Debt collection practices in Massachusetts — two calls a week, and it is a 93A violation

Most people meet Massachusetts collection law as a defendant, in a collection suit. This page is about the claim running the other way.

Section 49 makes unfair collection a chapter 93A violation, which is the whole point: 93A brings double or treble damages and mandatory attorney's fees, and that is what makes a small consumer claim worth bringing. The Attorney General's regulations then supply the detailed conduct rules — and they are stricter than the federal FDCPA in the place that matters most, the number of times a collector may call.

What the claim is

A creditor or a collection agency harassed you, lied to you, or broke the collection rules while trying to get paid.

Where the right comes from

G.L. c. 93, § 49, the Attorney General's debt collection regulations at 940 CMR 7.00, and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692.

What a plaintiff has to prove

1. A debt primarily for personal, family or household purposes;
2. Collection activity by the defendant;
3. Conduct that was unfair, deceptive or unreasonable — under § 49, or that violated a specific provision of 940 CMR 7.00; and
4. Injury, which for a 93A claim is satisfied by the statutory minimum where actual loss is small.

Section 49 ties the conduct directly to chapter 93A: a violation is a violation of c. 93A, which means the plaintiff does not have to prove independently that the conduct was unfair or deceptive within the general 93A standard.

The two-calls rule

940 CMR 7.04(1)(f) bars a creditor from initiating a communication with a debtor by telephone "in excess of two such communications in each seven-day period" — to the debtor's residence, cellular telephone or other personal number.

That is materially stricter than the federal Regulation F presumption of seven calls in seven days, and it is the provision that generates most Massachusetts collection claims.

A call counts whether or not anyone answers. The SJC so held in Armata v. Target Corp., and the consequence is significant: a collector's autodialer reaching voicemail four times in a week has violated the regulation four times over regardless of whether the consumer ever picked up.

What else the regulations prohibit

The rules are detailed, and the recurring violations are:

• Contacting a consumer at work after being told the employer prohibits it;
• Contacting a consumer represented by counsel, once the collector knows;
• Communicating with third parties about the debt beyond locating the consumer;
• Threatening legal action the collector does not intend to take, or cannot;
• Misrepresenting the amount, character or legal status of the debt;
• Failing to provide validation of the debt on request, under 940 CMR 7.08;
• Visiting a consumer's home or workplace outside the permitted circumstances; and
• Using profane, obscene or abusive language.

They reach original creditors too

This is the difference from federal law that matters most.

The FDCPA applies to third-party debt collectors and debt buyers, and as a rule not to a creditor collecting its own debt. So a hospital, a utility, a landlord or a bank collecting what it is owed directly is outside it.

940 CMR 7.00 reaches creditors collecting their own debts. A Massachusetts consumer harassed by the original creditor has a claim under the state regulations and § 49 where the federal statute gives them nothing.

How long you have to file

Four years, under G.L. c. 260, § 5A.

That section sets a four-year period for actions arising from violations of consumer-protection laws and lists them by number — including c. 93 § 49 and c. 93A expressly. This is not the three-year tort period a practitioner might assume.

One year for a federal FDCPA claim, from the violation — which is much shorter, and is the reason a Massachusetts consumer should not rely on the federal statute alone.

What has to happen before you file

A 93A demand letter, 30 days, unless the claim is asserted as a counterclaim — and in a collection case it usually is, where no demand is required at all under G.L. c. 93A, § 9(3).

What the claim pays

Actual damages or $25, whichever is greater, under c. 93A § 9(3).

Double or treble damages for a willful or knowing violation, or a bad-faith refusal to settle after the demand — multiplied against the judgment.

Mandatory attorney's fees and costs under c. 93A § 9(4), on any finding of liability.

Emotional distress damages, which Massachusetts allows in a 93A claim where the harassment caused them, and which are frequently the largest element in these cases.

Injunctive relief.

FDCPA statutory damages, up to $1,000 per action, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees, where the defendant is a covered collector.

Which court

District Court or the Boston Municipal Court within the $50,000 threshold, which is where most of these go; Superior Court above it; and as a counterclaim in whatever court the collector chose.

Who can be sued

A collection agency or debt buyer.

The original creditor, under the state regulations.

A collection law firm, which is a debt collector under federal law when it collects.

The individual collector, in some circumstances.

Common defenses

• The debt was not consumer debt — a business debt is outside § 49 and the regulations.
• The contacts did not exceed the limit, or were initiated by the consumer.
• A bona fide error, under the FDCPA's narrow defence.
• No injury, which the $25 minimum largely answers.
• A defective 93A demand, where one was required.
• Limitations — one year federally, four years under state law.

What people get wrong

Two calls in seven days is the state limit, and it is stricter than federal law.

Unanswered calls count. Armata settled that.

Original creditors are covered by the state rules even though they are usually outside the FDCPA.

The claim is worth bringing even when the loss is small, because 93A supplies a $25 floor and mandatory fees.

As a counterclaim there is no demand letter. A consumer sued on a debt can counterclaim the same day.

The state deadline is four years, not three — c. 260 § 5A names § 49.

Where it came from

Massachusetts wrote § 49 in the same period Congress wrote the FDCPA, and made two structural choices that federal law did not.

The first was to route the remedy through chapter 93A rather than creating a standalone damages provision. That gave collection claims the multiplier and the mandatory fee award that make them economically viable — a consumer with $300 in harm has a claim a lawyer will take.

The second was to regulate creditors as well as collectors. The federal statute was drafted on the theory that a business collecting its own debts has a reputational stake in behaving well, which is a reasonable theory and does not describe a hospital's outsourced billing department or a national bank's call centre. The Attorney General's regulations extend the conduct rules to whoever is doing the collecting.

The two-call limit is the sharpest expression of that. Federal law asks whether the volume of calls amounted to harassment, which is a judgment. Massachusetts set a number, and Armata held that the number counts calls rather than conversations — which converts a subjective standard into an arithmetic one, and is the reason these cases are provable from a phone log.

Common questions

How many times can a debt collector call me in Massachusetts?

Twice in any seven-day period, under 940 CMR 7.04(1)(f) — and unanswered calls count.

Do the rules apply to the original creditor?

Yes. The Attorney General's regulations reach creditors collecting their own debts, unlike the federal FDCPA.

Can I recover attorney's fees?

Yes. A § 49 violation is a chapter 93A violation, and 93A fees are mandatory once liability is found.

How long do I have to sue?

Four years under state law — c. 260 § 5A names c. 93 § 49 expressly. A federal FDCPA claim must be brought within one year.

Do I have to send a demand letter?

Yes for a standalone 93A claim, 30 days beforehand. No if you are asserting it as a counterclaim in the collector's own lawsuit.

What if the harassment did not cost me money?

Chapter 93A sets a $25 floor, and emotional distress damages are recoverable where the conduct caused them.

Where these rules live

• Mass. R. Civ. P. 8.1 — Special requirements for certain consumer debts
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 13 — Counterclaim and cross-claim
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 26 — General provisions governing discovery
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 34 — Producing documents and electronically stored information
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 56 — Summary judgment
• Statute of limitations on debt