# Promise to pay — definition

> A promise to pay, or PTP, is a consumer's commitment during a contact to pay a stated amount on a stated date, logged on the account and used to schedule follow-up and suppress other collection activity until the date passes.

- Source: https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/promise-to-pay/
- Publisher: Otto — https://ottoforfirms.com
- Updated: 2026-07-26
- Status: in attorney review. Served noindex and excluded from the sitemap; do not cite as settled.

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**Promise to pay** — A promise to pay, or PTP, is a consumer's commitment during a contact to pay a stated amount on a stated date, logged on the account and used to schedule follow-up and suppress other collection activity until the date passes.

PTP has no definition in the FDCPA, Regulation F, or CFPB guidance located for this glossary; it is a workflow state in collection systems, and its compliance significance is indirect. Two connections are worth tracking. First, a consumer's consent during a telephone conversation can affect call frequency: 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(3)(i) excludes from the count calls placed with prior consent given directly to the collector, within seven days after consent. Second, on out-of-statute accounts a payment or acknowledgment may revive the limitations period under some states' law, which is why PTP handling on time-barred inventory needs its own scripting and its own suppression of any statement that could be read as a suit threat under 12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b).

## Primary sources

1. [cf. 12 C.F.R. §§ 1006.14(b)(3)(i), 1006.26(b)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/1006.14)

## See also

- [Disposition code](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/disposition-code/)
- [Time-barred debt](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/time-barred-debt/)
- [7-in-7](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/seven-in-seven/)
- [Remittance](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/remittance/)

## Where this appears

- [Utah statute of limitations on debt](https://ottoforfirms.com/statute-of-limitations/utah/)

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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.