Tell a Debt Collector to Stop Contacting You (Free FDCPA Cease-Communication Letter)
A third-party debt collector has to stop contacting you once you tell them in writing — that's a federal right under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, in all 50 states. This letter invokes 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c), starts the clock on receipt, and puts them on notice that further calls are a violation. It does not erase the debt — it stops the contact.
the letter
Copy, customize, send.
[Your Full Name]
[Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Phone] [Email]
[Date]
[Collection Agency Legal Name]
[Attn: Compliance / Registered Agent]
[Collector Address]
Sent via certified mail, return receipt requested
Certified Mail No.: [tracking number]
Re: Account No. [Collector's reference / account number]
Original Creditor: [Name of original creditor, if known]
Amount claimed: $[Amount]
NOTICE TO CEASE COMMUNICATION
To Whom It May Concern:
I am the consumer associated with the account referenced above. This letter is my written notice under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c), and the CFPB's Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(c), that you must CEASE ALL COMMUNICATION with me concerning this alleged debt.
[Optional — include only if true:]
• I dispute this debt [in whole / in part].
• I refuse to pay this alleged debt.
• I do not have the ability to pay this alleged debt.
Effective immediately, do not contact me by telephone, text message, email, or any other medium regarding this account. Direct any further communication to me only in writing, and only as permitted by the narrow exceptions below.
Legal basis:
1. Cease communication (federal, all 50 states). Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c), once a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or wishes the collector to cease further communication, "the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer." When that notice is sent by mail, "notification shall be complete upon receipt." After receipt, you may contact me ONLY to: (a) advise that your collection efforts are being terminated; (b) notify me that you may invoke a specified remedy; or (c) notify me that you intend to invoke a specified remedy. No other contact is lawful. Regulation F restates this requirement at 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(c).
2. Time, place, and third-party limits. Independent of this cease notice, the FDCPA already bars you from contacting me at an unusual or inconvenient time or place — presumptively before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. my local time (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a); 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(b)) — and from contacting me at work if you know my employer prohibits it (§ 1692c(a)(3)). You may not discuss this debt with third parties such as my family, neighbors, or employer (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b)).
3. Call frequency and harassment. Under Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b), you are presumed to be harassing me if you call about this debt more than seven times within any seven consecutive days, or within seven consecutive days after speaking with me by phone about it. Repeated or continuous calls intended to annoy or harass, threats, and abusive language violate 15 U.S.C. § 1692d. False or misleading representations violate § 1692e, and collecting amounts not authorized by the agreement or by law violates § 1692f.
[STATE TIER — include the line for your state; these mini-FDCPAs also bind the ORIGINAL CREDITOR, not just outside collectors:]
[CALIFORNIA] This demand also arises under the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1788.2(c) and 1788.17, which extends FDCPA obligations (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692b–1692j) to debt collectors collecting on their own behalf as well as for others.
[FLORIDA] This demand also arises under the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, Fla. Stat. § 559.72, which applies to any person collecting consumer debts, including the original creditor.
[NEW YORK] This demand also arises under N.Y. General Business Law § 601, which binds "principal creditors" and their agents alike.
[TEXAS] This demand also arises under the Texas Debt Collection Act, Tex. Fin. Code § 392.001 et seq., whose "debt collector" definition reaches creditors collecting their own debts.
[ALL OTHER STATES] If your state has a debt-collection statute that mirrors or extends the FDCPA, it applies in addition to the federal law cited above.
Reservation regarding the debt:
This letter is a request to stop contact. It is not an acknowledgment that I owe this debt, a waiver of any defense, or a promise to pay. I expressly reserve all rights, including the right to dispute the debt and to demand validation under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g. If you have not yet sent the validation notice required by § 1692g, send it in writing only.
Demand:
1. Cease all communication with me about this account immediately upon receipt of this letter, except as permitted by 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)(1)–(3).
2. Cease all communication with any third party about this account (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b)).
3. If you take any further action, do so only in writing addressed to me at the address above.
Within [14] days of receipt, please confirm in writing that you have noted this cease-communication request in your records.
If you continue to contact me in violation of this notice, I will:
• File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov/complaint) and my state Attorney General;
• Report the violation to the Federal Trade Commission (reportfraud.ftc.gov);
• Pursue civil liability under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k, which allows actual damages, additional statutory damages up to $1,000 per action, plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees [and my state's parallel remedies].
I am keeping a dated log of every contact you make after you receive this letter, including date, time, number, and medium.
Sincerely,
[Your Signature]
[Your Printed Name]
Enclosures: [copy of certified-mail receipt; copy of the collection notice/letter you received; contact log to date, if any]This template is for informational use only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Square-bracketed placeholders must be replaced with your specific facts. State law and procedural details vary; if your situation is urgent, complicated, or high-stakes, email info@imfrustrated.org for a free conversation with a volunteer attorney before you send it.
how to use it
A few things before you send.
- 1Send it by certified mail, return receipt requested — this is the single most important step. The FDCPA says a mailed cease notice is effective 'upon receipt' (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)), so the green return-receipt card (or USPS tracking showing delivery) is the exact proof that the collector's duty to stop has been triggered. Keep a copy of the letter and the receipt together.
