CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger is testifying before Senate and House committees this week.
7/28/2020 14:00
ACA International is asking House and Senate committee members to focus on the consumer benefits from open communication with creditors and collectors and finalizing rules for the accounts receivable management industry in hearings with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger this week.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will hear testimony from Kraninger in a hearing at 10 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, July 29, titled, “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Semiannual Report to Congress.”
The House Financial Services Committee will hear from Kraninger at 12:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, July 30, during “Protecting Consumers During the Pandemic? An Examination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
ACA submitted letters to both committees in advance of the CFPB hearings and again shared its position letter on the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) ACT (H.R. 6800) with the House Financial Services Committee.
“During the testimony of CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger, we ask that the Senate consider that consumer welfare depends on open communication with creditors and collectors, and it is important to have policies that provide consumers with more options that will allow them to continue to access credit and services,” ACA CEO Mark Neeb said in the hearing letters. “This is critical due to the uncertainty about the length and severity of the economic impact related to COVID-19.”
Neeb continues, “The CFPB is currently working to finalize the first ever rules for the debt collection industry, which will in many ways impact the ability to communicate with consumers. To that end, we ask the House Financial Services Committee to urge the CFPB to finalize key aspects of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which will allow for more timely and efficient two-way communication with consumers.”
In addition to hearing testimony from Kraninger the House committee will discuss several legislative proposals, including the Relief for Consumers During COVID-19 Act sponsored by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio.
The bill, according to the hearing memorandum, “would provide for a temporary debt collection moratorium for consumers during the COVID-19 emergency period, and for 120 days thereafter. This would also provide sustainable repayment plans when borrower payments resume and would provide creditors access to a low-interest, long-term loan from the Federal Reserve until borrower payments resume. Similar provisions were included in H.R. 6800, the HEROES Act.”
Read the letter to the Senate Banking committee here.