# Recall — definition

> A recall is a creditor's withdrawal of a placed account from the collections firm, ending the firm's authority to work it and triggering return of files, cessation of contact, and reconciliation of any fees earned.

- Source: https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/recall/
- Publisher: Otto — https://ottoforfirms.com
- Updated: 2026-09-01

[All terms](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/)

**Recall** — A recall is a creditor's withdrawal of a placed account from the collections firm, ending the firm's authority to work it and triggering return of files, cessation of contact, and reconciliation of any fees earned.

Recall has no definition in the FDCPA, Regulation F, or any CFPB or interagency guidance located for this glossary; it is entirely a creature of the placement agreement, and practitioners should treat it as such. Contractually it is worth distinguishing recall for cause (a compliance event, a dispute, a bankruptcy or deceased notice, an attorney representation) from routine recall at the end of a placement term, because the fee treatment and the required wind-down steps usually differ. Operationally, an unclean recall is a compliance hazard: accounts that remain live in a dialer or letter stream after recall generate contacts the firm has no authority to make, and the termination stage of the interagency third-party life cycle expects banks to manage exactly this transition.

## See also

- [Placement](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/placement/)
- [Cease and desist](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/cease-and-desist/)
- [TPRM](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/tprm/)
- [Disposition code](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/disposition-code/)

## Where this appears

- [Migrating a collections firm to a new case management system](https://ottoforfirms.com/migrating/)
- [Collection-Master alternatives: what a replacement has to carry](https://ottoforfirms.com/compare/collection-master/)
- [Debt collection software for law firms: how the category works](https://ottoforfirms.com/collections-software/)
- [What a collections firm's audit file should contain](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/the-audit-file/)
- [The YGC and vExchange file format, explained](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/ygc-vexchange-file-format-explained/)
- [Rights Radar — detecting when a consumer invokes a right](https://ottoforfirms.com/platform/rights-radar/)

Last reviewed 2026-07-29

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This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. Limitations periods turn on facts this page cannot know — which state's law governs, the contract type, when the claim accrued, and whether anything tolled or revived it. Confirm against the primary source and your own counsel before acting.