If a collection agency has your number, there are limits on how often they can use it — and those limits are far more specific than most people realize.
Back in 2019 we wrote about who a debt collector is allowed to contact. That post is still true as far as it goes, but the ground shifted underneath it. On November 30, 2021, a federal rule known as Regulation F took effect, and for the first time it put hard numbers and clear formulas around conduct that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act had described only in general terms. Here is where things stand today.
Seven calls in seven days
A collector who calls you more than seven times in a seven-day period about a particular debt is presumed to be harassing you. So is a collector who calls you again within seven days of actually speaking with you about that debt.
Two details matter. First, the count is per debt, not per person — if a collector is working three of your accounts, the limit applies separately to each one. Second, this is a presumption, not an absolute ban. A collector who crosses the line can try to explain it away, but they start out on the wrong side of the argument.
If you think you are being called too often, start writing it down. Date, time, number, and what was said. Your own phone records are usually the best evidence there is.
What a legal voicemail sounds like
Collectors are allowed to leave a message without it counting as a formal “communication,” but only if it follows a narrow script called a limited-content message. It can include the caller’s name, a request that you call back, and a phone number. That is nearly all.
What it cannot include is the amount you supposedly owe, the name of the original creditor, or any suggestion that the call is about a debt. A voicemail that spills those details — especially one a family member or coworker might hear — is a different animal altogether, and it may give you a claim.
Texts, emails, and social media
Collectors can now contact you by email and text message. Every one of those messages has to give you a clear way to opt out, and once you use it, they have to stop using that channel.
Social media is more restricted. A collector may send you a private message, but they cannot post on a public page or anywhere your friends and family can see it. And whether they reach you by phone, text, or private message, they have to identify themselves as a debt collector.
Before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m.
Calls before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. — your local time, not theirs — are presumed off-limits.
Florida law has long backed this up with its own quiet-hours rule, but there is a wrinkle worth knowing. As of May 2025, Florida’s version expressly does not apply to email. A collection email that lands at 2 a.m. is no longer a violation of that particular statute. Calls and texts at that hour still are.
The letter they have to send you
Within five days of first contacting you, a collector generally has to send a validation notice. It must tell you the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you allegedly owe, an itemization showing how the balance was built, and your right to dispute it. You have 30 days to respond in writing, and if you do, the collector has to stop collecting until they verify the debt.
Compare any letter you receive against that list. A demand for payment that never names the actual creditor, or that gives you a deadline shorter than 30 days, is not a proper validation notice.
Old debts
If a debt is past Florida’s statute of limitations, a collector cannot sue you on it and cannot threaten to. This one is strict — it does not matter whether the collector knew the debt was too old. The prohibition applies either way.
Old debt can still be collected voluntarily, which is why these accounts get bought and sold for years. But the courthouse is closed to them.
Two more things worth knowing
If you have a lawyer, they have to deal with your lawyer. Once a collector knows you are represented, contacting you directly is a violation under both federal and Florida law. This is one of the most common claims we see, and it is one of the easiest to prove.
Watch for fees to pay. If a collector or servicer charged you extra to pay by phone or debit card, that fee may be illegal unless your original agreement allowed it. The Eleventh Circuit — which covers Florida — addressed this in 2025, and it is now something worth checking on any account where you paid a convenience fee.
What to do if this sounds familiar
Save everything. Voicemails, screenshots, letters, envelopes, and your call log. Do not pay anything to make a collector go away before you know who they are and whether the debt is really yours. And if you have been served with a lawsuit, do not ignore it — a default judgment is much harder to undo than a lawsuit is to defend.
You have rights here, and when a collector crosses these lines, the law generally makes them pay your attorney’s fees, not you. If any of this sounds like what you have been dealing with, call us at (813) 724-3063 and we will talk it through.