STATE LAWS

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This information is subject to change and may not be current.
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ARIZONA  A collection agency cannot attempt to contact a debtor at their place of employment unless a reasonable attempt has been first made to contact the individual at their residence, and such attempt has failed.

A collection agency shall not inform a debtor that by failing to contact the agency, the debtor has waived any right of defense, or that the collection agency may circumvent the legal process or misrepresent any of the remedies available to a collection agency to the debtor. 

A collection agency shall not threaten to contact or contact a debtor’s neighbors, friends, relatives, employers or other third parties to inform them of the debt to ask they pressure the debtor or to ask that they pay the debt. 

ARKANSAS   The State Board of Collection Agencies has the authority to revoke or suspend an agency’s license, or refuse to grant a license to an applicant for a collection agency license if a debtor is contacted at their place of employment by mail or telephone.  The license will not be revoked or suspended if a good faith attempt has been made to contact the debtor at their place of residence by mail or telephone, and the mail was returned or the call was not answered.

 
COLORADO It is harassing conduct to place telephone calls without providing meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity in the first sixty seconds after the other party to the call is identified as the debtor.

A collection agency shall not contact a consumer at their place of employment if the agency knows or has reason to know that the consumer’s employer prohibits such communication.

A collection agency shall not contact a consumer by telephone at the consumer’s place of employment if the consumer informs the agency in writing to cease such contact.

CONNECTICUT Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the consumer collection agency or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a consumer collection agency may not contact a consumer at their place of employment if the agency knows or has reason to know the employer prohibits such communication.

Use of any business, company, or organization name other than the true name of the consumer collection agency’s business, company or organization is prohibited as a false or misleading representation.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA A collector shall not use any company name other than the true name of the collection agency when communicating with a consumer.

 
FLORIDA No consumer collection agency shall communicate or threaten to communicate with a debtor’s employer before a final judgment against the debtor is obtained, unless the debtor has given their permission in writing to do so.  A collector is not prohibited from telling a debtor that their employer will be contacted if a final judgement is awarded.

No service provider or their representative can collect or attempt to collect money from an HMO subscriber for services covered by an HMO, and no provider or their representative can bring an action against an HMO subscriber in an attempt to collect money owed the provider by the HMO.

HAWAII No collection agency shall use any name other than its true name in its efforts to collect a debt.
IDAHO If the person designated as the agency’s manager is not normally available in the Idaho office, the collection agency’s activities to collect a debt must begin with a written notice to each debtor.  The notice shall provide a mailing address and toll-free telephone number where the designated person may be contacted during normal business hours.

 
ILLINOIS It is impermissible conduct for a collector, when making a demand for payment, to fail to disclose the creditor’s name and, if the debtor requests, where payment is to be made and the creditor’s address.

In any communications with a debtor, a collection agency must state the specific reason for the communication, the creditor’s name and the registered name of the collection agency.  If the communication is in writing, the date must be given.  The identity of the collector making the contact must be given in an oral communication.

IOWA A debt collector may only use the true name of the business, company or organization the collector represents in its representations to debtors.

A collector may communicate with a debtor’s employer no more than once in a three-month period in order to gain the employer’s debt counseling services for the debtor.

A collector may contact a debtor’s employer once in any one-month period only to verify employment, but not to reveal any information about the debt.

Not more than once in any three-month period, a collector may communicate the fact of a debt with a minor’s parents, the trustee of any property of a debtor, the conservator of the debtor or the debtor’s property, or the debtor’s guardian.  A collector may respond to inquiries from a parent, trustee, conservator or guardian.

MAINE A collector shall not communicate with a consumer at their place of employment if the collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer’s employer prohibits the consumer from receiving a communication, unless the consumer has given prior consent or the collector has the express permission of a court of competent juridiction.

