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January's Top Compliance Question: Number of Consumer Contacts

Published: Friday, February 16, 2007

The top compliance question received by ACA's Compliance Department in January concerned the number of times a collector may contact a consumer via telephone.

Section 806 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits a debt collector from "[e]ngaging in any conduct the natural consequences of which is to harass any person in connection with the collection of a debt." Causing a telephone to ring or engaging a person in conversation repeatedly or continuously is one of the harassing actions specifically enumerated in Section 806.

The FDCPA does not provide a definitive threshold for the number of calls that may constitute harassment. However, the Federal Trade Commission staff has suggested that six collection calls in one hour probably would violate the Act, whereas a call the day before and the day after a payment is due would most likely not be considered harassment.

When addressing issues of telephone harassment, courts often look not only at the frequency of the collection calls, but also the pattern in which the calls occur. Consequently, courts may take into consideration whether the calls are made extremely early in the day or late at night, as well as whether the regularity of calls go through phases, such as once a day for several days in a row.

In addition to complying with the FDCPA, collectors must also comply with the law of the state where the consumer resides. State law may regulate how many calls can be made in a given period of time and in some cases is more restrictive than the FDCPA. For example, Massachusetts state regulations provide that a debt collector may not initiate telephone communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of a debt in excess of two calls in each seven-day period at the consumer's residence and two calls in each thirty-day period other than at a consumer's residence, for each debt.

Collectors should also be aware that even if a call is not answered or a message is not left, a consumer's caller identification device may have logged the call. Depending on the duration of such calls and the information being displayed, repeated listings on a consumer's caller ID may lead to claims of consumer harassment.