Use our debt collector cease and desist letter to warn violating agencies that you’ll take legal action unless they stop.
Updated September 25, 2023
Written by Ioana Gagiuc | Reviewed by Brooke Davis
A debt collector cease and desist letter is a correspondence you can send to a debt collection agency to ask them to stop repeatedly calling you, harassing you with messages, or trying to intimidate you in any way. The letter warns the debt collection agencies that you’ll take legal action unless the agencies respect your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). [1]
Although federal law prohibits debt collectors from harassing you, the number of times they can call you is not specifically restricted. However, a debt collector is not permitted to harass or annoy you by calling or contacting you on a consistent basis.
You should send a cease and desist letter to a debt collector when the debt collector violates the FDCPA by harassing you illegally or committing other violations. Reasons for sending a cease and desist letter to a debt collector include:
No, a debt collector cease and desist letter isn’t legally enforceable. It only warns that you’ll take legal action unless their violating behavior stops. Ideally, the agencies will stop contacting you as soon as they receive the letter, but you may need further action if they don’t.
Sending a cease and desist letter won’t forgive your debt, but it should stop the debt collection agency from unlawfully calling you. However, the debt collector can still sue you to collect the money owed.
Here are some ways to stop debt collection calls:
Consider adding your phone number to the Do Not Call Registry. When your phone number is on this registry, you may experience fewer unwanted calls.
You can file a complaint with the FTC if an organization is engaging in bad practices, like harassing you about a debt.
You can confirm the debt is yours with a debt validation letter. If the debt collector isn’t able to verify the debt is yours, they may stop contacting you about payment.
Follow these steps to write your cease and desist letter:
Fill out the header with your and the debt collector’s names and mailing addresses. Specify the delivery method, whether it’s overnight mail, facsimile, or something else.
Address the name of the company/collection agency that’s trying to collect payment from you. Explain that they’ve been repeatedly contacting you, ensuring to provide the date(s) of the correspondence and the medium(s) through which they contacted you.
Clarify the amount they’re seeking from you, and specify whether you’re disputing the claim.
State whether the debt collection process is causing you embarrassment, undue stress, or physical duress. You can specify how the process is affecting you personally to make a stronger case for the debt collector to stop their efforts.
Below, you can review our debt collector cease and desist letter template and download it as a PDF or Word file:
