TCPA

What This Law Covers

This one is about the machine, not the message. What a collector says is the FDCPA. What is on your credit file is the FCRA. This law limits autodialers and recorded or fake voice messages, and generally requires your okay before a company uses those on your cell. For recorded sales calls, which is not debt collection, they need it in writing. A real person dialing your number by hand is not restricted the same way, even about a debt.

So if a collector's system dials you automatically every day and plays a recording, and you never gave that number to the creditor, that pattern by itself can be a violation. Separate from anything in debt collection law.

Consent, and Taking It Back

If you put your cell number on an application, that can count as consent for autodialed calls about that account. But it is not forever. You can take it back any time, in any reasonable way, out loud or in writing, and they have to honor it within a reasonable time. Say "stop calling this number" on the call, then follow up in writing and keep a copy with the date.

One wrinkle worth knowing. If your number used to belong to somebody else who gave consent, that old consent generally does not cover calls to you, though callers get a small allowance while they figure out the number changed hands.

How It Fits With Collection Calls

Collectors have to follow both laws. They protect different things. The FDCPA controls what they can say and when they can call at all, no calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. and no harassment. This law asks whether the technology they used needed your permission in the first place. Our debt collection calls page shows how that plays out day to day.

What You Can Do About It

1. Log every call or text. Date, time, number, and whether it was a recording or a robot.
2. Put your revocation in writing if you have not, and keep proof you sent it.
3. File with the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints, and with the CFPB too if it is about a debt.
4. Talk to a consumer attorney. This law pays $500 per bad call or text, and up to $1,500 if they did it knowingly. That is why these cases sometimes turn into class actions when a company auto dials thousands of people the same way.

What This Looks Like in Real Life

A collector auto dials you twice a day, every day. You texted back STOP two weeks ago and the calls kept coming. Every call after that is its own potential violation at $500 a pop. If you can show they kept a do not call list and ignored your name on it, that can push it to the tripled amount. Keep your call log and that text. That is usually what decides the case. If the debt itself ends up in court, see our debt lawsuits guide, because that is a separate deadline you cannot miss.

Where People Get Caught

• "Every collector call is a robocall." Only autodialed or recorded calls fall under this law. A live person dialing by hand does not.
• "The Do Not Call list stops collectors." That registry is aimed at sales calls, not collection of a debt you actually owe.
• "I have to revoke in writing." Saying it can work too. Writing it just gives you proof.