If a debt collector has been calling you, federal law may not cover it. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) only applies to third-party collection agencies, companies hired to collect debts on someone else’s behalf. The original creditor you borrowed from, the bank behind your credit card, the hospital billing you after surgery, the auto lender calling about a missed payment, none of them fall under the FDCPA when they contact you directly.

California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (California Civil Code §§ 1788–1788.33) fills that gap. For California consumers, the Rosenthal Act extends debt collection protections well beyond federal law, and it determines what you can recover when those rules are violated.

California Fills a Gap the Federal Law Left Open

Congress passed the FDCPA in 1977 to stop collection agencies from using abusive, deceptive, and harassing tactics. The FDCPA covers third-party debt collectors and debt buyers, but original creditors collecting their own debts fall outside its scope. A credit card company’s internal collections department calling you at 10 p.m. is outside the FDCPA’s reach, even if the behavior is the same as what a collection agency would do.

California’s legislature passed the Rosenthal Act in the same year. Its purpose, stated in the statute itself, is to “prohibit debt collectors from engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the collection of consumer debts.” The Rosenthal Act defines “debt collector” to cover anyone who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly engages in debt collection, a definition deliberately written to include the company you originally borrowed from. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.2(c).) In California, all of the following are subject to the Act’s requirements:

• Banks, credit card issuers, auto lenders, medical providers, and mortgage servicers collecting their own debts
• Third-party debt collection agencies
• Debt buyers who purchase defaulted accounts and attempt to collect on them
• Anyone who composes and sells collection letters or other collection materials intended for use in debt collection
• Any other business whose operations regularly include contacting consumers to collect debts

Debts the Act Covers

The Rosenthal Act applies to consumer debts, money owed by a natural person from a consumer credit transaction. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.2(f).) Covered debts are:

• Credit card balances
• Auto loan deficiencies
• Medical bills
• Mortgage debt (added explicitly by Senate Bill 187, effective 2019)
• Personal loans tied to personal, family, or household purposes

Business debts were historically excluded from the Act’s consumer protections, though SB 1286, signed into law in September 2024, expanded coverage to certain commercial debts for transactions entered into, renewed, sold, or assigned on or after July 1, 2025. If the debt arose from a personal or household financial transaction, the Rosenthal Act applies.

Debt Collection Practices Prohibited in California

The Rosenthal Act sets out a long list of prohibited conduct. California Civil Code § 1788.17 also requires original creditors, and other covered parties, to comply with sections 1692b through 1692j of the federal FDCPA, which means a FDCPA violation in California is simultaneously a Rosenthal Act violation.

Prohibited Contact Practices

Collectors in California are prohibited from:

• Placing calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. — hours considered inconvenient under the FDCPA standards incorporated by § 1788.17
• Contacting you at work when the collector knows your employer prohibits or restricts personal collection calls
• Contacting you directly once the collector knows you have an attorney handling the debt on your behalf
• Placing a call without disclosing the caller’s identity, or without providing a California debt collector license number when asked (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.11(b))
• Causing your telephone to ring repeatedly or continuously to annoy you (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.11(d))
• Communicating by phone or in person with a frequency that is unreasonable and constitutes harassment under the circumstances (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.11(e))
• Causing you to incur telephone or communication charges by misrepresenting the purpose of a call (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.11(c))

Prohibited Statements and Threats

Collectors cannot:

• Claim to be a law enforcement officer, government employee, or attorney when they are not
• Misrepresent the amount you owe
• Threaten arrest or criminal prosecution for nonpayment of a consumer debt — nonpayment of a civil debt is not a criminal matter in California
• Threaten to take action they have no authority under California law to take
• Use obscene, profane, or abusive language (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.11(a))
• Contact third parties — neighbors, coworkers, relatives — about your debt except for the limited purpose of locating you
• Publish your name as someone who refuses to pay a debt

Exceptions That Apply Only to Original Creditors

Under § 1788.17, original creditors in California are exempt from two specific obligations that apply to third-party collectors: they are not required to provide the “mini-Miranda” disclosure, the “this is an attempt to collect a debt” notice that third-party collectors are required to give, and they are not required to send a formal debt validation notice within five days of initial contact. Outside of those two exceptions, original creditors carry the same obligations as a third-party collection agency under federal law.

