What the law says
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal statute in Title 15 of the U.S. Code. Regulation F (12 CFR Part 1006) is a regulation the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued under the FDCPA and other federal laws.
The validation notice: 15 U.S.C. § 1692g
Within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, a debt collector must send the consumer a written notice, unless that information was contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt.
The notice must state the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed, and three statements about a thirty-day period that runs from the consumer's receipt of the notice:
that unless the consumer disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion of it, within that period, the debt collector will assume the debt is valid;
that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within that period that the debt, or any portion of it, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and mail a copy to the consumer;
that, upon the consumer's written request within that period, the debt collector will provide the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.
If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion of it, is disputed, or requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector must stop collection of the debt, or the disputed portion, until it obtains verification of the debt, a copy of a judgment, or the original creditor's name and address, and mails a copy to the consumer.
Collection activities and communications that do not otherwise violate the FDCPA may continue during the 30-day period unless the consumer has sent that written dispute or request, and any collection activity or communication during the period may not overshadow or be inconsistent with the disclosure of the consumer's rights to raise a dispute about the debt and to request the original creditor's name and address.
The statute says that if a consumer does not raise a dispute about the validity of a debt under this section, no court may construe that as an admission of liability by the consumer.
What Regulation F adds: 12 CFR §§ 1006.34 and 1006.38
Under Regulation F, a debt collector provides the validation information either in a written or electronic validation notice, sent in the initial communication or within five days of it, or orally in the initial communication.
The required validation information includes an itemization of the current amount of the debt, reflecting interest, fees, payments, and credits since a stated itemization date, and the date the debt collector will consider the end of the validation period.
The validation period starts on the date the debt collector provides the validation information and ends 30 days after the consumer receives, or is assumed to receive, it; the debt collector may assume receipt on any date at least five days after providing it, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays.
After receiving a dispute submitted in writing within the validation period, the debt collector must stop collection of the debt, or the disputed portion, until it sends the consumer a copy of verification of the debt or of a judgment, in writing or electronically as Regulation F requires. If the debt collector reasonably determines that a dispute is duplicative, meaning substantially the same as an earlier written dispute it already answered and without new and material information, the debt collector may instead notify the consumer that the dispute is duplicative, give a brief statement of the reasons, and refer the consumer to its earlier response.
For a debt related to a consumer financial product or service, the validation information must include a statement that more information about consumer protections in debt collection is available on the CFPB's website at www.cfpb.gov/debt-collection.
Stopping contact: 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)
If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or wishes the debt collector to cease further communication, the debt collector may not communicate further with the consumer about that debt, except to advise the consumer that its further efforts are being terminated, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor may invoke specified remedies it ordinarily invokes, or, where applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy.
When that notice is made by mail, the statute says notification is complete upon receipt.
Regulation F contains the same prohibition and exceptions at 12 CFR § 1006.6(c). The CFPB's official interpretation of that section says the notice can also be given electronically, through a medium the debt collector uses to accept electronic communications from consumers, and that notification is complete when the debt collector receives it.
Who it covers
The FDCPA defines a consumer as any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt; for the communication section, § 1692c, "consumer" also includes the consumer's spouse, parent (if the consumer is a minor), guardian, executor, or administrator.
A debt is any obligation, or alleged obligation, of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not it has been reduced to judgment.
A debt collector is a person in any business whose principal purpose is the collection of debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect debts owed or due to another; a creditor collecting its own debts under a name that would indicate a third person is collecting is also included.
Exceptions
Among the people the debt collector definition leaves out, each under its own conditions, are a creditor's officers and employees collecting in the creditor's name, government officers and employees collecting as part of their official duties, people serving legal process, certain nonprofit credit counseling organizations, and people collecting a debt that was not in default when they obtained it.
For the validation notice, a formal pleading in a civil action is not treated as an initial communication, and neither is a form or notice that does not relate to debt collection and is expressly required by Title 26, Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, or a federal or state law on notice of a data security breach or privacy.
What to ask the debt collector
What date does the debt collector consider the end of the validation period, and at what mailing address does it accept disputes and requests for original-creditor information?
What itemization date does the notice use, and which interest, fees, payments, and credits account for the change since that date?
What is the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor?
Does the debt collector accept disputes or cease-communication notices electronically, and through which medium?
Source for the sections above: 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692a, 1692c and 1692g (FDCPA, U.S. Code via govinfo.gov) and 12 CFR §§ 1006.1, 1006.6, 1006.34 and 1006.38, and Supplement I, comment 6(c)(1) — Regulation F (eCFR).
Sources: 15 U.S.C. § 1692g (govinfo.gov) · 15 U.S.C. § 1692c (govinfo.gov) · 12 CFR § 1006.34 (eCFR) · 12 CFR § 1006.38 (eCFR) · Comment 6(c)(1) (CFPB)
Sources last checked: October 21, 2026.
Consumer information — not financial or legal advice.