Can a Debt Collector Robocall Me: The Rules on Consent, Hours, and Frequency

Rule one: consent, and where a collector gets it

The TCPA bars autodialed and prerecorded calls to a cell phone without prior express consent. For debt collection, the FCC ruled in 2008 that a number you provided to the creditor when you opened the account counts as consent to be called at that number about that debt, and that consent passes to a collector working the account. So a collector robocalling the cell number on your credit card application is usually within the rule.

The consent runs out in three common situations:

• You never gave the number. The collector found it through skip-tracing or a data vendor. That number carries no consent.
• The number was reassigned to you. The prior holder’s consent is not yours, and the collector is calling the wrong person.
• You revoked consent by telling the collector to stop calling.

For debt collection, the consent standard is the ordinary one, not the written-consent standard that applies to marketing. A number given orally or on a form is enough, but it must have been given by you.

Rule two: calling hours, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. your local time

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act presumes that calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at your location are inconvenient and therefore prohibited, unless you told the collector otherwise. The CFPB’s Regulation F, in force since November 2021, keeps that rule and adds that if the collector does not know your time zone, it must use the zone of your address and your phone number’s area code and pick a window that works in both. A collector may also not call at a place or time you have told it is inconvenient, such as your workplace.

Rule three: frequency, the seven-in-seven presumption

Regulation F sets a specific frequency line for the first time. A collector is presumed to be harassing you if it places more than seven calls in seven consecutive days about a particular debt, or calls you within seven days after having a phone conversation with you about that debt. The count is per debt, so a collector working two accounts gets two counts, and it applies to attempts, not only connected calls.

Rule four: stop requests and the cease letter

You have two tools, and they work differently.

• Revoking consent under the TCPA can be done by any reasonable means: telling the agent, replying STOP to a text, or sending an email or letter. After that, automated calls to your cell must stop, though a collector may still hand-dial you.
• A written cease request under the FDCPA, sent to the collector, requires it to stop nearly all communication about the debt, with limited exceptions such as telling you it is ending collection or intends to sue.

Send the written request by a method you can prove, keep a copy, and note the date. Calls after that date are the strongest part of a claim under either law.

Rule five: a narrow exception for federal government debt

Congress amended the TCPA in 2015 to allow autodialed and prerecorded calls without consent when the call is made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States, such as a federal student loan. The FCC limited that exception to three calls per 30 days per debt, to the debtor only, with an opt-out right. Calls about private student loans, credit cards, medical debt, and auto loans get no such exception.

When a lawful collection call turns into a claim

Put the rules together and the violations are easy to spot: a dialer or recording to a cell number you never gave; calls to a number reassigned to you about someone else’s account; calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; more than seven attempts in a week; and any automated call after you said stop. The TCPA prices each automated violation at $500 to $1,500, and the FDCPA adds up to $1,000 per lawsuit plus any actual damages. Lucas v. Synchrony Bank (No. 4:21-cv-00070, N.D. Ind.), a $2.6 million class settlement over wrong-number prerecorded collection calls, shows what the first category can be worth at scale. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. For how those claims are built, see debt collection robocalls: suing for $500 to $1,500 per call.

Related: Debt collection robocall claims · Robocalls and the FDCPA · How to stop debt collection calls · Wrong-number debt collection calls