A debt collector may not contact you at inconvenient times or places, such as before 8 in the morning or after 9 at night, your local time, unless you agree to it. Keep in mind that the word is "inconvenient."  It is you, and not the debt collector or the creditor that determines what is inconvenient.   The eight o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock at night number is merely a guideline. If you work at night and you sleep in the morning, that means that having them call you in the morning is inconvenient to you. All you have to do is tell the debt collector that you do not want them to call you before noon, for example, and if they call you after being told that at 10 AM, that violates the FDCPA. In other words, contrary to what a debt collector might have you believe, it is you, and not them, that is in charge.

And collectors may not contact you at work if they’re told (orally or in writing) that you’re not allowed to get calls there. Our advice is to always tell them to stop calling you at work, that it is in convenient to get calls at work, and that your employer does not want me to get calls at work. If you do that and the debt collector call you back after that that is a clear-cut violation of the law.