Texas Cease and Desist Letter: Free Template & Texas Rules

Cease and Desist Letter (Texas)

[Your Full Name or Business Name]
[Street Address]
[City], Texas [ZIP]
[Phone] · [Email]

[Date]

Sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, No. [Tracking Number], and by email to [Email Address]

[Recipient’s Full Legal Name or Business Name]
[Registered agent listed with the Texas Secretary of State, if a business]
[Street Address]
[City], [State] [ZIP]

Re: Demand to stop [describe the conduct] — [URL, account, mark or account number]

Dear [Recipient Name]:

1. Purpose of This Letter

This letter is a formal written demand that you stop the conduct described below and confirm in writing that you have done so. It is not a court order. It gives you the opportunity to resolve this matter before I take further action.

2. What You Have Done

• [Date] — [Where: URL, platform, phone number or place] — [The exact words used or the act] — [How I know: screenshot, recording, witness]

• [Date] — [Where] — [Words or act] — [How I know]

• [Add a line for each incident, oldest first]

Copies of [screenshots showing the URL and the date, messages, call logs, photographs] are enclosed.

3. Why It Must Stop

[In one or two sentences, name the right the recipient’s conduct affects — for example: these statements are false and damage my reputation; this conduct is harassing and makes me fear for my safety; you are using my registered mark without permission. Then refer to the paragraph in section 7 that applies.]

4. What I Demand

I demand that you:

• [ ] Stop [the conduct] immediately.

• [ ] Remove [the infringing listings or materials, or the posts containing the statements identified as false in paragraph 7A — not opinions or reviews you disagree with] by [Date].

• [ ] Publish the correction, clarification or retraction requested in paragraph 7A.

• [ ] Stop all contact with me [and my family], directly or through other people or accounts (paragraph 7B).

• [ ] Stop communicating with me about account No. [Number] (paragraph 7C; third-party debt collectors only).

• [ ] Stop using the mark [Mark] (paragraph 7D).

• [ ] Confirm in writing by [Date] that you have done the above.

5. Deadline

Please comply and send your written confirmation by [Date — 10 to 14 days after you expect this letter to be received; at least 30 days if you use paragraph 7A, because the publisher has 30 days to correct]. A demand to stop contact or harassing behavior takes effect immediately.

6. If You Do Not Comply

If you do not comply, I intend to pursue the civil remedies Texas law provides, which may include a lawsuit for damages and an injunction in [County] County [Use only with paragraph 7B, never in a letter that asks for money: and, if the conduct amounts to stalking, an application for a protective order under Chapter 7B of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure].

7. Optional Paragraphs — Use Only the One That Fits

A. Request for correction, clarification or retraction (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 73.055). I am [Full Name], [the person the statements are about / the owner of [Business Name]]. You published the following statements about me:

• Statement 1: “[exact words]”, published on [Date, if known] at [URL / name of the publication / place, if known]. This statement is false and defamatory because it conveys that I [state the defamatory meaning — for example, committed fraud].

• Statement 2: “[exact words]”, published on [Date, if known] at [URL / name of the publication / place, if known]. This statement is false and defamatory because it conveys that I [state the defamatory meaning — for example, took payment and did not deliver the work].

[Statement [number] conveys this meaning because of [the surrounding context, the photograph, the headline], not only its express words.] I request that you publish a correction, clarification or retraction [in the same manner and medium as the original statement / by appending it to the original post].

B. Demand to stop harassing behavior (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 85.003; Tex. Penal Code §§ 42.07, 42.072). I clearly demand that you stop [calling, texting, messaging, emailing, posting about, following, tracking] me [and my family], directly or through other people or accounts. Your conduct on the dates listed in section 2 [included the following threat: “[exact words]”]. [I reported this conduct to the [Name] Police Department as stalking on [Date], report No. [Number].] Do not contact me again for any reason.

C. Debt collection (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c); Tex. Fin. Code §§ 392.202, 392.302).

• [To a third-party debt collector:] I request that you cease further communication with me about account No. [Number].

• [To a third-party debt collector, to dispute the debt:] I dispute the accuracy of [the amount / the balance / that I owe this debt] in your records for account No. [Number]. Under Texas Finance Code § 392.202, please record this dispute, investigate it, and stop collection until the investigation is complete. [Please also send me a copy of the surety bond you have filed with the Texas Secretary of State (§ 392.101).]

• [To any creditor or collector:] Stop placing repeated calls to [phone number] and stop using abusive language (§ 392.302).

D. Trademark (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 16.102 [and § 16.103, only if the mark is famous in Texas]; 15 U.S.C. § 1111). I own the mark [Mark], registered [with the Texas Secretary of State, Reg. No. [Number] / with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Reg. No. [Number]] for [goods or services] and in use since [Date]. You are using [the same mark / a confusingly similar mark] on [website, products, signage]. This letter gives you actual notice of my registration. I demand that you stop using it by [Date].

E. Consumer complaint — DTPA notice (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 17.505). This is notice under section 17.505 of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. My specific complaint is [describe what was misrepresented or what went wrong, with dates]. My economic damages are $[Amount], my damages for mental anguish are $[Amount], and my expenses, including attorney’s fees, are $[Amount]. I will not file suit for damages until at least 60 days after you receive this notice.

8. Preserve Evidence

Please keep all messages, posts, recordings, account data and other records related to this matter, including anything you remove from public view.

9. Reservation of Rights

This letter does not waive any of my rights or remedies, all of which are reserved.

Sincerely,

___________________________
[Your Full Name]
[Title, if signing for a business]

Enclosures: [List documents]

Before You Send It (Delete This Section)

• Use one paragraph from section 7 and delete the others, along with the checkboxes in section 4 that do not apply.

• Reviews and public criticism. If you sue over speech on a matter of public concern, including consumer reviews and ratings of a business, the other side can move to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, and if the court dismisses, it must award them attorney’s fees (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 27.009, 27.010(b)(2)). Do not demand that someone stop criticizing you. The narrow exception is a non-disparagement agreement signed by your employee, independent contractor, officer or director (§ 27.010(a)(5)).

• No threats tied to money. Never ask for payment in exchange for not reporting a crime or not exposing someone. Texas treats a threat to accuse a person of an offense, or to harm their credit or business reputation, as coercion (Penal Code § 1.07(a)(9)).

• Defamation deadlines. Make the retraction request within 90 days of learning of the statement to keep exemplary damages, and sue within one year (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 73.055(c), 16.002). Serve the request on the publisher and sign it yourself or through your attorney or agent.

• Stalking. Keep a dated log, report the conduct to the police as stalking, and keep proof that this demand was delivered. A stalking victim can apply for a protective order without sending any letter first (Code Crim. Proc. art. 7B.001). If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

• Debt collectors. The right to stop all contact comes from federal law and covers third-party collectors only. A creditor collecting its own debt can still contact you, but not with harassing calls or abusive language.

• Trademarks. Section 16.102 applies to marks registered with the Texas Secretary of State; a federal-only registration is enforced under federal law. For a Texas registration, continued use after this letter may support a request for enhanced damages, but Texas leaves that to the court, requires proof of intent to confuse or deceive for damages, and can award attorney’s fees to whichever side prevails (Bus. & Com. Code § 16.102).

• Keep proof of delivery: the certified mail receipt, the return receipt card and a copy of the email.