Learn what to do when a debt collector contacts you.The adverb sometime can mean either 'at some time in the future' or 'at some not specified or definitely known point of time in the past.' Affixing an 's' to the word forms the adverb sometimes, meaning 'at certain times' or 'occasionally.' Sometime written as an open compound ( some time) also has adverbial use, but it is also a standard noun phrase. If you're having an issue with debt collection, you can submit a complaint with the CFPB. Your state laws may also provide additional protections, and you can check with your state attorney general’s office for more information. Keep in mind that these presumptions only apply to telephone calls placed by the debt collector to you and don’t apply to other forms of communication, including text messages, emails, in-person interactions, or social media messages, which have other protections.įor more information about repeated or continuous telephone calls or telephone conversations, review the Debt Collection Rule FAQs or see Section 7.1 in the Debt Collection Small Entity Compliance Guide. The limits generally apply per debt but in the case of student loan debt – depending on the facts – multiple debts could be counted together as one “particular debt,” so the limits would apply to those debts as a group. There may be some exceptions to this, including if you gave them consent to call more frequently. For example, if the debt collector placed seven calls to you about a debt within a seven-day period, but all seven calls were made on the same day, they could be violating the law.

Within seven days after engaging in a telephone conversation with you about the particular debt.įactors such as the frequency and pattern of phone calls and voicemails may also be used to assess whether a debt collector complied with or violated the law.

More than seven times within a seven-day period, or.

The debt collector is presumed to violate the law if they place a telephone call to you about a particular debt:

In addition, the Debt Collection Rule creates certain “presumptions” to help determine whether debt collectors have violated this law. “Placing a telephone call” includes telephone calls that the debt collector makes and that go into voicemail. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits debt collectors from placing repeated or continuous telephone calls to you or having telephone conversations with you with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass you. You have a right to ask a debt collector to stop contacting you. If they’re aware you don’t want or are not allowed to receive personal calls at work, for example, they’re not allowed to contact you there. If you don’t want to receive calls from a debt collector at a particular time or place, such as on the weekends or at work, you should tell the debt collector. The law also requires debt collectors to follow instructions you give them about when and where you don’t want to be contacted. They are generally prohibited from contacting you before 8 a.m. Generally, debt collectors can’t call you at an unusual time or place, or at a time or place they know is inconvenient to you.

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