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In the US, write a short cease-communication letter under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and send it by certified mail with return receipt requested. The collector must then stop contacting you, except to confirm it will stop or to tell you about a specific action like a lawsuit. This is general information, not legal advice.
| Part of the letter | What to include | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Your identification | Full name, address, and the account or reference number from their letters | Ties your request to the right account |
| The request | "I am directing you to cease all communication with me regarding this debt," citing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act | The written request triggers the legal duty to stop |
| The date | Date the letter and keep a copy of exactly what you sent | Your copy proves what you asked and when |
| The sending method | Certified mail with return receipt requested | The green card proves the collector received it, which is what counts if there's ever a dispute |
Stop contacting you. That's the rule, with exactly two exceptions: they may contact you once to confirm they will stop, and they may contact you to tell you about a specific action they intend to take, like filing a lawsuit. Everything else: the calls, the letters, the messages to your workplace, must end. If contact continues anyway, the certified-mail receipt and your copy of the letter are your evidence that they were told.
No, and this is the part people misunderstand. A cease-communication letter stops the contact, not the debt. The balance still exists, interest may still accrue, and the collector can still sue you; in fact, cutting off communication sometimes pushes a collector toward legal action instead of phone calls, because suing becomes their only way to reach you. If the debt is one you want to resolve, a validation request (asking them to prove the debt is yours and the amount is right) is usually the smarter first letter.
Not under the same law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers third-party collectors: the agencies hired to chase the debt. The original creditor (the bank or store that lent you the money) generally isn't bound by it, though some states extend similar rules to original creditors. So the letter works on the collection agency calling you; it doesn't work on the credit card company itself. Send the request to each collector separately if more than one is contacting you.
Canada has no single federal equivalent of the FDCPA. Each province licenses collection agencies and sets its own rules about how often they can contact you and what they can say. Most provinces let you send a written notice telling the collector to contact you only in writing, and collectors must honor that. Check your province's consumer protection office for the exact process, because the details (and the penalties for collectors who ignore them) differ across the country.
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