A collector may not communicate with any person about a debt other than the consumer (including the consumer’s spouse, the consumer’s parent or guardian, if the consumer is a minor, an executor or administrator), their attorney, a consumer reporting agency if the law permits, the creditor, the creditor’s attorney or the collector’s attorney.  A collector may communicate with others if the consumer has given their direct consent to the collector to do so; a court of competent jurisdiction has expressly authorized such communication; or to effectuate a post-judgement judicial remedy.

A collection agency shall not use any business, company or organization name other than the true name of the collection agency in connection with the collection of any debt.

MARYLAND A collection agency shall not attempt to collect a debt from any person who has subscribed to a health maintenance organization on behalf of a health care provider.

A health care provider or their representative may not maintain an action against a subscriber of any health maintenance organization.

A health care provider or their representative may attempt to collect any co-payment or co-insurance sums a subscriber to a health maintenance organization may owe and any payment or charges for services not covered by the subscriber’s contract with a health maintenance organization.

MASSACHUSETTS

It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a collection agency to call any debtor by telephone, initiated by the collection agency, more than twice in each seven-day period to the debtor’s residence and more than twice in a 30-day period to any place other than the debtor’s residence.  (A creditor may treat a debtor’s billing address as their place of residence.)

It is an unfair or deceptive practice for a collection agency to visit a debtor’s household at times other than the debtor’s normal waking hours.  If the normal waking hours are not known, a collection agency shall not visit at any time other than between 8:00 a.m. and  9:00 p.m.  In no event shall visits initiated by a collection agency exceed one in any 30-day period.  Visits where no person in a household is contacted.  A debtor may consent, in writing, to more frequent visits.

It shall be an unfair or deceptive act for a collection agency to visit the debtor’s place of employment, excluding those visits which are solely for the purpose of repossessing any collateral or property of the creditor.  It shall also be an unfair or deceptive act for a collection agency to confront a debtor concerning a debt, initiated by a collection agency, in:

  • a public place, excluding courthouses;
  • the collection agency’s place of business;
  • any other places agreed to by a debtor;
  • the offices of any attorney for the debtor; or
  • places where a conversation between representatives of the collection agency and a debtor cannot be reasonably overheard by any other person not authorized by the debtor.

It shall be an unfair or deceptive act for a collection agency to place any calls to the debtor’s place of employment if the debtor has made an oral or written request to the collection agency not to contact them at their place of employment. Any oral request shall be valid for only 10 days unless the debtor provides written confirmation postmarked or delivered to the agency within seven days of the oral request.  A debtor may also terminate such a request by written communication to the collection agency.

Unless a debtor has requested has requested, in writing, that a collection agency not contact them at their place of employment, a collection agency is required to send the following written notice to a debtor within 30 days after the agency’s first communication about a debt at their place of employment.

NOTICE OF IMPORTANT RIGHTS

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE A WRITTEN OR ORAL REQUEST THAT TELEPHONE CALLS REGARDING YOUR DEBT NOT BE MADE TO YOU AT YOUR PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT. ANY SUCH ORAL REQUEST WILL BE VALID FOR ONLY TEN DAYS UNLESS YOU PROVIDE WRITTEN CONFIRMATION OF THE REQUEST POSTMARKED OR DELIVERED WITHIN SEVEN DAYS OF SUCH REQUEST. YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS REQUEST BY WRITING TO THE COLLECTION AGENCY.

After the initial notice has been sent, a copy of the notice shall be sent to the debtor every six months thereafter as long as the collection activity by the agency continues, and the debtor has not made a written request to not contact them at their place of employment.

It shall be an unfair or deceptive act for a collection agency to visit the debtor’s place of employment, excluding those visits which are solely for the purpose of repossessing any collateral or property of the creditor.

MINNESOTA No licensed collection agency or collector shall communicate with a debtor by using a recorded message with an automatic dialing announcing device, unless the recorded messages is immediately preceded by a live operator.  The live operator must disclose the collection agency’s name and that the message intends to solicit payment.  The operator obtain the debtor’s consent to hear the message.

 
NEBRASKA No person collection a loan shall communicate with a borrower at their place of employment if the collector has received an actual notice that the borrower’s employer prohibits such communication.

