What to Say (and Not Say) to a Debt Collector

When a debt collector calls, say as little as possible while gathering as much as possible. Ask for the collector’s full name, company, mailing address, and callback number, along with the original creditor and the exact balance. Confirm only your name and current mailing address. Do not confirm that the debt is yours, do not agree to pay anything, and do not share your Social Security number, date of birth, employer, or bank details. Then ask them to send a written validation notice and end the call. That short script is the core of what to say to a debt collector, and everything else below is built around it.

Information to Get From the Caller Before Anything Else

The first minute of the call belongs to you, not the collector. Open with a line like: “Before we go any further, I need your full name, the name of your collection agency, your mailing address, and a callback number.” Then ask for the name of the original creditor and the total balance, including any interest and fees.

There are two reasons this matters. First, scammers impersonate collectors, and a real collector is required to give you information about the debt and the company. A caller who refuses, who cannot give you a mailing address, or who pressures you to hand over a bank account number or debit PIN is very likely running a scam.¹ Second, collectors are prohibited from misrepresenting the amount you owe, so getting a specific number on record protects you if the balance later changes without explanation.²

One quick boundary: the rights in this article come from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Regulation F, which apply to third-party collectors — agencies, debt buyers, and attorneys who regularly collect debts for someone else.³⁴ If the caller is the original creditor collecting on its own account (your own credit card company, for example), the FDCPA scripts here generally do not apply to that call, though state laws may still offer some protection.

What Not to Say and What Not to Share

Give your name and current mailing address so the collector knows they have the right person. Stop there.

Do not confirm that the debt is yours. Do not say “yes, I remember that account,” “I’ve been meaning to pay that,” or “I can send something next week.” Any of those can be treated as an acknowledgment of the debt, and on older debts an acknowledgment or a partial payment can restart your state’s statute of limitations, giving the collector a fresh window to sue you.⁵

Do not hand over sensitive information the collector does not already need to identify you: Social Security number, date of birth, employer name, bank account numbers, debit card PINs. A legitimate collector already has enough to send you a written notice.

If you feel cornered, use this line: “I am not confirming or denying this debt. Please send me a written validation notice, and I will review it.” That single sentence lets you exit the call without conceding anything.

Asking For a Written Validation Notice

Every third-party collector must send you a written validation notice either with their first communication or within five days after it.⁶ If you have not received one, ask on the call: “I am requesting a written validation notice for this debt. Please send it to the mailing address I provided.”

Under Regulation F, that notice has to include the name of the original creditor as of the itemization date, the current creditor if different, an account number, and the total amount you currently owe, along with an itemization showing the balance as of a specific reference date and a breakdown of any interest, fees, payments, and credits since then.⁷ Read every line when it arrives. If the amount is wrong or the creditor is unfamiliar, that is the basis for a written dispute.

You have 30 days from receiving the validation notice to dispute the debt in writing. A verbal dispute on the phone is not enough to trigger the collector’s legal obligation to stop and verify — the FDCPA requires the dispute to be in writing.⁶ Send your dispute letter by certified mail with a return receipt. Once the collector receives it within the 30-day window, they must stop collection activity on the disputed amount until they mail you verification, such as an account statement from the original creditor or a copy of any court judgment.

Setting Limits on When, Where, and How They Contact You

You can control the channel and timing of contact through direct instructions on the call. Each of these lines is enforceable once you say it.

Inconvenient Times

By default, calls before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your local time are considered inconvenient and are prohibited.⁸ If a narrower window works better for you, tell the collector directly: “I am only available between [time] and [time]. Do not call me outside that window.”

Calls at Work

If personal calls are not allowed at your job, say: “My employer prohibits me from receiving these calls. Do not call me at my workplace.” Once you tell a collector this, even verbally, they are barred from calling that number again.⁸ Following up with a short written confirmation strengthens your record.

