The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has debt collection rules in place to protect you. Before a debt collector can report your debt to a credit reporting company, the debt collector must do any one of the following:

• Speak with you in person about the debt,
• Speak with you by telephone about the debt,
• Mail you a letter about the debt and wait a reasonable amount of time (generally 14 days) for a notice that the letter wasn’t delivered, or
• Send you an electronic communication about the debt and wait a reasonable amount of time (generally 14 days) for a notice that the message wasn’t delivered.

If a debt collector sends you a validation notice about a debt, it means they have satisfied their requirement to contact you and, in general, can begin to report the debt to credit reporting companies.

Whether or not you have a debt in collection, it’s important to frequently check your credit reports for accuracy. If you think a debt collector has improperly reported a debt to a credit reporting company without meeting their obligations under the FDCPA, you can submit a complaint with the CFPB online or by calling (855) 411-CFPB (2372).