Communications in connection with debt collection — §1692c

Authority

15 U.S.C. §1692c (FDCPA §805): when/where a collector may contact the consumer (a), the third-party contact ban (b), the cease-communication right (c), and this section's expanded "consumer" definition (d). Reg F (12 CFR 1006.6) implements and extends this section.

Operative text

(a) Time, place, attorney, employer:

Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt—

(1) at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8 o'clock antemeridian and before 9 o'clock postmeridian, local time at the consumer's location;

(2) if the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to such debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney's name and address, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the debt collector or unless the attorney consents to direct communication with the consumer; or

(3) at the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication. — 15 U.S.C. §1692c(a)

(b) Third-party contact ban:

Except as provided in section 1692b of this title, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than the consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector. — 15 U.S.C. §1692c(b)

(c) Cease communication:

If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to such debt, except—

(1) to advise the consumer that the debt collector's further efforts are being terminated;

(2) to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor may invoke specified remedies which are ordinarily invoked by such debt collector or creditor; or

(3) where applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy.

If such notice from the consumer is made by mail, notification shall be complete upon receipt. — 15 U.S.C. §1692c(c)

(d) Who counts as "consumer" here:

For the purpose of this section, the term "consumer" includes the consumer's spouse, parent (if the consumer is a minor), guardian, executor, or administrator. — 15 U.S.C. §1692c(d)

Plain English

Interpretation — the quotes above win on any conflict.

• Time window: absent contrary knowledge, presume 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. local time at the consumer's location is convenient. It's a rebuttable presumption, not a safe harbor — if the collector knows a time/place is inconvenient (night-shift worker, told "don't call me at dinner"), calling inside the window still violates (a)(1).
• Attorney representation: once known (with ascertainable name/address), talk to the attorney, not the consumer — unless the attorney is unresponsive for a reasonable period or consents to direct contact.
• Workplace: off-limits once the collector knows or has reason to know the employer prohibits such communications. A consumer saying "I can't take these calls at work" is enough.
• Third parties: outside a §1692b location call, communication in connection with collection is limited to the consumer, the consumer's attorney, a CRA (if otherwise lawful), the creditor, the creditor's attorney, and the collector's own attorney. Exceptions: consumer's direct prior consent, court permission, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy.
• Cease & desist (c): a written refusal-to-pay or stop-contact notice cuts off all further communication about that debt except three narrow messages: (1) confirming efforts are terminated, (2) advising that specified ordinarily-used remedies may be invoked, (3) advising a specified remedy will be invoked. A mailed notice is effective on receipt. Suing is not "communication" — a C&D does not bar litigation.
• (d) expansion: for this section only, spouse, parent of a minor, guardian, executor, or administrator stand in the consumer's shoes — contacting them is not third-party contact, and their inconvenient-time/place rights count too.

Traps / edge cases

• The 8–9 window runs on the consumer's location — with mobile numbers and ported area codes, area code ≠ location. Reg F commentary addresses handling conflicting location info; when in doubt, only dial in hours valid for all plausible locations.
• §1692c(c) requires writing; an oral stop request does not trigger the statute (but Reg F 1006.14(h) separately prohibits contact via a medium the consumer has orally asked you to stop using — see ../reg-f/communications-opt-outs.md).
• The C&D is per debt ("with respect to such debt") — it does not automatically cover other claims against the same consumer.
• Exception (2) vs (3): (2) is generic ("we may pursue remedies we ordinarily use" — must actually be ordinarily invoked); (3) is a statement of actual intent. Threatening a remedy that isn't intended or ordinarily used loses the exception and can also violate §1692e(5).
• Voicemails count as communications; a voicemail left at 8:55 p.m. but heard later was still placed in-window — but repeated boundary-pushing feeds §1692d claims.
• Consent must be given directly to the debt collector — consent the consumer gave the creditor doesn't transfer.

Related

• Siblings: overview.md, location-information.md (the sanctioned third-party exception), harassment-abuse.md, validation.md
• Reg F: ../reg-f/call-frequency.md, ../reg-f/communications-opt-outs.md, ../reg-f/time-barred-debt.md
• States: ../../state/ca.md, ../../state/ny.md, ../../state/tx.md, ../../state/fl.md, ../../state/ma.md (MA regs narrow call windows further)