Area code 219 calling hours: can you call now?

Area code 219 serves Gary, Merrillville, and Valparaiso in Indiana. It spans Central and Eastern time, so the exchange matters. Clocks move for daylight saving time in March and November.

Debt collection: federal — Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Indiana: no separate hour rule.
Telemarketing: federal — 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Indiana (autodialed or prerecorded calls only): Prerecorded / automatic dialing-announcing sales calls only 9 a.m.-8 p.m., any day.

Live check: area code 219

Turn on JavaScript for the live check. The rules table below lists every window that applies to 219.

Not checked here: consent, Do-Not-Call lists, Reg F call frequency (7 calls in 7 days), cease-communication requests or attorney representation, reassigned numbers, and whether the consumer has told you a time is inconvenient.

Calling-hour rules for 219

Hours are local time at the person you are calling. When federal and Indiana rules differ, the narrower window governs; the live check applies every row at once.

Rule set	Debt collection	Telemarketing
Federal	Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1) · 12 CFR § 1006.6(b)(1)(i) (Regulation F) · Reg F Official Interpretation, comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2 (consumer's location) · 12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2) Call-frequency presumption: a collector is presumed to comply with the harassment ban if it places no more than 7 calls to a person about a particular debt within 7 consecutive days, and no call within 7 days after a telephone conversation with that person about the debt; exceeding either is presumed a violation (12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)). Conflicting location information: if the collector's information indicates the consumer may be in more than one place (e.g. an Eastern-zone area code and a Pacific-zone address), it complies only by calling at a time convenient in all of those locations (Reg F comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2). A collector may not call at any time it knows or should know is inconvenient to the consumer (e.g. after the consumer says so), regardless of the 8 a.m.-9 p.m. default (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1); Reg F comment 6(b)(1)-1). No federal Sunday or holiday ban, but a consumer's statement that a day or time is inconvenient makes calls then unlawful. The 8-9 window is a default presumption that the consumer's prior consent (given directly to the collector) or a court can override.	8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1) (TCPA rules) · 16 CFR § 310.4(c) (Telemarketing Sales Rule) No telephone solicitation to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry absent an established business relationship or the consumer's signed written permission (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)). Autodialed or artificial/prerecorded-voice telemarketing calls to wireless numbers, and prerecorded telemarketing calls to residential lines, require the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)). Sellers must honor company-specific do-not-call requests (47 CFR § 64.1200(d); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A)). TSR § 310.4(c) allows calls outside 8-9 with the person's prior consent; the TCPA time rule in § 64.1200(c)(1) has no consent exception for telephone solicitations as defined.
Indiana	No separate state hours; the federal window applies.	Autodialed / prerecorded only Prerecorded / automatic dialing-announcing sales calls only 9 a.m.-8 p.m., any day. Every day 9:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. Ind. Code § 24-5-14-8(b) No telephone sales calls to numbers on Indiana's do-not-call list (Ind. Code art. 24-4.7). Does not apply to messages exempted by Ind. Code § 24-5-14-5(a). No Indiana hours rule for live sales calls; the federal 8 a.m.-9 p.m. window governs those. The statute does not say whose local time applies.

Debt collection

Telemarketing

Federal

Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day.

Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1) · 12 CFR § 1006.6(b)(1)(i) (Regulation F) · Reg F Official Interpretation, comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2 (consumer's location) · 12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)

Call-frequency presumption: a collector is presumed to comply with the harassment ban if it places no more than 7 calls to a person about a particular debt within 7 consecutive days, and no call within 7 days after a telephone conversation with that person about the debt; exceeding either is presumed a violation (12 CFR § 1006.14(b)(2)).
Conflicting location information: if the collector's information indicates the consumer may be in more than one place (e.g. an Eastern-zone area code and a Pacific-zone address), it complies only by calling at a time convenient in all of those locations (Reg F comment 6(b)(1)(i)-2).
A collector may not call at any time it knows or should know is inconvenient to the consumer (e.g. after the consumer says so), regardless of the 8 a.m.-9 p.m. default (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1); Reg F comment 6(b)(1)-1).

No federal Sunday or holiday ban, but a consumer's statement that a day or time is inconvenient makes calls then unlawful. The 8-9 window is a default presumption that the consumer's prior consent (given directly to the collector) or a court can override.

8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day.

Every day 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1) (TCPA rules) · 16 CFR § 310.4(c) (Telemarketing Sales Rule)

No telephone solicitation to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry absent an established business relationship or the consumer's signed written permission (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)).
Autodialed or artificial/prerecorded-voice telemarketing calls to wireless numbers, and prerecorded telemarketing calls to residential lines, require the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)).
Sellers must honor company-specific do-not-call requests (47 CFR § 64.1200(d); 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A)).

