Debt Validation Letter Generator

What a collector's validation notice must tell you

When a debt collector first contacts you, it must give you basic facts about the debt in that first contact or within five days after it. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a), the notice says the debt will be assumed valid unless you dispute it within 30 days after you receive the notice, and that a written dispute gets you verification of the debt.

Regulation F adds detail. The notice must show the amount, the creditor, an itemization since a reference date, and the date the collector will treat as the end of your validation period (12 CFR 1006.34(c)(3)). Many collectors use the CFPB's model validation notice, which gives them a legal safe harbor and includes a mail-in dispute form.

How the 30-day window is counted

The validation period ends 30 days after you receive, or are assumed to receive, the validation information (12 CFR 1006.34(b)(5)). A collector may assume you received a mailed notice any date at least five days after sending it, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays.

That is why the date printed on your notice matters most. It is the date the collector says it will use. If you only know when the letter arrived, count 30 days from that day, and aim for whichever date is earlier.

To be safe, mail your dispute so it arrives before the end date, and keep proof of mailing. No federal rule requires certified mail (12 CFR Part 1006, Supplement I, comment 38-1.i), but a return receipt is one way to prove the date.

What a written dispute does, and what "verification" means

If you send a debt collector a written dispute within the validation period, it must stop collecting the debt (or the part you dispute) until it sends you verification or a copy of a judgment. A written request for the original creditor's name and address pauses collection until it sends you that name and address (15 U.S.C. § 1692g(b); 12 CFR 1006.38(d)(2)). A phone dispute does not trigger that pause.

You do not have to give a reason. A dispute that simply says you do not believe you owe the debt is enough. A dispute sent through an email address or website portal the collector uses for consumer messages also counts as written (12 CFR Part 1006, Supplement I, comment 38-1).

Neither the FDCPA nor Regulation F defines “verification,” and courts differ on how much a collector must send. That is why the letter asks for specific documents: the original agreement, an itemization, proof the collector may collect, and the dates of last payment and default.

Not disputing does not mean you admit owing the debt. A court may not treat silence as an admission (15 U.S.C. § 1692g(c)).

If your 30 days have passed

You can still dispute a debt and ask for information after the window. The difference is that the collector does not have to answer, and does not have to stop collecting while you wait.

Other protections still apply. A collector may not use false or misleading statements about a debt (15 U.S.C. § 1692e), and if it reports a debt it knows you dispute to a credit bureau, it must say the debt is disputed (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(8)).

Asking a collector to stop contacting you

A written request to stop communicating ends calls and letters about that debt, with narrow exceptions: the collector may still contact you to say it is ending collection, or that it or the creditor may take (or intends to take) a specific step it ordinarily takes, such as filing a lawsuit (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)).

Stopping contact does not erase the debt or stop a lawsuit. If you are inside your validation window, the dispute letter is usually the first step, because a stop-contact letter on its own does not ask for verification. You can also ask a collector to stop using one channel, such as calls or texts (12 CFR 1006.14(h)(1)), or not to contact you at a place that is inconvenient, such as work (12 CFR 1006.6(b)(1)(ii)).

Old debt: the time limit to sue, credit reports, and restarting the clock

Each state sets a statute of limitations for suing over a debt. Once it runs out, a debt collector must not sue or threaten to sue to collect it (12 CFR 1006.26(b)). It can still ask you to pay, and in most states the debt does not disappear. There is no federal rule requiring collectors to tell you a debt is time-barred (Regulation F final rule, 86 FR 5766 (Jan. 19, 2021)), though 9 of the jurisdictions we checked have their own disclosure rules for old debt, often limited to certain collectors, certain debts, or the moment a collector asks for a payment or a signed acknowledgment (California, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia).

The time limit to sue is not the credit-report clock. A collection account can be reported for seven years, counted from 180 days after the delinquency began (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4), (c)(1)), whatever your state's time limit is.

The trap is revival. In some states a partial payment, a signed written promise to pay, or a written (in a few states even spoken) acknowledgment of the debt restarts the time limit or revives the right to sue (Regulation F final rule, 86 FR 5766 (Jan. 19, 2021)). Of the 51 jurisdictions in our data, 11 say a payment made after the time limit has run does not by itself revive the debt, and 7 allow revival by payment. The rest depend on who holds the debt or the kind of debt, or no clear rule was confirmed; in those states treat any payment on an old debt as risky. That is why the letter never promises to pay or admits the debt.

States add their own rules. California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Washington have state laws barring some or all creditors, debt buyers or collectors from suing on some or all consumer debts once the time limit has run, which gives you state-law remedies too. In Mississippi and Wisconsin, the end of the period goes further and extinguishes the claim or the debt itself.

Federal student loans are the big exception: there is generally no time limit on collecting a defaulted federal student loan held by the government, a guaranty agency or the school (20 U.S.C. § 1091a(a)).

Statute of limitations on debt by state

The table shows each state's main periods and whether a payment made after the time limit revives the debt. Credit cards are the hardest call: courts treat them as written contracts, open accounts, or something else, and in 22 jurisdictions the answer is unsettled or depends on facts such as the card agreement or where the debt arose, so the tool shows a range. Each state name links to our full guide for that state.

Values checked against state statutes and court decisions on 2026-10-24. The tool above shows the source for every value it uses.

Who the FDCPA covers

The FDCPA covers businesses whose principal purpose is collecting debts and anyone who regularly collects debts owed to someone else (15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)). It generally does not cover an original creditor collecting its own debt. The Supreme Court held that a company collecting debts it bought for its own account is not covered under the “owed to another” part of the definition, leaving the “principal purpose” part open (Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., 582 U.S. 79 (2017)).

If a collector breaks the law, you can sue for damages within one year of the violation (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d)), or file a complaint with the CFPB or your state attorney general.

If you are sued over the debt

A letter does not stop a lawsuit. If you are served, file an answer by the court's deadline, or the collector can get a default judgment. If you think the time limit has run, say so in your answer: in federal court the statute of limitations is a defense the party must raise (Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(c)(1)), and state courts have their own rules. Legal aid organizations and court self-help centers can help you respond.