ACA members review best practices for credit reporting to prepare for compliance with the CFPB’s rule in November. The ACA Huddle series on part two of the rule continues through Jan. 15. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
1/6/2021 13:30
In the latest ACA Huddle, which is part of the series on part two of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final debt collection rule, members discussed in-depth credit reporting practices as they relate to the rule taking effect on Nov. 30, 2021—the same date as part one of the rule.
Kim Phan, partner at Ballard Spahr, Leslie Bender, IFCCE, CCCO, senior counsel at Clark Hill PLC, and Jeff DiMatteo, president of American Profit Recovery, discussed their experiences with credit reporting and how to approach it in a compliant way that accommodates their creditor clients and helps consumers.
The rule prohibits a debt collector from furnishing information to a consumer reporting agency about a debt before taking specific actions to contact the consumer about that debt.
This provision of the rule has generated several questions already, but it’s really fairly simple. Section 1006.30 prohibits a debt collector from furnishing information about a consumer to a credit reporting agency (CRA) until the debt collector has either:
- Actually spoken to the consumer about the debt (by phone or in person);
OR
- Placed a letter in the mail (or sent an electronic message) to the consumer about the debt and waited a “reasonable period of time” to receive a notice of undeliverability.
There is no requirement here that a debt collector discuss credit reporting with the consumer or disclose to the consumer whether or when the debt collector might furnish information to CRA, ACA previously reported in a comprehensive summary of the rule for members.
Rather, this provision merely requires the debt collector to discuss the debt with the consumer (or attempt to notify the consumer by mail or electronic message) so that the consumer knows the debt has been placed for collections.
During the Jan. 6 webinar, Phan and Bender shared their legal perspective while DiMatteo weighed in on credit reporting at the agency level in response to the CFPB’s prohibited practices.
The group stressed that keeping practices in place to communicate with consumers before reporting debts is important and moving forward in compliance with the rule will require training between agencies and their creditor partners.
ACA members’ questions during the Jan. 6 ACA Huddle and throughout the series will be incorporated into FAQs and additional compliance resources.
ACA Huddle CFPB Rule Series Webinars Continue
ACA’s panel of experts continues to review the comprehensive rule and will be providing detailed analysis and compliance resources throughout this series of complimentary webinars, which continue through Jan. 15. Log on to acainternational.org and select My ACA to subscribe to Member Alerts under email subscriptions.
On Thursday, Jan. 7, Keith Kettelkamp, president and CEO of Remex Inc., Eileen Bitterman, compliance officer at Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A., and G. Scott Purcell, ACA president and president of Professional Credit, will review long-awaited guidance on validation notices.
On Friday, Jan. 8, validation notice discussions will continue with Rick Perr, co-managing partner at Kaufman Dolowich Voluck, Kelly Knepper-Stephens, vice president of legal and compliance at TrueAccord, and Dennis Barton III, owner and managing attorney at The Barton Law Group LLC.
Read more on all the upcoming webinars and register here.
ACA members can also download the ACA Mobile app for reminders on the upcoming ACA Huddle webinars and listen to the presentations, live or recorded, on the go.
Thank you to the sponsors of the ACA Huddle CFPB Rule Series, Neustar and Ontario Systems.
Related Content from ACA International
Member Alert: Reviewing the CFPB’s Latest Amendments to Regulation F