What a collector is not allowed to say

A general rule with a named list underneath it

The structure is the same in both sections. A broad prohibition comes first, and then a list of conduct that is included but does not exhaust it.

A debt collector must not use any false, deceptive or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt, including but not limited to the conduct described in the paragraphs that follow.

Separately, a collector must not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt, again including but not limited to the listed conduct.

The words "including, but not limited to" mean the lists illustrate rather than define. Conduct not on a list can still fall within the general prohibition.

That is worth holding onto, because the specific items are easy to read as a complete inventory of what is forbidden, which they are not.

The impressions a collector may not create

The first group of specifics is about false implications, and each item names a particular impression rather than a particular sentence.

A collector must not falsely represent or imply that it is vouched for by, bonded by, or affiliated with the United States or any State, including through the use of any badge, uniform or facsimile of one.

It must not falsely represent or imply that it operates or is employed by a consumer reporting agency, that any individual is an attorney, or that any communication is from an attorney.

It must not falsely represent or imply that the consumer committed any crime or other conduct in order to disgrace the consumer, or that accounts have been turned over to innocent purchasers for value.

It must not falsely represent or imply that a sale, referral or other transfer of any interest in a debt causes or will cause the consumer to lose a claim or defence to payment, or to become subject to a practice the rules prohibit.

And it must not falsely represent or imply that documents are legal process, or, in the other direction, that documents are not legal process forms or do not require action by the consumer.

The debt itself, and threats

A shorter group deals with the facts of the obligation rather than with the collector's identity.

A collector must not falsely represent the character, amount or legal status of any debt, nor any services rendered or compensation that may lawfully be received for collecting one.

On threats, the rule uses a two-part condition rather than a flat ban. A collector must not represent or imply that nonpayment will result in arrest or imprisonment, or in the seizure, garnishment, attachment or sale of any property or wages, unless that action is lawful and the collector or creditor intends to take it.

The companion provision generalises the same idea: a collector must not threaten to take any action that cannot legally be taken, or that is not intended to be taken.

A third provision concerns what is said to others. A collector must not communicate, or threaten to communicate, to any person credit information it knows or should know is false, and the rule states that this includes the failure to communicate that a disputed debt is disputed.

That last clause converts an omission into a prohibited representation, which is unusual drafting and is the reason a dispute has downstream consequences for what may be reported about it.

Identity, disclosure and the assumed name

A cluster of provisions is about who the consumer is dealing with.

A collector must not use or distribute any written communication that simulates, or that it falsely represents to be, a document authorised, issued or approved by any court, official or agency of the United States or any State, or that creates a false impression about its source, authorisation or approval.

It must not use any business, company or organisation name other than the true name of its business.

In the initial communication with a consumer it has to disclose that it is attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Where the initial communication is oral, it has to make the disclosure again in its initial written communication. In each subsequent communication it has to disclose that the communication is from a debt collector. Formal pleadings in a legal action are excepted.

Where those disclosures are conveyed in a communication in another language, they have to be made in the same language or languages used for the rest of that communication, and any translation used has to be complete and accurate.

One narrow permission cuts the other way. The section does not prohibit an employee from using an assumed name, provided the employee uses it consistently and the collector can readily identify any employee using one.

Under the harassment rule, a collector must not place telephone calls without meaningfully disclosing the caller's identity, subject to the separate provisions on acquiring location information.

How often a telephone may ring, and which media are closed off

The harassment section contains the most concrete rule in this area, and it is expressed as a pair of presumptions rather than a hard limit.

A collector is presumed to comply with the prohibition on repeated or continuous calls if it places calls to a particular person about a particular debt neither more than seven times within seven consecutive days, nor within a period of seven consecutive days after having had a telephone conversation with that person about that debt, with the conversation date counting as day one.

A collector is presumed to violate the prohibition if it exceeds either frequency. Three categories of call do not count toward the frequencies: calls placed with the person's prior consent given directly to the collector and within seven consecutive days of receiving it, calls not connected to the dialled number, and calls placed to the parties on the permitted third-party list.

Particular debt means each of a consumer's debts in collection, with a special rule treating student loan debts serviced under a single account number when obtained as one debt.

The section also prohibits using or threatening violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation or property of any person; using obscene or profane language, or language whose natural consequence is to abuse the hearer or reader; publishing a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts, except to a consumer reporting agency or to persons meeting named conditions; and advertising a debt for sale to coerce payment.

Finally, a collector must not communicate or attempt to communicate through a medium the person has requested it not use. Three exceptions survive: an electronic confirmation of an opt-out request containing nothing but the confirmation, a single response through the same medium where the person initiates contact using it, and use of the medium where applicable law otherwise requires it.

A presumption is not a ceiling and not a permission. It is a rule about where the burden sits, and the general prohibition on conduct whose natural consequence is to harass, oppress or abuse continues to apply either way.

Sources

Each document below is named as it names itself, with the date printed on that document rather than the day it was read.

1. Title 12 Code of Federal Regulations Section 1006.18, False, deceptive, or misleading representations or means, Regulation F, read paragraph (a) through paragraph (f) — the general prohibition at (a), the eight false-implication items at (b)(1), the character, amount and legal status clause at (b)(2), the arrest and seizure clause at (b)(3), the deceptive means at (c) including threats and false credit information, the initial and subsequent communication disclosures and translation rule at (e), and the assumed-name allowance at (f) — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Office of the Federal Register, November 2020
2. Title 12 Code of Federal Regulations Section 1006.14, Harassing, oppressive, or abusive conduct, Regulation F, read paragraph (a) through paragraph (h) — the general prohibition at (a), the telephone call frequency presumptions and their exclusions at (b), violence at (c), obscene or profane language at (d), the debtors' list at (e), coercive advertisements at (f), meaningful disclosure of identity at (g), and prohibited communication media and their three exceptions at (h) — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Office of the Federal Register, November 2020