Laws and regulations enforced by the bureau include regulatory flexibility for supervised entities’ actions that can benefit consumers in areas affected by a natural disaster or state of emergency.
9/15/2021 10:30
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a statement this week reminding supervised entities of policy guidance on regulations and supervisory activities in areas impacted by natural disasters or emergencies.
“The (bureau) recognizes [the] serious impact major disasters or emergencies have on consumers and the operations of many supervised entities. Existing laws and regulations provide supervised entities regulatory flexibility to take certain actions that can benefit consumers in communities under stress and hasten recovery,” the guidance states. “The bureau will also consider the impact of major disasters or emergencies on supervised entities themselves when conducting supervisory activities.”
It’s worth noting for ACA members that the bureau will consider the circumstances that supervised entities may face following a major disaster or emergency and will be sensitive to good-faith efforts to assist consumers.
Resources from the bureau are available to share with consumers impacted during a natural disaster or other emergency.
Louisiana remains under a state of emergency in advance of Tropical Storm Nicholas and due to the impact of Hurricane Ida, meaning temporary restrictions for callers using automatic dialing and announcing devices (ADADs), including collection agencies, are in place.
As a reminder, under the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s (LPSC) Do Not Call (DNC) Program General Order collection calls on existing debts may continue, however that exemption under the definitions portion of the DNC order (II.I.2) is stayed during a declaration of emergency that triggers LPSC reporting to the Emergency Operations Center, ACA International previously reported.
For the duration of this hurricane-related emergency calling is prohibited, and the emergency do-not-call restrictions prohibit even those exempted calls.
ACA encourages members to use their judgment and discretion when contacting consumers who may be impacted by the state of emergency at this time and consult with their counsel for guidance if needed.
There are certain prohibitions for users of ADADs during the state of emergency.
In Louisiana, ADAD means any device or system of devices, which is used, whether alone or in conjunction with other equipment, for the purpose of automatically selecting or dialing telephone numbers and disseminating recorded messages to the numbers selected and dialed.
The prohibition to telephonic solicitations, including debt collection calls, will remain in effect until the EOC releases the LPSC from this mandatory reporting status.