For many people in Houston, collection pressure arrives as a constant stream: calls from unfamiliar numbers, texts, emails, and voicemails that warn of consequences if you don't pay today. Federal and Texas law put concrete limits on that pressure. When a collector ignores them, the consumer on the receiving end may have a claim for damages.

Texas Debt Law represents consumers in Houston, a city of about 2.39 million people that lies almost entirely in Harris County, with small parts in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. We bring claims under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Texas Debt Collection Act (TDCA), and we work with Houston clients by phone, text and email in English or Spanish. Your first review is free.

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Too Many Calls, Texts and Emails: Regulation F in Practice

Regulation F, the federal debt collection rule in effect since November 30, 2021, turned general bans on harassment into measurable limits for FDCPA collectors:

Seven in seven. More than seven calls about a particular debt in seven consecutive days, or a call within seven days after you had a phone conversation about it, is presumed to violate the law (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)). The count is per debt, so a collector handling several of your accounts may call more often, and calls under the limit can still be harassing in context.
Your choice of channel. You can tell a collector not to use a particular phone number, email address or method, and it generally must honor that (§ 1006.14(h)).
Opting out of texts and emails. Every collection text or email must include a clear, simple way to opt out (§ 1006.6(e)).
Hours. Contact before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. your local time is presumed inconvenient (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1); 12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(b)(1)(i)).

Texas law adds its own ban on causing a phone to ring repeatedly or continuously with intent to harass (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.302(4)), and it applies to original creditors as well as collection agencies. Our law update on Regulation F's call, text and email limits and our Q&A on how many times a collector can call go deeper.

Threats About Your Paycheck or Bank Account

Some of the most frightening calls involve threats to take money. In Texas, many of those threats are hollow:

Wages. The Texas Constitution (art. XVI, § 28) bars garnishment of current wages for ordinary consumer debts. Exceptions include child support and certain government debts, such as some federal student loans and taxes.
Bank accounts. A creditor generally needs a court judgment before it can garnish a bank account. Even then, federal rules require banks to protect up to two months of directly deposited federal benefits such as Social Security (31 C.F.R. part 212); see our update on the Treasury rule.
Arrest. No one is jailed for an unpaid consumer debt in Texas, and threatening arrest for nonpayment is prohibited by 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(4) and Tex. Fin. Code § 392.301(a)(5).

A collector that threatens an action it cannot legally take, or does not intend to take, may be violating § 1692e(5) and § 392.301(a)(8). Save the voicemail or write down the words used, the same day.

Proving the Harm: Why Your Notes Matter in Federal Court

A violation alone is not always enough to sue for damages in federal court. Under TransUnion v. Ramirez and the Fifth Circuit's decision in Perez v. McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, a consumer must show a concrete injury. Courts have recognized harms such as money paid, time lost from work, and genuine distress; the Fifth Circuit found standing in Calogero where consumers alleged fear and emotional distress from a threat to sue.

So keep a short diary alongside your call log. Record the date of each contact, what was said, and what it cost you: a shift you left early, a missed appointment, a payment you made because you were scared, nights you couldn't sleep. Screenshots of your call history, saved voicemails and every letter with its envelope round out the file. Notes made at the time are far more persuasive than memories reconstructed months later.

FDCPA, Texas Law, or Both

The FDCPA reaches collection agencies, most debt buyers, and law firms that regularly collect consumer debts. It generally does not reach a lender collecting its own account. The TDCA (Texas Finance Code chapter 392) covers both, and it requires third-party collectors to file a surety bond with the Texas Secretary of State (§ 392.101). A single Houston case can include claims under each law, and the right mix depends on who contacted you and what they did.

Courts That Hear Houston-Area Claims

Under 28 U.S.C. § 124, Harris County is in the Houston Division of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The same division covers Fort Bend, Montgomery and Waller counties, among others, so most of the Houston area shares one federal division. That is where we file Houston-area FDCPA claims, as a stand-alone federal lawsuit against the collector, with any TDCA claim from the same conduct included in the same case.

Collection lawsuits against Houston residents are usually filed in Harris County. Its justice courts number 16, two in each of eight precincts, and they hear cases up to $20,000; larger claims go to county or district court. If you have been served, your answer is due by the end of the 14th day after service in justice court, or by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday after 20 days in county or district court. Check yours with our answer deadline calculator. Defending that lawsuit is a separate debt defense matter, which our Houston debt defense attorneys handle. Collector misconduct is not raised inside the Harris County case; if it supports an FDCPA or TDCA claim, we bring it separately in the Southern District's Houston Division.

Already have a judgment? Our post-judgment debt settlement page and our update on Texas's protected-property claim rules explain your options.

Deadline and Possible Recovery

Count back one year from today: FDCPA violations older than that are generally too late to sue on (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d)). For violations within the year, a court may award actual damages, statutory damages of up to $1,000 per action, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs (§ 1692k(a)). TDCA remedies include actual damages, an injunction, and attorney's fees and costs (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.403). Every case turns on its own facts, and we will give you an honest assessment rather than a promise.

Working With Texas Debt Law From Houston

Attorney Shawn Jaffer has handled thousands of debt collection lawsuits in Texas. When you reach out, we review your call log, messages and letters, identify each potential violation and its date, and check the collector's Texas bond. If you hire us, FDCPA collectors that know you have a lawyer generally must deal with us instead of you (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(2)). From there we negotiate or file suit in federal court, depending on the facts. The review is free, and the FDCPA allows a consumer who wins to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the collector (§ 1692k(a)(3)). Nearby residents can also see our Katy and Pasadena debt defense pages, and our statewide Texas FDCPA attorneys page covers the full legal framework.

Houston FDCPA Questions

I live in Katy, partly in Waller and Fort Bend counties. Which court would hear my case?

Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties are all in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, so a federal FDCPA claim from anywhere in Katy would generally be filed there. A collection suit against you would normally be filed in the county where you live or signed the contract.

The collector texts me several times a day. Is that legal?

It depends on the content and the pattern. Each text must include an opt-out method, and once you ask a collector to stop using a channel, it generally must stop. Screenshot the messages with dates showing. Our Q&A on collection texts and emails explains more.

My bank account was frozen. Did the collector break the law?

Not necessarily; a garnishment usually follows a judgment. But protected funds, such as directly deposited Social Security, may be exempt, and a garnishment based on a judgment you never knew about may be worth reviewing. Call us quickly, because deadlines to claim exemptions are short.

I hired a lawyer, but the collector still calls me. Is that allowed?

Once an FDCPA collector knows you are represented and has your lawyer's contact information, it generally must communicate with the lawyer, not you. Keep a record of every direct contact after that point. Browse our debt lawsuit Q&A for related questions.

Get a Free Review of Your Houston Case

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This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and each case depends on its own facts.

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