ACA International shares comments to inform the group’s recommendations on consumer financial laws and regulations. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
6/9/2020 11:00
ACA International recently submitted comments and feedback for consideration to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Taskforce on Consumer Financial Law to inform areas of consumer protection on which it should focus its research and analysis during the balance of its one-year appointment.
The accounts receivable management industry is one of the first industries to welcome new rules from the CFPB and has worked closely with the bureau since its inception on our shared goal of serving consumers, including through the new task force.
The task force will examine the existing legal and regulatory environment facing consumers and financial services providers. It will report its recommendations related to improving and strengthening consumer financial laws and regulations to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger.
“ACA members play a critical role in ensuring that consumers can continue to access credit and services,” Leah Dempsey, ACA vice president, senior counsel, federal advocacy, said in the comment letter. “ACA members work to help consumers understand, address and improve their financial situations. Consumers need the information that ACA members provide to maintain their financial health, and open communication can often lead to the most favorable outcome.”
Additional highlights from ACA’s comments include:
- ACA supports providing regulations for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
- The supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking for out-of-statute debt must be improved upon to ensure small businesses and creditors are not harmed.
- The CFPB’s complaint database paints an inaccurate portrait of the debt collection industry.
- More transparency and due process should be included in CFPB enforcement and supervision processes.
- ACA supports a bipartisan multimember commission at the CFPB, as opposed to the single-director structure.
ACA looks forward to working with the task force, chaired by Todd J. Zywicki, professor of law at George Mason University (GMU) Antonin Scalia Law School, senior fellow of the Cato Institute, and former executive director of the GMU Law and Economics Center.
The task force is planning events this summer ACA encourages its members to get involved and help represent the industry.
Zywicki said in a June 8 news release the task force is reviewing comments from industry stakeholders and consumers to inform a two-volume report.
“The task force will use the insights gained to develop a set of recommendations for the bureau on ways to improve and strengthen the application of financial laws and regulations,” Zywicki said. “All of this activity will be centered around the underlying principle of strengthening consumer protections in the financial marketplace, in accordance with our statutory mandate.”
In addition to comments on the request for information (RFI), the task force is also planning a public hearing and public listening session with the bureau’s advisory committees in the fall.
“Insights from the RFI, the public hearing, our research, and the advisory committee listening session will help inform the recommendations that will ultimately be included in our final report to Director Kraninger,” Zywicki said.
Read more from ACA in its letter to the task force here.
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