Some debt collectors call three, four, five times in the same afternoon. Some threaten arrest. Some say they’ll contact your employer or your family. If that’s happening to you right now, the first thing worth knowing is that most of what they’re doing is illegal. The second is that the law protecting you has real limits you need to understand before you act on it.
At LoBue Law, PLLC, attorney Vincent LoBue spent years on the other side of these cases, representing banks in bankruptcy proceedings. That background means we know how creditors and collectors think, which tactics they reach for first, and where their legal exposure lies. What follows is a working explanation of the federal and Texas law that governs collector conduct, where each one falls short, and what enforcement actually looks like.
What the FDCPA Covers and What It Doesn’t
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the federal law most people mean when they talk about collector harassment protections. It’s real and enforceable, but its scope is narrower than most people assume.
The FDCPA applies only to third-party debt collectors: agencies hired to collect a debt, attorneys retained for that purpose, and debt buyers who purchased the account after default. The company that originally issued your credit card or extended your medical credit isn’t covered. If Chase is calling you directly about a Chase card, the FDCPA doesn’t apply. Once Chase sells that balance to a collection agency, the FDCPA kicks in for every call the agency makes.
The debts covered must be personal, family, or household obligations. Credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans all qualify. Business debts are excluded. Debt buyers, regardless of how old the account is when they purchase it, are treated as debt collectors under federal law and are fully subject to the statute.
How Texas Law Fills the Gap the FDCPA Leaves Open
Texas Finance Code Chapter 392, sometimes called the Texas Debt Collection Act, extends protections the FDCPA doesn’t reach. Most importantly, it covers original creditors collecting their own debts, not just third-party collectors. The same categories of prohibited conduct apply: threats or coercion, harassment, unfair collection practices, and misrepresentation are all barred whether the caller is the original lender or a downstream collector.
Texas law also provides an important protection on time-barred debt. These are accounts old enough that the statute of limitations on filing a lawsuit has expired. Under Section 392.307 of the Texas Finance Code, when a debt buyer holds the account, making a partial payment, reaffirming the debt, or acknowledging it in writing doesn’t restart the limitations clock. Collectors who work for debt buyers sometimes push debtors toward small “good faith” payments specifically because they believe it revives an otherwise unenforceable claim. Under Texas law, it doesn’t work for debt buyers, and that’s usually who is calling on old accounts.
Specific Conduct the Law Prohibits
The FDCPA prohibits calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in your local time zone, and bars contact with your workplace when your employer has a policy against personal calls. Under CFPB Regulation F, a collector can’t call you more than seven times about the same debt within any seven-day period and must wait at least seven days after reaching you before calling again.
These additional practices are also prohibited under federal and Texas law:
- Threatening arrest for unpaid consumer debt. No civil debt leads to arrest.
- Threatening legal action the collector has no actual intention of taking
- Using profane or abusive language during any contact
- Misrepresenting the amount owed or adding unauthorized fees
- Contacting third parties about your debt, other than to locate you, and only in limited circumstances
Within five days of first contact, a collector must send a written debt validation notice stating the amount owed and the name of the original creditor. If you dispute the debt in writing within 30 days of receiving that notice, all collection activity must stop until the collector provides written verification. That written dispute doesn’t have to be elaborate. It simply has to be sent.
What a Documented Violation Is Worth
A proven FDCPA violation entitles you to up to $1,000 in statutory damages per lawsuit, plus any actual damages you can document, plus attorney fees if you prevail. Texas Finance Code violations carry separate civil penalties. These aren’t theoretical numbers. They’re the amounts collectors weigh when deciding whether to fight a claim. A collector facing documented FDCPA liability may agree to settle the underlying debt for a reduced amount or stop collection activity entirely rather than risk litigation.
Documentation quality is what determines whether a violation can actually be enforced. Log the following at the time of every problematic contact:
- Date and time of each call or contact attempt
- Duration of the call
- Name or ID number of the collector, if provided
- Direct quotes from any threatening or abusive statements
- Any written communications, including texts and emails, saved in their original form
Notes written from memory three weeks later carry far less weight than a log kept the same day. Courts and opposing attorneys know the difference.
When Bankruptcy Stops What the FDCPA Cannot
The FDCPA gives you legal claims against collectors who break the rules. What it doesn’t do is stop a lawsuit already in progress, halt a wage garnishment, or pause a foreclosure. For that, the law that matters is the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362.
The automatic stay takes effect the instant a bankruptcy petition is filed. No court hearing, no separate motion required. Every collection action must stop immediately: phone calls, letters, pending lawsuits, garnishments, bank levies, and foreclosure proceedings. Creditors receive formal notice from the bankruptcy court, and continuing to collect after that notice isn’t a technical violation. It’s a contempt issue the bankruptcy court handles directly. Unlike FDCPA enforcement, where you must initiate the lawsuit, automatic stay violations are sanctionable by the court on its own motion. Remedies can include reversal of any collection action taken after filing, damages, and attorney fee awards against the creditor. For Plano-area residents, bankruptcy cases are filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Texas, with the Plano clerk’s office located at 660 North Central Expressway, Suite 300B, Plano, TX 75074.
The FDCPA, Texas Finance Code Chapter 392, and the automatic stay work as three escalating tools. The first two regulate how collectors behave and create claims when they don’t. The third stops collection cold, regardless of what the FDCPA covers or doesn’t. Knowing which tool fits your situation and when to move from one to the next is the conversation worth having early. Vincent LoBue’s years representing banks mean we know what creditors do before they do it, and that knowledge works in your favor. Reach out to LoBue Law, PLLC at (972) 694-6400 to speak directly with the attorney about where you stand.