you’ve verified who’s contacting you.
Pressure to click a link right now. If in doubt, contact the company through a phone number or website you find on your own, not through anything in the text.

Forward suspicious texts to 7726 (SPAM) so your carrier can block similar messages, and report the text at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.¹¹

If a Collector Breaks the Rules

Document everything. Screenshot each text with the date, time, and sender number visible. You can file a complaint with the CFPB through its website¹³ and with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.¹⁴

You can also sue. Under the FDCPA, a collector who violates the law is liable for any actual damages you suffered, plus statutory damages of up to $1,000 per lawsuit, plus attorney’s fees and court costs.¹⁵ The $1,000 cap is per case, not per violation, so a single suit over dozens of abusive texts maxes at $1,000 in statutory damages. Actual damages, like emotional distress or lost wages tied to the harassment, have no cap. Because the FDCPA shifts attorney’s fees to the collector when you win, consumer protection lawyers often handle these cases on contingency, which is worth knowing before you assume you can’t afford one.

1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F) – Withdrawal of Proposal to Delay Effective Date
2
Consumer Action. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act – Your Rights Against Unwanted Calls and Texts
3
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1006.2 – Definitions
4
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Limited-Content Message?
5
eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.6 – Communications in Connection With Debt Collection
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When and How Often Can a Debt Collector Call Me on the Phone?
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1006.6 – Communications in Connection With Debt Collection
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eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.14 – Harassing, Oppressive, or Abusive Conduct
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection
10
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1006.34 – Notice for Validation of Debts
11
Federal Trade Commission. New FTC Data Show Top Text Message Scams of 2024
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Tell if a Debt Collector Is Legitimate or a Scam?
13
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint About a Financial Product or Service
14
Federal Trade Commission. How to File a Complaint With the Federal Trade Commission
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1692k – Civil Liability