Damages and Penalties Under California Civil Code § 1788.30

A consumer who wins a Rosenthal Act lawsuit in California can recover three categories of relief, set out in Civil Code § 1788.30:

• Actual damages: any losses you can document and connect to the collector’s conduct, including lost wages, bank fees, or other out-of-pocket harm that resulted from the violations.
• Statutory penalty: if the collector acted “willfully and knowingly,” a court may award an additional $100 to $1,000 on top of actual damages. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.30(b).)
• Attorney fees: a prevailing consumer is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees based on time necessarily spent to enforce the liability. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.30(c).)

Attorney fee recovery is what allows Conn Law, PC to handle Rosenthal Act cases on a contingency basis, with no out-of-pocket cost to the client unless there is a recovery. It also means collectors can face substantial liability even when a single consumer’s actual losses are modest.

California Civil Code § 1788.32 states that the Rosenthal Act’s remedies are cumulative and in addition to any other rights or remedies under any other law, so a collector who also violates the federal FDCPA can face separate damages under both statutes.

Cure Window and Its Limits

Collectors have one statutory defense available: a 15-day cure window. A debt collector can avoid civil liability under the Rosenthal Act by demonstrating one of two things:

1. They corrected the violation within 15 days of discovering it, or within 15 days of receiving written notice of the violation from the consumer.
2. The violation was not intentional and occurred despite having procedures in place reasonably designed to prevent that type of error.

A ceiling applies to the cure defense. If the violation caused actual damages, correcting it afterward doesn’t eliminate liability for those losses. The cure defense applies to statutory penalties, not to compensation for harm already done.

One-Year Statute of Limitations

A Rosenthal Act lawsuit has to be brought within one year of the specific call, letter, or contact that violated the Act. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.30.)

Each prohibited contact, each call at an unreasonable hour, each abusive voicemail, each communication after a cease request, is a separate violation with its own one-year window. A series of violations spanning several months may include a mix of cases, with some still within the limitation period and others expired. An attorney can help identify which violations are still actionable and build a case around them.

Two Paths for Enforcement

1. Filing a Complaint With the Attorney General

The California Attorney General’s office has authority to enforce the Rosenthal Act against debt collectors. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.1.) Submitting a complaint to the AG creates a record and helps the state track problematic collectors and build cases against repeat offenders. That said, the AG does not take individual action on a single consumer’s behalf, so a complaint alone will not produce damages or stop a collector from continuing to contact you.

2. Bringing a Private Lawsuit

A private lawsuit is the path that results in direct recovery for you. Rosenthal Act cases are brought in California state court and can be combined with FDCPA claims where federal law also applies. A court can also issue an injunction requiring the collector to stop the offending conduct.

Small claims court is an option, but California caps small claims damages at $12,500 and does not allow attorney fee recovery. Cases with documented violations, multiple contacts, or bad-faith conduct are generally better handled in a court where the statute’s full remedies are available.

Documenting Violations

If a collector has been contacting you in ways that cross the lines described above, start preserving evidence now. An attorney can work with whatever you have, and the more documentation available, the stronger the case.

• Write down the date, time, and content of every call, including voicemails, noting what was said, who called, and what number appeared on caller ID
• Preserve every letter, email, and text message from the collector
• Note whether you told the collector verbally or in writing to stop contacting you, and when
• Keep records of any financial or other harm connected to the collector’s conduct, including bank statements, missed work documentation, or medical records

Violations in a Rosenthal Act case need to be traceable to specific dates and communications, and a contemporaneous record is far more useful than one reconstructed from memory later.

Rosenthal Act Representation at Conn Law, PC

Conn Law, PC represents consumers in San Francisco and throughout California against debt collectors and original creditors who have violated California and federal debt collection law. Rosenthal Act cases require working with both state and federal statutes simultaneously, and the overlap between the two affects how damages are calculated and which claims to bring.

If a collector, whether a bank, collection agency, or any other party, has been contacting you in ways that feel abusive, deceptive, or relentless, contact Conn Law, PC for a free consultation by calling (415) 417-2780. Rosenthal Act cases are handled on a contingency basis, and there’s no cost to get a direct answer about whether what happened to you violated California law.