In the fifth ACA Huddle of our series focused on the CFPB’s debt collection rule, speakers discussed takeaways on collection practices agencies can consider using in advance of the compliance date. Registration for the remainder of the series as well as recordings and session slides are available. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
11/10/2020 12:00
As ACA International and the accounts receivable management industry wait for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final debt collection rule to be published in the Federal Register—which is when a compliance date will be announced—there are debt collection practices that can be reviewed and perhaps changed in preparation for the requirements.
ACA members June Coleman, managing attorney, Messer Strickler Ltd., Michael Klutho, shareholder at Bassford Remele, and John Rossman, attorney at law at Moss & Barnett, reviewed these practices and tips to consider before the rule takes effect Tuesday in the fifth part of the ACA Huddle CFPB Rule Series.
The rule will take effect one year from when it is published in the Federal Register and would potentially be subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) process by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, which means they could challenge the rule.
The pending part two of the rule—slated for release in December—would also be potentially subject to a challenge under the CRA.
However, the final results of the election could also influence any CRA challenges of the rule. As it stands now, consumer groups and members of Congress don’t appear to want to throw out the entire rulemaking, which is what would happen under the CRA.
“If there are any changes, they’re much more likely to happen through the regulatory process, particularly since the Democrats will be in charge of the CFPB in 2021,” said ACA’s Vice President and Senior Counsel of Federal Advocacy Leah Dempsey.
So, what can businesses prepare for now?
Coleman, Klutho and Rossman suggested focusing on the definition of attempt to communicate vs. the definition of communicate in the rule, employment verification for consumers, limited-content voicemail messages, location information, call frequency limits and making sure to comply with requirements when identifying your business.
ACA has an overview of these communication requirements in the rule here.
Recordings and slide presentations from the ACA Huddle webinars are available for members here and registration for the remainder of the series, complimentary for members, is available here.
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 webinars, as well as in ACA Daily and in member alerts as necessary. Log on to acainternational.org and select My ACA to subscribe to Member Alerts under email subscriptions.
The next ACA Huddle as part of the series, 11 a.m. CST Wednesday, Nov. 11, will focus on credit reporting under the new rule with Christopher Meier, general counsel and chief compliance officer at The CMI Group Inc., Kim Phan, partner, Ballard Spahr LLP, and John Bedard, owner, Bedard Law Group P.C.
On Thursday, Nov. 12, Tamar Yudenfreund, senior director, public policy, Encore Capital Group, Jack Brown III, president, Gulf Coast Collection Bureau Inc., and Courtney Reynaud, president, Creditors Bureau USA, will share their insights on the impact of the rule on small, medium and large-size businesses and next steps for compliance.
Thank you to the sponsors of the ACA Huddle series: Hinshaw & Culberston LLP, Ontario Systems, RevSpring Inc. and Venable LLP.
Related Content from ACA International:
Compliance Complexities As Well As Clarity in CFPB’s Final Debt Collection Rule
Member Alert: ACA Offers Initial Analysis of CFPB Debt Collection Rule
A Closer Look at Communications Requirements in CFPB Final Debt Collection Rule