Repeated Phone Calls

Regulation F treats a collector as presumptively harassing you if they call more than seven times in seven consecutive days about the same debt, or if they call again within seven days after actually speaking with you about it.⁹ If a collector is calling on top of a conversation you already had this week, you can say: “You have already spoken with me this week. Under Regulation F, you are not permitted to call me again within seven days of our last conversation. I am documenting this call.”

Emails, Texts, and Social Media

Collectors can contact you by email and text, but the same 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. time restriction applies (based on when they send it), and every message must give you a simple, no-cost way to opt out of future messages to that address or number.¹⁰ On social media, contact must be through private messages only, and the collector has to identify themselves as a debt collector in any friend request or message.¹¹ Public posts or comments that reveal the debt to your contacts are a violation.

If They Threaten a Lawsuit on an Old Debt

Every state has a statute of limitations for suing on a consumer debt. Once that period has passed, the debt is time-barred, and Regulation F prohibits a collector from suing you or threatening to sue you to collect it.¹² A collector can still ask you to pay voluntarily, but they cannot use the court as leverage.

If a collector raises the threat of a lawsuit and you think the debt is old enough to be time-barred, say: “I believe the statute of limitations on this debt has expired. You are prohibited from suing me or threatening to sue me to collect it.” Then be careful about what comes next. A partial payment or a written promise to pay can restart the clock in many states.⁵ Do not send even a small “good faith” amount on an old debt without first checking your state’s limitations period.

Other kinds of threats are always off-limits. A collector cannot claim you will be arrested for an unpaid consumer debt, cannot pretend to be a government agency, and cannot threaten to garnish wages or seize property unless they actually intend and are legally able to take that action.² If you hear a threat of arrest, treat the call as suspicious and consider hanging up.

Telling Them to Stop Contacting You

You can order a collector to stop communicating with you altogether, but the request has to be in writing to be legally enforceable.⁸ A short letter is enough: “I am writing to request that you cease all communication with me regarding [account number / creditor name]. This letter is sent pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c).” Send it by certified mail with a return receipt.

After the collector receives that letter, they can contact you only to confirm they are stopping, to notify you that they or the creditor may pursue a specific legal remedy they ordinarily use, or to notify you that they intend to pursue a specific legal remedy such as a lawsuit. Anything else is a violation.

Weigh the tradeoff before you send it. A cease letter does not erase the debt. The collector can still report it to the credit bureaus, and they can still sue you. Cutting off the phone sometimes pushes a collector toward litigation sooner, because talking is no longer an option. A cease letter tends to make the most sense when you have already disputed the debt, when the debt is time-barred, or when the contact has become genuinely harassing.

If the Collector Crosses a Line

Keep a log of every call during and after the conversation: date, time, the name of the person you spoke with, what was said, and any threats or repeated calls. Save voicemails, texts, emails, and letters. That record is what turns a bad phone call into a provable violation.

You can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint or by calling (855) 411-2372; the CFPB forwards it to the collector and generally expects a response within 15 days.¹³ Complaints can also go to the Federal Trade Commission and your state attorney general.

You can also sue. If you win an FDCPA case, you can recover any actual damages plus up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages, and the court can order the collector to pay your attorney’s fees and costs.¹⁴ Many consumer-rights attorneys take these cases on contingency because the statute lets them recover fees directly from the collector, so the log you keep during that first phone call is not just for your own records; it is the beginning of a case if you ever need one.

1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Tell if a Debt Collector Is Legitimate or a Scam
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692e – False or Misleading Representations
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692a – Definitions
4
Cornell Law Institute. Heintz v Jenkins, 514 US 291 (1995)
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can Debt Collectors Collect a Debt That’s Several Years Old
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692g – Validation of Debts
7
eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.34 – Notice for Validation of Debts
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692c – Communication in Connection With Debt Collection
9
eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.14 – Harassing, Oppressive, or Abusive Conduct
10
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1006 – Regulation F, Section 1006.6
11
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F), Section 1006.22
12
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1006.26 – Collection of Time-Barred Debts
13
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692k – Civil Liability