3. Learn the rules a collection agency must follow when contacting you

After a collection agency sends you a written notice, they must wait until 6 days have passed before trying to contact you.

This means they can’t call, email, text, or send you anything about the debt until the 6 days have passed.

After the 6 days, they can contact you only at certain times:

• Mondays to Saturdays between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• Sundays between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Number of contacts in a week

A collection agency can contact you only 3 times in a week, unless you say it’s okay for them to contact you more often.

If they send you a letter by regular mail, this does not count as one of the 3 times.

To figure out how many times in a week the collection agency contacted you, add up all of the following that happen over 7 days:

• voice mail messages
• phone conversations
• texts
• emails

It’s not a contact if they call and:

• you don’t answer, and
• they don’t leave a message.

The law also says that a collection agency can’t:

• contact you on a holiday
• threaten, intimidate, or harass you
• charge you any fees, except for any interest that you owe