TSR § 310.4(c) allows calls outside 8-9 with the person's prior consent; the TCPA time rule in § 64.1200(c)(1) has no consent exception for telephone solicitations as defined.

Indiana

No separate state hours; the federal window applies.

Autodialed / prerecorded only

Prerecorded / automatic dialing-announcing sales calls only 9 a.m.-8 p.m., any day.

Every day 9:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.

Ind. Code § 24-5-14-8(b)

No telephone sales calls to numbers on Indiana's do-not-call list (Ind. Code art. 24-4.7).

Does not apply to messages exempted by Ind. Code § 24-5-14-5(a). No Indiana hours rule for live sales calls; the federal 8 a.m.-9 p.m. window governs those. The statute does not say whose local time applies.

Also in Indiana

Indiana has no debt-collection calling-hours statute; collectors are covered by the general deceptive-practices act (Ind. Code § 24-5-0.5-3), and the federal window applies.

Exchanges and time zones

Area code 219 spans Central and Eastern time. The exchange — the three digits after the area code — maps to a rate center, and the rate center sets the zone. Enter the number in the check above to use it; without one, the check requires the window to be open in every zone 219 covers.

Central time America/Chicago · 475 exchanges

Rate center	County	Exchanges
Gary, IN	Lake	74
Merrillville, IN	Lake	51
Valparaiso, IN	Porter	31
Crown Point, IN	Lake	29
Hammond, IN	Lake	27
Michigan City, IN	LaPorte	26
East Chicago, IN	Lake	22
Portage, IN	Porter	22
La Porte, IN	LaPorte	20
Highland, IN	Lake	16
Chesterton, IN	Porter	12
Dyer, IN	Lake	12
Cedar Lake, IN	Lake	11
Lowell, IN	Lake	9
Whiting, IN	Lake	9
Hobart, IN	Lake	8
Rensselaer, IN	Jasper	8
Saint John, IN	Lake	8
Westville, IN	LaPorte	7
Wheeler, IN	Porter	7
Lake Station, IN	Lake	6
Morocco, IN	Newton	5
Remington, IN	Jasper	5
Rolling Prairie, IN	LaPorte	5
Wheatfield, IN	Jasper	5
Lake Village, IN	Newton	4
San Pierre, IN	Starke	4
Brook, IN	Newton	3
Demotte, IN	Jasper	3
Hanna, IN	LaPorte	3
Hebron, IN	Porter	3
Kouts, IN	Porter	3
Wanatah, IN	LaPorte	3
Goodland, IN	Newton	2
Kentland, IN	Newton	2
La Crosse, IN	LaPorte	2
Lakes of the Four Seasons, IN	Lake	2
Mount Ayr, IN	Newton	2
Roselawn, IN	Newton	2
Union Mills, IN	LaPorte	2

Eastern time America/New_York · 16 exchanges

Rate center	County	Exchanges
Francesville, IN	Pulaski	4
Reynolds, IN	White	4
Medaryville, IN	Pulaski	3
Wolcott, IN	White	3
Monon, IN	White	2

219 has no overlay codes.

Other area codes in Indiana:

260 Fort Wayne
317 Indianapolis
463 Indianapolis
574 South Bend
765 Lafayette
812 Evansville
930 Bloomington

Why area code alone is not enough

Mobile numbers travel with their owners, and a ported number keeps its original 219 area code and exchange. A 219 number tells you where the line was assigned, not where the person is today.
Under Regulation F, when you know of more than one location for a consumer — a mailing address in one zone, an area code in another — the time must be convenient in every one of them. Use the address-state field above to add the zones you know about.
Call only when the window is open in every location you know about, and stop calling at times the consumer tells you are inconvenient, whatever the clock says.

Questions

What time can you call area code 219?

Area code 219 is in Indiana, on Central and Eastern time. Debt collection: federal — Presumed convenient 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, any day. Indiana: no separate hour rule. Telemarketing: federal — 8 a.m.-9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, any day. Indiana (autodialed or prerecorded calls only): Prerecorded / automatic dialing-announcing sales calls only 9 a.m.-8 p.m., any day.

What time zone is area code 219?

Area code 219 spans Central and Eastern time. The exchange (the three digits after the area code) decides which; when it is unknown, a call should fit the window in every zone the area code covers.

Can a debt collector call a 219 number on Sunday?

Neither federal law nor Indiana sets separate Sunday hours for debt collection; the 8 a.m.–9 p.m. local-time window applies, and a consumer can tell a collector that Sunday is inconvenient.

Is the 219 area code enough to know the person's local time?

No. Mobile numbers move with their owners and ported numbers keep their area code, so a 219 number may belong to someone in another time zone. If you know other locations for the person, the call should fit the window in all of them.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and some rules depend on who is calling and why; confirm with counsel. Rules last reviewed 2026-10-07.