Debt collectors have real power to pursue money you owe, but federal law fences in how they can use it. What debt collectors can and cannot do breaks down into two categories: contact and pressure tactics governed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and enforcement tools like garnishment and liens that only become available after a collector wins a court judgment against you. Knowing where each line falls is the difference between paying what you actually owe and paying because you were bluffed into it.
How Collectors Can Contact You
Phone calls, letters, emails, and texts are a collector’s starting point. Calls are allowed between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. your local time, unless you agree otherwise or a court says otherwise.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection A call at 6:30 a.m. or 10:00 p.m. is a federal violation on its face.
Within five days of first contacting you, the collector must send a written validation notice stating the amount of the debt, the creditor’s name, and your right to dispute the debt in writing within 30 days. If you dispute it during that window, the collector must stop collection until it mails you verification or a copy of the judgment.2Federal Trade Commission. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Text Not disputing within 30 days is not an admission that you owe the money.
How Often They Can Call
A 2021 federal rule presumes harassment if a collector calls you more than seven times in a seven-day period about a specific debt, or calls you within seven days after actually speaking with you about that debt. Voicemails count. The seven-call ceiling applies per debt, so a collector handling three accounts of yours has more room than one handling a single account.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When and How Often Can a Debt Collector Call Me on the Phone
Emails, Texts, and Social Media
Collectors are allowed to email and text you, but every message must include a simple way to opt out of that channel. They cannot email you at a work address your employer provided, and they cannot contact you on social media in any way that other people can see.4eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F) A private message is allowed, but the collector must identify itself as a debt collector when it sends the friend or connection request. You can also tell a collector to stop using a particular channel, and it must comply.
Talking to People You Know
Collectors can call your neighbors, relatives, or coworkers, but only to find out where you live, your phone number, or where you work. They must identify themselves by name, must not reveal that you owe a debt, and generally cannot contact the same third party more than once.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692b – Acquisition of Location Information Once you have a lawyer and the collector knows it, all communication has to go through the lawyer.
Telling Them to Stop
Send a written request telling a collector to stop contacting you, and it must end all communication except to confirm the stop or to notify you of a specific action like a lawsuit.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection A cease-communication letter shuts off the calls. It does not erase the debt, and the collector can still sue you and still report the account to the credit bureaus.
What Collectors Cannot Do
The FDCPA draws hard lines around collector conduct. A collector cannot threaten violence, use obscene language, call you over and over to annoy or harass you, publish your name on any list of debtors, or place calls without identifying itself.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692d – Harassment or Abuse
Deception is separately prohibited. The most common deceptive tactics include:
- Misrepresenting the amount you owe or the legal status of the debt.
- Threatening arrest, a lawsuit, or wage garnishment when the collector has no intent or legal authority to follow through.
- Pretending a letter comes from an attorney, or implying the collector works for a government agency.
- Sending documents made to look like court papers or official government forms when they are not.
- Telling you that unpaid consumer debt is a crime. It is a civil matter.
Any threatened action a collector does not actually intend to take, or cannot legally take, is itself a violation.2Federal Trade Commission. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Text
Reporting the Debt to Credit Bureaus
Collectors can and often do report unpaid accounts to the major credit bureaus. A collection entry stays on your credit report for seven years plus 180 days, measured from the date you first fell behind on the original account. Selling the debt to another agency or opening a new file on their end does not reset that clock.7United States Code. 15 USC Title 15 – Chapter 41 – Consumer Credit Protection – Subchapter III – Credit Reporting Agencies
If you dispute the accuracy of a reported item, the credit bureau has 30 days to investigate. If the bureau or the collector cannot verify the debt, the entry has to be removed. While the dispute is open, the collector must note that the account is disputed.7United States Code. 15 USC Title 15 – Chapter 41 – Consumer Credit Protection – Subchapter III – Credit Reporting Agencies Knowingly reporting false information is its own federal violation.
Filing a Lawsuit Against You
If calls and letters don’t produce payment, a collector can sue. The case starts when you’re served with a summons and a complaint stating what you owe, where the debt came from, and the legal basis for the claim.
Federal law limits where the suit can be filed. For a debt tied to real estate, the collector must sue where the property sits. For any other debt, the collector can only file in the district where you signed the original contract or where you live now.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692i – Legal Actions by Debt Collectors Filing in a far-off court to make it hard for you to show up is an FDCPA violation.