 
NEW HAMPSHIRE A collector shall not place telephone calls without disclosing the name of individual making the call and the name of the person for whom the collector is attempting to collect the debt.

A collector is not prohibited from leaving a message for the debtor at their place of residence that contains no information about the debt but that request they contact the collector.

A debt collector may send a single letter to a debtor’s place of employment if otherwise unable to locate the debtor.

A debt collector may make a telephone call to the debtor at their place of employment if the collector has been unable to contact the debtor at their place of residence, provided that the debtor does not inform the collector they do not wish to be contacted at work.  The collector shall not inform the employer of the nature of the call unless asked.

NEW YORK CITY

A debt collector communication or attempts to communicate with consumer shall not be done with excessive frequency.  Unless a collector ;has information to the contrary, a collector shall assume that communicating with a consumer more than twice during a seven-day period is excessively frequent.  Excessively frequent communications do not include:

  • communication between a collector and a consumer when the    collector is responding to the consumer’s oral or written communication.
  • returned unopened mail.
  • a message left with a third party for the consumer responsible for a debt as long as the message is limited to a telephone number, the collector’s name and a request that the consumer call the collector; or
  • any communication required by law.

A collector shall not misrepresent or use any business, company or organization name other than the true name of their business, company or organization when collecting a debt.  If the general public knows the collector’s company, business or organization name by another name, that name may be used if using the true name would be confusing to the consumer.

 

NORTH CAROLINA All licensed collection agencies are required to use their true name and address in all correspondence with debtors.

 
NORTH DAKOTA No debt collector may use any name while engaged in the collection of claims other than the debt collector’s true name.

 
OREGON It is unlawful for a debt collector, when communicating with a debtor orally, to fail to disclose the name of the individual making the contact and the true purpose of the communication within the first 30 seconds.

No debt collector shall communicate or threaten to communicate with the debtor at their place of employment without the debtor’s permission.  The debt collector may write to the debtor at their place of employment if no home address is reasonably available and if the envelope does not reveal that the communication is from a collector other than a provider of the goods, services, or credit from which the debt was incurred.

No debt collector shall communicate or threaten to communicate with the debtor at their place of employment without the debtor’s permission.  The debt collector may telephone the debtor’s place of employment without informing any other person of the nature of the call, but only if the collector had made an unsuccessful attempt to telephone the debtor at their place of residence during the day or during the evening between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.  A debt collector may not contact the debtor at their place of employment if the debtor has notified the collector not to call their place of employment or if the collector knows or has reason to know the debtor’s employer prohibits the debtor from receiving such communication.

PENNSYLVANIA

A creditor or debt collector nay not call a debtor without disclosing their identity, including their name, the name of their company or firm, and any other information necessary to identify the caller.  When contacting a third party (other than the debtor), the debt collector shall give their name and, if expressly requested, the name of the callers employer.

A debt collector may not abuse or harass a debtor by telephone.  A rebuttable presumption of abuse or harassment is created if the creditor or debt collector continues to call the debtor during any seven-day period after a communication with a debtor.  Reasonable follow-up activity may be sufficient evidence to rebut a presumption of abuse or harassment.

It is an unfair or deceptive act for a collector to continue making visits to a debtor’s household during any 30-day period after a discussion about a debt.

It is an unfair or deceptive act for a debt collector:

  • to discuss a debt if that communication could be overheard by any third party not authorized by the debtor; or
  • to confront a debtor at the creditor’s or collector’s place of business, at any place agreed to by the debtor, or at any public place.
A debt collector shall not communicate with a debtor if the collector knows that the debtor is being represented by an attorney about the debt and the collector can obtain the attorney’s address, unless:
  • the attorney has failed to respond within a reasonable time (14 calendar days) to the creditor’s or debt collector’s communication about the debt;
  • the debtor’s attorney has authorized the debt collector to communicate with the debtor;
  • contact is necessary to perfect or preserve rights against the debtor or to perfect or preserve collateral securing a debt; or
  • direct contact is required by state or federal law, regulation or court order.
It is an unfair or deceptive act for a debt collector to contact a debtor at their place of employment unless:
  • the collector or creditor has been unable to discuss a debt in the prior 30 days, either by telephone or during a personal visit; and
  • the creditor or collector does not know or has no reason to know that the debtor’s employer prohibits such contacts.
A debt collector shall not call a debtor’s place of employment by telephone if the debtor has notified the debt collector, in writing, that they are not to place such calls.

