Credit-collection agencies are allowed to call you on your cellphone provided they adhere to the stipulations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). These agencies must cease calling you if you request it in writing. Some auto dialer calls to cellphone are illegal if the numbers were not obtained from a credit application.
Legal Restrictions
Creditors are allowed to call you on your cellphone as well as on your home phone, work phone, or by fax or email, as long as they adhere to the provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This is the federal law that states how and when credit collectors may call you. The law prohibits credit collectors from calling you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. unless you give them permission to call outside of those hours.
Obtaining Numbers
It is legal for credit collectors to use reasonable means to contact you, as long as they stay within the limits of the FDCPA. Credit collectors can pull your credit report to try and obtain your cellphone number. They are also allowed to call your friends, relatives and neighbors: someone who may give the creditor your cellphone number. Beware of calling credit-collection agencies on a cellphone; if they have caller ID, your cellphone number will be revealed to them.
Prerecorded Messages
Some credit collectors use auto dialers to call cellphones and leave prerecorded messages with a callback number. This is allowable by law as long as the cellphone number was provided on a credit application. If it wasn't, the agency could be in violation of federal law and you could collect up to $1,000 per violation.
How to Stop the Calls
To stop calls to your cellphone, you must write to the collection agency. The letter should state your name and phone number and that you do not wish to be contacted further. Send the letter via certified mail with proof of delivery. According to the FDCPA, once the credit collections agency receives such a letter from you, they must comply.
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