You typically have 20 to 30 days after being served to file a written response, depending on the court. Ignore that deadline and the collector can ask for a default judgment, meaning the court rules against you without ever hearing your side. That judgment is what unlocks the enforcement tools below. Showing up preserves every defense you have, even if the underlying debt is real.
Garnishing Your Wages
With a judgment in hand, a collector can get a court order directing your employer to withhold part of your paycheck. Federal law caps the amount at the lesser of:
- 25% of your disposable earnings for the pay period, or
- The amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage — $217.50 per week at $7.25 per hour.
Whichever number is smaller is the maximum.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Disposable earnings are what’s left after legally required deductions like federal income tax and Social Security. If your disposable weekly pay is $217.50 or less, none of it can be garnished for a consumer debt.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)
A handful of states — including Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina — bar wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debts altogether, though child support, taxes, and student loans can still be garnished there. Other states cap garnishment below the federal ceiling. Whichever rule protects you more is the one that applies.
Levying Your Bank Accounts
A judgment creditor can also serve a levy on your bank. The bank freezes the account and, following your state’s procedure, turns over the ordered amount.
Some deposits are protected. Federal law shields Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans’ benefits, federal employee retirement, and railroad retirement payments even after they land in your account.11eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments When a garnishment order arrives, the bank has to review the account for direct deposits of those benefits and automatically protect them. If the account holds both protected and unprotected money, only the unprotected portion can be handed over.
Putting a Lien on Your Property
A judgment also allows the collector to record a lien against real estate you own by filing it with the county recorder where the property is located. The lien attaches to the title, so you can’t sell or refinance without paying it off first. It’s public record, and any title search will find it.
In some cases the collector can go further and get a writ of execution, ordering a sheriff or marshal to seize non-exempt personal property and sell it at auction. Vehicles, valuable jewelry, and second homes are common targets. Auction proceeds go toward the judgment after sale costs and any prior liens.
Most states have homestead exemptions that shield some or all of the equity in your primary home from judgment creditors. Coverage ranges widely by state, from a few thousand dollars to unlimited protection subject to acreage caps. Homestead exemptions do not block mortgages, tax liens, or child support.
Old Debts and the Statute of Limitations
Every debt has a statute of limitations, a window during which a collector can sue. Once it closes, the debt is time-barred. Typical periods for credit card and medical debt run three to six years, depending on state law and debt type.
Suing you, or threatening to sue you, on a time-barred debt is prohibited.12Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1006.26 – Collection of Time-Barred Debts The debt itself doesn’t vanish, though. Collectors can still call and write asking for payment, and the account can still appear on your credit report if it’s within the separate seven-year-plus-180-day reporting window.
Be careful how you respond to contact about old debts. A partial payment or a written acknowledgment that you owe the money can restart the statute of limitations in some states, reopening the door to a lawsuit.13Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can Debt Collectors Collect a Debt That’s Several Years Old Moving to a state with a longer period can also change the timeline.
Federal Debts Follow Different Rules
The rules above cover private debt collectors. Money owed to the federal government — most commonly defaulted student loans and unpaid taxes — is collected under separate authority that skips several of the protections above.
For defaulted federal student loans, the Department of Education can garnish up to 15% of your disposable pay through administrative wage garnishment, with no lawsuit and no court order required. You get notice and a chance to request a hearing first, but no judge is involved.14eCFR. 34 CFR Part 34 – Administrative Wage Garnishment The Treasury Department can also intercept your income tax refund through the Treasury Offset Program to cover defaulted federal debts, after sending you advance notice.15Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Tax Refund Offset
What You Can Do When a Collector Breaks the Rules
If a collector violates the FDCPA, you can sue in federal or state court. A successful case can recover actual damages for financial harm or emotional distress, statutory damages up to $1,000 per lawsuit regardless of actual harm, and your attorney’s fees and court costs. Class actions can add up to $500,000 or 1% of the collector’s net worth, whichever is less, on top of individual damages for named plaintiffs.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692k – Civil Liability
You can also file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or your state attorney general. Both have enforcement authority over debt collectors, and a documented complaint often gets a response faster than a lawsuit does. Keep a log of every call, save every voicemail, and hold on to every letter and message. That record is what turns a violation from your word against theirs into a case.