A Cease and Desist Letter is a written request to an individual or organization to stop (cease) an action and refrain (desist) from doing it again in the future.

This letter notifies the recipient that they’re infringing on the sender’s rights or engaging in harassing activities. This type of behavior includes different things such as:

• Cyberbullying and defamation (i.e., libel and slander)
• Duplicating or reproducing copyrighted material
• Threatening behavior (e.g., stalking)
• Identity theft or online impersonation
• Aggressive or excessive communication
• Property disputes
• Fraud

The letter typically comes with the threat of legal action if the recipient fails to comply with the demands detailed in the letter within a certain period of time.

No, a Cease and Desist Letter is not a legally binding document.

You cannot force the recipient of the letter to comply with your request, but you can follow through with your threat of legal consequences. If your lawsuit is successful, courts may issue a legally binding cease and desist order. In this case, the recipient (defendant) must comply with the order or face legal repercussions.

A Cease and Desist Letter is a courtesy to the recipient, giving them fair warning to remedy their actions before litigation. With this letter, you can let the recipient know:

• Why their actions are inappropriate
• That you will no longer tolerate their behavior
• How to resolve the problem and avoid a lawsuit

If the recipient complies with the demands in your Cease and Desist Letter, you can save time and money by avoiding a lawsuit. Alternatively, if you proceed with litigation, you can use the letter as evidence in court to prove that you took reasonable measures to resolve the problem.

Write your Cease and Desist Letter in a concise and professional manner. Describe your grievances and explain what the other party can do to correct the action. Stick to the relevant details only. Leave out any information that is not absolutely necessary, such as foul language, bias, or petty commentary, and simply present the facts.

In addition to this explanation, a Cease and Desist letter should also include:

• Your name and contact information
• The recipient's name and information
• A subject line (e.g., a reference number for your account with a creditor)
• Notice of filing a lawsuit if the recipient doesn't cease and desist
• Notice of your intents to record and/or log further communications, if applicable
• Your signature
• The date

LawDepot’s Cease and Desist Letter template allows you to customize the letter for situations such as:

• Debt collection: Notify a collection agency to cease communication because you will resolve the debt with the original creditor
• Copyright or trademark infringement: Assert your rights to copyrighted material and demand that the infringing party ceases the use and distribution of your work.
• General harassment: Demand the end of various inappropriate behaviors or actions outside of debt collection or intellectual property issues.

To avoid a dispute about the delivery of your Cease and Desist Letter, you can do one or more of the following steps:

• Deliver the letter in person and obtain an Affidavit of Service
• Hire a process server to deliver the letter on your behalf (they will provide an Affidavit of Service or its equivalent upon delivery)
• Deliver the letter through a registered mail service and obtain a certificate of posting
• Keep a copy of the letter for yourself
• Send a copy of the letter to your attorney, if you have one
• Keep a record of the time, date, and place of delivery

In some cases, a recipient may claim that they unintentionally ignored a Cease and Desist Letter because the sender failed to deliver the letter appropriately. Research the best way to serve your Cease and Desist Letter, as document laws may vary by jurisdiction. This way, you can guarantee the delivery of the papers can be proven in court.

Once you send a Cease and Desist Letter, the recipient can either acknowledge the issue and comply with your request or ignore your letter completely.

If the recipient does not respond to your letter, you may decide to commence legal proceedings. However, you should give the recipient a reasonable period of time to comply with your request.

What constitutes a reasonable timeframe depends on:

• The method you used to deliver the letter. A standard postal service takes longer to reach its destination, while email or a process server may deliver the letter immediately. Give the recipient time to receive the letter and three to five business days to respond.
• The action or behavior you want to stop. Depending on the action or behavior that needs to stop, it may take the recipient time to remedy the situation. For instance, if they are running an ad online that illegally contains your company logo, they may need time to contact the advertising company and remove the ad.
• The method the recipient uses to respond. If you mailed your Cease and Desist Letter to a collection agency, they will most likely respond by mailing you a letter in return. Since it took time for them to receive your letter, it’s only fair to give them the same amount of time to send their response before you proceed further.