A debt collector may not mail a communication to a debtor’s place of employment unless the current billing address is that place of employment or if the debtor consents to such contact.

A debt collector may not visit the debtor’s place of employment, unless the debtor has requested, in writing, such a visit.

Unless the debtor expressly prohibits it, a debt collector may contact the debtor’s spouse about a debt, provided that the spouse authorizes any additional communications.

TEXAS A creditor may not represent that a debt is being collected by an independent debt collection business, when the debt is being collected by an organization that is controlled by the person to who the debt is owed.  A creditor is not prohibited from owning and operating its own bona fide collection agency.

No debt collector shall fail to disclose the name of the person to whom the debt was assigned or is owned in any communication in which a demand for payment is made.  (The disclosure is not required of person collecting or servicing first lien mortgages or credit card debts.)

VERMONT It is an unfair practice to use any business, company or organization name other than the true name of the collector’s company, business or organization.

It is an unfair act for a collector to place a telephone call to the debtor without disclosing the name of the company the collector represents.

It is an unfair act for a collector to place a telephone call to the debtor at their place of employment contrary to the instructions of the debtor.

WASHINGTON

No licensed collection agency shall communicate with a debtor or spouse more than three times in a single week.

No licensed collection agency shall communicate with a debtor at his or her place of employment more than one time in a single week.

A licensed collection agency may communicate the existence of a claim to a debtor’s employer if:

  • the agency has notified or attempted to notify the debtor in writing at their last known address or place of employment about a claim, and the debtor has failed to pay the claim or has failed to agree to make acceptable payments; and
  • the debtor has not disputed any part of the claim in writing.
  • the collection agency may only communicate with a debtor’s employer once about a debt which has not been reduced to judgment, unless the debtor’s employer has agreed to additional communication.

In order to locate a debtor or to locate the assets of a debtor, a licensed collection agency may communicate the existence of a claim to any person who may reasonably know the debtor’s whereabouts or the location of the debtor’s assets, if the claim has been reduced to judgment or, if not reduced to judgment, when:

  • the collection agency has notified or attempted to notify the debtor about the claim in writing at their last known address or last known place of employment and the debtor after a reasonable time has failed to pay the claim or has failed to agree to make payments in a manner acceptable to the licensee; and
  • the debtor has not disputed any part of the claim in writing.

No licensed collection agency shall communicate with a debtor at his or her place of employment more than one time in a single week.

No licensed collection agency shall communicate with a debtor or spouse between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.

WEST VIRGINIA No collector shall use the name of any business, company, or organization other than the true name of the business, company or organization when attempting to collect a debt.

No collector shall place a telephone call to a consumer or a third party at any place, including the consumer’s place of employment and falsely state that the call is “urgent” or an “emergency”.

WISCONSIN A collection agency is not permitted to use collect wires or collect telephone calls unless the agency identifies itself by having the operator advise the debtor that the call is from a collection agency.

No collector shall contact a debtor by telephone at their place of employment after a debtor has requested or demanded that such collection efforts cease.

WYOMING No collector shall place a telephone call without meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity, unless the collector is placing the telephone call for the purpose of acquiring location information.

Without the consumer’s prior consent, given directly to the licensed collection agency, or express permission of a court, the collector shall not communicate with a consumer at their place of employment if the collector knows or has reason to know the consumer’s employer prohibits the communication.

A debt collector shall not use any business, company or organization name other than the true name of the collector’s business, company or organization.