- 2Address it to the collection agency, not the original creditor — and confirm you're dealing with a third-party collector. The federal FDCPA covers debt collectors (companies collecting debts owed to others); it does NOT cover an original creditor collecting its own debt in its own name (15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)). If the caller is the original lender/store, use the state-tier line for CA, FL, NY, or TX, whose laws reach original creditors too.
- 3Pick the right state-tier line and strike the rest. The federal cease right works everywhere; the state lines add a second hook and (in CA/FL/NY/TX) extend the cease/harassment rules to the original creditor. If your state isn't listed, leave the 'all other states' line and rely on the federal citations.
- 4Highest-leverage move: start a contact log the day you mail this. After the collector receives the letter, every subsequent call, text, or email (outside the three narrow § 1692c(c) exceptions) is a separate FDCPA violation worth up to $1,000 in statutory damages plus attorney's fees under § 1692k. Note date, time, number, and what was said. That log is what turns a nuisance into a claim a consumer lawyer will take for free on contingency.
- 5Top mistake to avoid: do not assume this letter makes the debt disappear. It stops the contact; it does not cancel the debt, stop interest, reset the statute of limitations, or prevent the collector from suing or reporting to credit bureaus. If you actually want to challenge whether you owe it, send a debt-validation request under § 1692g (within 30 days of their first notice) instead of, or alongside, this cease letter.
what the law actually says
Why this letter works.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692–1692p, is a federal law that applies in all 50 states and governs how third-party debt collectors may behave. Its central consumer tool here is § 1692c(c), the 'cease communication' right: once you notify a collector in writing that you refuse to pay the debt or that you want them to stop contacting you, 'the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer.' The statute closes the loop on timing — 'If such notice from the consumer is made by mail, notification shall be complete upon receipt' — which is why certified mail with a return receipt is the whole ballgame. After receipt, the collector may contact you only for three narrow purposes: to say its efforts are being terminated, to tell you it may invoke a specific remedy, or to tell you it intends to invoke a specific remedy (§ 1692c(c)(1)–(3)). Any other contact about the debt is a violation.
Who the FDCPA covers is the most misunderstood point, and the body of this letter handles it with a state tier. The federal Act defines a 'debt collector' as a person whose principal business is collecting debts or who regularly collects debts owed to another (15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)) — and it specifically does NOT reach a creditor collecting its own debt in its own name. So the original bank, hospital, or store that you owe is generally outside the federal FDCPA, while the collection agency it hires, or a debt buyer that purchased the account after default, is squarely inside it. That gap is exactly what state 'mini-FDCPA' statutes close. California's Rosenthal Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1788.2(c), 1788.17) defines a debt collector as anyone who regularly collects 'on behalf of that person or others' and imports the federal duties (§§ 1692b–1692j) wholesale, so it binds original creditors. Florida's FCCPA (Fla. Stat. § 559.72) applies to 'any person' collecting a consumer debt. New York's General Business Law § 601 binds 'principal creditors' and their agents alike. Texas's Debt Collection Act (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.001) defines 'debt collector' broadly as a person who 'directly or indirectly engages in debt collection,' reaching creditors on their own accounts. If you're dealing with the original creditor and live in one of those states, the cease and harassment protections still apply through state law.
Three other federal limits stack on top of the cease right and apply even before you send any letter. First, time and place: a collector cannot contact you at an unusual or inconvenient time or place — presumptively only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. your local time (§ 1692c(a)) — and cannot call you at work if it knows your employer forbids it (§ 1692c(a)(3)). Second, third parties: it cannot tell your family, friends, neighbors, or employer about the debt (§ 1692c(b)). Third, harassment: § 1692d bars repeated or continuous calls intended to annoy or harass, threats of violence, and abusive language; § 1692e bars false or misleading statements; and § 1692f bars unfair practices like tacking on charges the contract or law doesn't authorize. The CFPB's Regulation F (12 C.F.R. Part 1006), effective since November 30, 2021, restates and sharpens these rules — most usefully the '7-in-7' call-frequency rule at § 1006.14(b): a collector is presumed to be harassing you if it calls about a particular debt more than seven times in any seven consecutive days, or within seven consecutive days after actually speaking with you about it. Regulation F's § 1006.6(c) mirrors the statutory cease-communication right, and § 1006.6(b) restates the 8 a.m.–9 p.m. window.
What this letter does NOT do is the most important caveat. Ceasing communication does not erase, cancel, or pay the debt; it does not stop interest from accruing; it does not reset or pause the statute of limitations; and it does not stop the collector from reporting the account to the credit bureaus or from filing a lawsuit. In fact, cutting off contact sometimes nudges a collector toward suing because talking is no longer an option — so use this when the calls themselves are the problem, not as a way to make a real debt vanish. If your goal is to test whether you actually owe the money or whether the collector can prove it, the right tool is a debt-validation request under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g, which (if sent within 30 days of the collector's first written notice) forces the collector to stop collection until it mails you verification. Many people send both: a § 1692g validation demand to challenge the debt and a § 1692c(c) cease letter to stop the noise. The teeth behind all of this is § 1692k, which lets you recover actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000 per action, and your court costs and attorney's fees — but note the short one-year statute of limitations to sue under § 1692k(d).
state variations
What changes by state.
