Debt Collectors
RCW 19.16.250 — no harassment, no fake legal papers, and no more than two calls a day to a cell phone
A Washington collection agency, or its employee, may not:
- Communicate with a debtor or anyone else in a way meant to harass, intimidate, threaten or embarrass, including at unreasonable hours, with unreasonable frequency, with threats of violence or criminal prosecution, or with offensive language.
- Call or text a cell phone more than twice in a day, unless responding to the debtor.
- Use papers that look like court process, government documents or emergency messages.
- Threaten action it cannot legally take, or imply fees can be added that legally cannot.
- Block its number from showing on the debtor's phone, or suggest the state stands behind it.
- Publish or threaten to publish a bad debt list.
- Sue or start arbitration on a debt it knows, or should know, is past the statute of limitations.
On the debtor's written request, the agency provides the original creditor's name, or stops collecting until it does. It may tell an employer about a debt not reduced to judgment only in limited cases, and only once unless the employer agrees to more.
Sources for this section (1)
- RCW 19.16.250 — Collection agencies: prohibited practices
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Washington attorney.