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Cease and desist

Cease and desist — A cease and desist is a consumer's written notice that they refuse to pay the debt or want the collector to stop contacting them, after which the collector must stop communicating about that debt except to acknowledge termination of efforts or to state that a specified remedy may be or will be invoked.

FDCPA § 1692c(c) supplies the rule and its three narrow exceptions; Regulation F restates it at 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(c), extending the prohibition to attempts to communicate as well as communications. Practitioners should keep two things distinct: a § 1692c(c) cease notice stops contact but does not extinguish the debt or bar suit, whereas a § 1692g(b) written dispute inside the validation period stops collection until verification is provided. Attorney-representation notice under § 1692c(a)(2) is a third, separate trigger with its own routing consequences.

See also

• Validation periodThe validation period is the window that opens on the date a debt collector provides the required validation information and closes 30 days after the consumer receives or is assumed to receive it.
• Disposition codeA disposition code is the standardized value a collector or system writes to an account after a contact attempt, recording the outcome — right-party contact, wrong number, no answer, refusal, promise to pay, dispute, attorney representation — and driving the next scheduled action.
• RecallA recall is a creditor's withdrawal of a placed account from the collections firm, ending the firm's authority to work it and triggering return of files, cessation of contact, and reconciliation of any fees earned.

Last reviewed 2026-07-29

This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. Limitations periods turn on facts this page cannot know — which state's law governs, the contract type, when the claim accrued, and whether anything tolled or revived it. Confirm against the primary source and your own counsel before acting.