Cease-and-Desist Letter

Cease-and-desist letter summary:

• Debtors have the right to send cease-and-desist letters under the FDCPA—they inform a debt collector that the debtor no longer wants to be contacted about a debt. 

• Sending the letter doesn’t mean you are no longer responsible for the debt, but doing so gives you a break in the short term. 

• A cease-and-desist letter also won’t stop a creditor from suing you. 

Cease-and-desist letter definition and meaning

A cease-and-desist letter informs a debt collector that a debtor no longer wishes to be contacted about a debt. Debtors have the right to send cease-and-desist letters under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Sending these letters doesn't relieve you of your responsibility for debts you owe, but it can get debt collectors off your back in the short term.

More about cease-and-desist letters

A cease-and-desist letter is a formal statement sent to a debt collector to demand that contact about a debt be stopped. If a debt collector is contacting you about a debt, you can write a cease-and-desist letter to end communications. 

Once a debt collector receives your letter, they can only contact you to tell you that:

• Contact will stop, or

• They plan to take specific action against you, like filing a debt lawsuit

If a debt collector continues to contact you after you send a cease-and-desist letter, outside the scope of the two reasons listed above, that could be a violation of your rights under the FDCPA. 

You could report them to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). You may also be able to sue for damages if you can prove your FDCPA rights were violated. 

Cease-and-desist letter example

If you'd like to cut contact with a debt collector, it helps to know what to include in your cease-and-desist letter. Below is an example of the wording you might use to draft your letter. 

Debt collector's name and address

Re: Your account number

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to request that you cease and desist from contacting me regarding the account number referenced above. I understand that I have the right to do so under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 

Please be advised that I no longer wish to be contacted at home or work via any form of communication. Any further contact that is outside the scope of what's allowed by the FDCPA will be reported to the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 

Sincerely,

Your name and signature

You can send your letter via email, but it's usually better to send a paper copy through certified mail. That way, you have a receipt showing when you sent the letter and when the debt collector received it. 

Limitations of a cease-and-desist letter

A cease-and-desist letter serves one purpose only: to get debt collectors to stop contacting you. It doesn't make the debt go away or prevent a debt collector from suing you. That means you'll still need to decide what to do about the debt in question. 

A cease-and-desist letter could close off communications with that creditor. That could make it harder for you to negotiate with them to resolve the debt for less than the full amount you owe.