Your desk phone rings, and it’s a collector asking about an old credit card. Now you’re whispering in a hallway, hoping your boss didn’t hear. A debt collector calling your workplace isn’t automatically breaking the law, but federal rules put firm limits on it, and you have more control than it feels like.
When Can a Collector Call You at Work?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) bars a collector from contacting you at work if it knows or has reason to know your employer doesn’t allow it. The catch is that the collector usually has to be told. The CFPB advises letting the collector know you can’t take personal calls at work, and once it knows, it can’t call you there.
Say it on the next call, then confirm it in a short letter or email and keep a copy as a dated record.
What Can a Collector Tell Your Employer?
A collector cannot tell much. A collector may contact your employer to learn your address, phone number or where you work, and it generally can’t contact them more than once. As the CFPB puts it, a debt collector may not tell your employer that you owe a debt. If a coworker took the call, ask what the caller said.
Other Limits That Still Apply
Time of day: Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time are generally off-limits.
Call frequency: Under Regulation F, a collector is presumed to break the law if it calls about a debt more than seven times in seven days, or within seven days after a phone conversation with you about it.
Texas law: Chapter 392 of the Texas Finance Code separately bars repeated calls made with intent to harass.
How Do You Document a Debt Collector Calling Your Workplace?
Keep a simple log of every call, voicemail and message with the date, time, company, caller’s name and what was said, including anything said to coworkers. Save voicemails, screenshots of your call history and a copy of your written request to stop work calls.
The FTC notes that you can report a collector to your state attorney general, the FTC and the CFPB, and that a lawsuit generally must be filed within one year of the violation. A lawyer who handles debt collection harassment can review your log against these rules and explain whether federal or Texas law gives you a claim.
When the Calls Point to a Bigger Problem
Sometimes work calls are a symptom of debt you can’t realistically pay. Filing for bankruptcy starts an automatic stay that generally stops collection calls, which can stop debt collector harassment at its source. Debt stress also tends to spill into your job and the other things you depend on.
Keep Debt Collectors Out of Your Workplace
If a debt collector calling your workplace won’t stop, or has discussed your debt with your employer, our office can review your call log and explain your options. As an FDCPA attorney in Corpus Christi, Joel Gonzalez can help you put an end to creditor harassment and weigh whether a claim or bankruptcy fits your situation. Talk to us today so the next call at work is about your job, not your debt.
