ACA’s team shares early updates on state and federal advocacy and how those efforts connect with compliance. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
2/1/2021 9:00
As the new year gets underway, our state and federal advocacy and compliance teams are hitting the ground running by tracking new legislative and regulatory activity and picking up on actions from 2020.
Andrew Madden, vice president of state unit and government affairs, Leah Dempsey, vice president and senior counsel of federal advocacy, and Colin Winkler, corporate counsel, shared these updates during the weekly ACA Huddle Jan. 27.
State Legislative Updates
Madden said that his year all 50 states will hold a legislative session, and that 42 state legislatures met during the week of Jan. 25-29.
So far, there are more than 300 bills introduced across the U.S. that could impact the accounts receivable management industry and many states are facing deadlines to introduce bills for consideration this year, Madden explained.
Members can also expect COVID-19 regulations and emergency orders to stay at the forefront of policy debate. ACA encourages members to reach out and share this information to help our advocacy strategy by contacting Madden at [email protected].
ACA is tracking the 300+ bills on the docket to prioritize areas to focus on and work with state units across the U.S.
“We do expect this to be a very busy legislative year,” Madden said.
Here are a few state legislation highlights from January:
New Hampshire
A bill has been reintroduced with the goal to ban debt collectors from leaving voicemail messages and with new requirements for sending an account to collectors. The bill was introduced with the same language as the 2020 version and members of the New England Collectors Association testified against the bill during a Jan. 26. hearing. No votes were taken.
Every bill proposed in New Hampshire requires a floor vote and ACA will continue to advocate against the bill.
Ohio
In the final hours of the December lame duck session in the Ohio Legislature, a statute of limitations bill years in the making failed to get a vote.
The bill in question was supported by the ARM industry after two years of negotiations and a series of House and Senate hearings in which ACA and the Ohio Receivables Management Association (ORMA) advocated on behalf of the industry, ACA previously reported.
The bill was reintroduced this year and ORMA members have already testified at an Ohio Senate committee hearing.
The amended bipartisan bill, H.B. 251, seeks to reduce the statute of limitations on written and oral contracts to six and four years, respectively, and define consumer transactions and assign them a six-year statute of limitations.
ACA and ORMA look forward to working with legislative leaders on the legislation this year.
Virginia
A bill was introduced to limit the statute of limitations for medical debt to three years. The legislature postponed several hearings on the legislation and has decided to table the legislation for the 2021 legislative session.
New York has a similar bill on the books, ACA International previously reported.
Hawaii
A primary bill for the ARM industry to watch in Hawaii this year would ban garnishment on consumer debt. It has not been reviewed at the committee level yet, but ACA and the Hawaiian Collectors Association have a coalition in place to work on advocacy efforts related to the bill.
Federal Legislative and Regulatory Updates
ACA continues to engage with federal leaders on members’ behalf and has launched a comprehensive grassroots strategy to help members connect with their federal representatives in Congress. Learn more about outreach opportunities here.
With a new administration under President Joe Biden and a new comptroller, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) paused publication of the Fair Access rule, which would ensure access to banking services for all industries, in the Federal Register.
The next confirmed comptroller of the OCC will review the final rule and public comments as part of the transition process to new leadership, according to a news release from the OCC.
“The OCC’s long-standing supervisory guidance stating that banks should avoid termination of broad categories of customers without assessing individual customer risk remains in effect,” it reports.
The OCC’s reminder that the supervisory guidance is in place and passage of the final rule in January sends a strong message that banking services should not be terminated for select industries. ACA will continue to advocate for regulatory protections as well as legislation to address unfair banking terminations.
Former Treasury Department Official Michael Barr is Biden’s expected pick to lead the OCC. Any actions taken by federal agencies in response to the memorandum are required to be in compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act, ACA previously reported. Notably, the OCC and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are independent agencies, so they are not necessarily subject to executive orders or memorandums.
Biden appointed the CFPB’s chief strategy officer, David Uejio, as acting director and selected Rohit Chopra, a commissioner with the Federal Trade Commission, as his unofficial pick for the permanent director position. It may take several weeks for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to schedule a nomination hearing for Chopra. Chopra’s nomination will need to be approved at the committee level and then by the full Senate, which currently stands at a 50/50 split between Republicans and Democrats.
If Chopra is appointed and he decides to make changes to the CFPB’s debt collection rule, he would arguably be required to follow the Administrative Procedures Act and provide an opportunity for public comment on any changes.
ACA will continue to monitor these issues as well as new developments in regulations and federal legislation.
Compliance
On the compliance side, Winkler reminded members about available resources through the Industry Advancement Fund and state licensing and compliance resources available on the COVID-19 state chart.
Certain limitations on “extraordinary collection actions” enacted as part of Senate Bill 211 in Colorado were in effect through Feb. 1, 2021, as part of the state’s plan to protect residents from economic hardship as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and may be extended, ACA previously reported.
As a reminder, there is an ongoing switch to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System for debt collection agencies. ACA’s licensing staff can assist with your licensing application completion needs. Contact licensing at [email protected] or call (952) 926-6547 for more information.
What’s Next for the ACA Huddle
The next weekly ACA Huddle, sponsored by Connect International, Solutions by Text and Pay N Seconds, at 11 a.m. CST Feb. 3, will feature another update on the current landscape for receivables businesses from a federal and state advocacy perspective, as well as compliance.
Following the update, Lawrence Friedman, managing member at Friedman Partners LLC, will present an overview of the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2020 and potential tripwires in the bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
Click here to complete a one-time registration for the ACA Huddle and stay tuned for more speaker announcements for this year.
Download the ACA Mobile app for reminders on ACA Huddle webinars and online education and to access resources on the go. Log on to acainternational.org and select My ACA to subscribe to our emails, including member alerts, ACA Daily and education and events updates.
Remember, if you missed any of our webinars on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s debt collection rule, the ACA Huddle CFPB Rule Series website has all the resources to help you understand both parts of the rule and start to build compliance plans before the Nov. 30, 2021, effective date.