The Feb. 3 ACA Huddle covered U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act introduced late last Congress, a stimulus funding update and more. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
2/5/2021 11:00
The 117th Congress is underway, and ACA International’s federal and state advocacy teams continue to watch legislation carried over from 2020 and new bills that may surface—including an overhaul of the consumer bankruptcy system.
Senate Democrats and the Biden administration continue to discuss a COVID-19 relief bill and debate its funding and level of support for state and local governments.
In an update for members, ACA Vice President and Senior Counsel of Federal Advocacy Leah Dempsey said it may move forward through a budget reconciliation process, which means it only needs a simple majority to pass in the Senate.
ACA is awaiting language of the bill to review once negotiations move further along,
The Hill reports the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Senate's amended budget resolution on Friday, meaning the process to pass more COVID-19 relief is moving forward.
Dempsey reminded members to share their input on industry issues and advocacy through our member survey and announced that ACA’s virtual Washington Insights advocacy event will be April 22. More details to come.
In state news, ACA Vice President of State Unit and Government Affairs Andrew Madden said 45 states were in session the first week of February. ACA’s team continues to monitor more than 300 bills introduced across the U.S. that could impact the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry.
Ohio’s Senate Judiciary Committee voted on the statute of limitations bill Tuesday, Madden said. ACA and the Ohio Receivables Management Association continue to work with legislative leaders in the state to ensure favorable language for the industry in the bill, which seeks to reduce the statute of limitations on written and oral contracts to six and four years, respectively, and define consumer transactions and assign them a six-year statute of limitations.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s bill to limit the statute of limitations for medical debt to three years was tabled for the 2021 legislative session.
Bankruptcy Law
Following the state and federal update, Lawrence Friedman, managing member at Friedman Partners LLC, presented an overview of the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2020 and potential tripwires in the bill introduced last Congress by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. The bill has not yet been reintroduced this Congress but is expected to be a returning issue.
A news release from Warren’s office outlines the bill.
The bill would replace Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings with a new Chapter 10, which would allow consumers to have three options for payment plans and discharge student loan debt, among other changes, Friedman explained.
There would be a bankruptcy ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Friedman expects the bill, if passed, would have an impact on operations and recoveries in the ARM industry. Members may access a recording of the Huddle presentation here.
New on the ACA Huddle in February
The next weekly ACA Huddle, sponsored by Connect International, Solutions by Text and Pay N Seconds, at 11 a.m. CST Feb. 10, will feature an update on the current landscape for receivables businesses from a federal and state advocacy perspective, as well as compliance.
Following the update, David Kaminski, partner at Carlson & Messer LLP, and Leah Dempsey, ACA’s vice president and senior counsel of federal advocacy, will review the Federal Communications Commission’s Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act orders concerning Telephone Consumer Protection Act exemptions for prerecorded calls to landlines and call blocking released in December 2020.
On Feb. 24, Lucy Morris, partner at Hudson Cook LLP in Washington, D.C., and a former CFPB deputy enforcement director, will join Vaishali Rao, partner at Hinshaw & Culberston LLP in Chicago for a discussion on new CFPB leadership. They will review how, if appointed as director, Rohit Chopra will impact CFPB regulations and the ARM industry.
Click here to complete a one-time registration for the ACA Huddle and stay tuned for more speaker announcements.
Download the ACA Mobile app for reminders on ACA Huddle webinars and online education and to access resources on the go. Log on to acainternational.org and select My ACA to subscribe to our emails, including member alerts, ACA Daily and education and events updates.
Remember, if you missed any of our webinars on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s debt collection rule, the ACA Huddle CFPB Rule Series website has all the resources to help you understand both parts of the rule and start to build compliance plans before the Nov. 30, 2021, effective date.