Stage guide
When a collector's first written notice lands, a 30-day window opens. Inside it, one written dispute does what no phone call can: it legally pauses collection until they prove the debt is yours, in the right amount, and theirs to collect.
Under Regulation F (12 CFR 1006.34), the letter must include the 'validation information': an itemization date (the date they use to total the debt), the amount on that date, every charge and payment since, the amount now, and the creditor's name — plus the name of the original creditor (the first company you owed) if the debt changed hands. If your letter is missing pieces, that is worth pointing out in your dispute.
Be in writing. Arrive inside the 30-day window (counted from when you received the notice). Say you dispute the debt and ask them to prove it — that demand is called 'validation'. A written dispute sent in time triggers the pause in FDCPA §1692g(b): collecting must stop until they mail you their proof. Keep the envelope, and send with tracking — the date you mailed it can matter more than anything you write.
Do not acknowledge the debt as yours, do not agree that the amount is right, and do not make a payment or a promise to pay while you are deciding. In many states a payment or a signed promise can restart an expired limitations clock — the revival trap has its own page because it deserves one. If they call, one sentence is enough: 'Please put everything in writing.' Then log the call.
Not sure it's yours, or the amount looks wrong → a letter demanding proof (a 'validation demand'). The calls themselves are the problem → a stop-contact letter (it stops the contact, not the debt — and a lawsuit is still possible). The debt looks too old to sue on → the time-barred response on the old-debt trap page. The kit builds each one from your answers; the CFPB's free sample letters are the plain starting point, and the free checker tells you which one fits before you spend anything.
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A written dispute sent on time is a right the law gives you; using it pauses collection and forces the debt collector to document the debt. About 45% of collection complaints filed with the CFPB say the debt is not owed at all — wrong person, already paid, or never theirs. Asking for proof is the normal, expected move.
You can still dispute — you lose the automatic pause, not the right to ask for proof. Send the letter anyway, and check the limitations clock on your state page: an older debt may be time-barred, which changes the letter you send.
Regulation F (12 CFR 1006.30(a)) bars a debt collector from reporting a debt to the credit bureaus before talking with you about it. This site explains debt-collector contact; it does not dispute credit reports — that is a different rulebook.