Not a comprehensive list. Confirm your state’s current statute before sending.
- All 50 states (federal floor)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c). Written cease request stops a THIRD-PARTY collector's contact upon receipt; only the three § 1692c(c)(1)–(3) notices are allowed afterward. Reg F (12 C.F.R. §§ 1006.6, 1006.14) adds the 8 a.m.–9 p.m. window and the 7-in-7 call-frequency presumption.
- California
- Rosenthal Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1788.2(c), 1788.17. Defines 'debt collector' as anyone collecting 'on behalf of that person or others' and imports FDCPA §§ 1692b–1692j — so the cease/harassment rules also bind the ORIGINAL CREDITOR. Remedies track 15 U.S.C. § 1692k.
- Florida
- FCCPA, Fla. Stat. § 559.72. Prohibits harassment, false threats, and abusive contact by 'any person' collecting a consumer debt — reaches original creditors, not only outside agencies.
- New York
- N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 601. Binds 'principal creditors' and their agents; bars harassment, false threats, and third-party disclosure. NYC and NY State debt-collection rules add further notice/record requirements.
- Texas
- Texas Debt Collection Act, Tex. Fin. Code § 392.001 et seq. Broad 'debt collector' definition (a person who 'directly or indirectly engages in debt collection') reaches original creditors; § 392.301 bars threats and coercion. Violations also support a Texas DTPA claim.
- Massachusetts
- M.G.L. c. 93 § 49 and the Attorney General's debt-collection regulations (940 CMR 7.00) restrict creditors and collectors and cap contact frequency; verify current text before citing the specific subsection.
- All other states
- The federal FDCPA cease right (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)) and Reg F apply to third-party collectors everywhere. Most states have their own debt-collection or unfair-practices statute that may extend to original creditors — check your state Attorney General's site for the local citation and add it to the letter.
if this doesn’t work
Your next move.
If the collector keeps contacting you after it receives this letter, you have a real claim, not just a complaint. File with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint (collectors usually respond within 15 days), with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and with your state Attorney General — these are free and often get the calls to stop on their own. For the violations themselves, the FDCPA's § 1692k lets you recover actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000, and — critically — your attorney's fees and costs, which is why consumer-protection lawyers routinely take these cases on contingency at no upfront cost; your dated contact log is the evidence that makes one viable. Move quickly: § 1692k(d) gives you only one year from the violation to sue in federal or state court. State mini-FDCPA claims (CA Rosenthal, FL FCCPA, NY GBL § 601, TX DCA/DTPA) may add their own damages and a longer window. Remember that none of this resolves whether you owe the debt — if the debt itself is wrong or unprovable, pair this with a debt-validation request under § 1692g, and if the account was opened by someone else, an identity-theft block under the FCRA.
questions people ask
FAQ.
Does telling them to stop calling make the debt go away?
No. A cease-communication letter under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c) only stops the contact — it does not cancel the debt, stop interest, reset the statute of limitations, or remove the account from your credit report. The collector can still report the debt and can still sue you. If you want to challenge whether you actually owe it, send a debt-validation request under § 1692g instead.
Can the collector still contact me after I send this?
Only for three narrow reasons listed in § 1692c(c): to tell you they're stopping collection efforts, to tell you they may take a specific action (like a lawsuit), or to tell you they intend to take a specific action. Any other call, text, or email about the debt after they receive your letter is a violation. They also can't route around you by contacting your family or employer (§ 1692c(b)).
Does this work against the original bank or store I owe, or only collection agencies?
The federal FDCPA covers third-party debt collectors and debt buyers, not an original creditor collecting its own debt in its own name (15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)). But several states close that gap: California's Rosenthal Act, Florida's FCCPA, New York's GBL § 601, and the Texas Debt Collection Act all reach original creditors too. Use the matching state-tier line in the letter if you're dealing with the original creditor.
How many times can a debt collector legally call me?
Under the CFPB's Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b), a collector is presumed to be harassing you if it calls about a particular debt more than seven times in any seven consecutive days, or within seven days after it actually spoke with you by phone about that debt. Exceeding either limit creates a presumed violation even before you send a cease letter.
Should I send a cease letter or a debt-validation letter?
Depends on your goal. Use the cease letter (§ 1692c(c)) when the contact itself is the problem and you just want it to stop. Use a debt-validation letter (§ 1692g) — ideally within 30 days of the collector's first written notice — when you want to force them to prove you owe the debt, which pauses collection until they mail verification. Many people send both at once.
What can I get if they keep harassing me after I send this?
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k you can recover any actual damages, additional statutory damages up to $1,000 per lawsuit, and your court costs and reasonable attorney's fees — which is why many consumer lawyers take these cases for free on contingency. You have one year from the violation to sue (§ 1692k(d)), so keep a dated log of every contact and act promptly.
Nervous about sending it yourself?
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