Some states say they will not take action against licensed collection agencies who allow individual registered collectors to temporarily work from home as a precautionary measure due to COVID-19.
3/15/2020 9:00
Due to the heightened concern about the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Minnesota Commerce Department and the Idaho Department of Finance released temporary regulatory guidance indicating their respective states will not take action against licensed collection agencies who allow individual registered collectors to temporarily work from home as precautionary measure. The Connecticut Department of Banking released a similar statement last week.
ACA International is monitoring the situation and will report on other states taking similar actions.
But for now, the Minnesota Commerce Department’s decision is effective immediately through April 30, 2020, long as the following criteria are met:
- The activity is conducted from the home location of an individual working on behalf of a Minnesota licensee;
- The individual is working from home due to a reason relating to the COVID-19 outbreak and has informed the licensee of such reason;
- None of the activity will be conducted in person with members of the public from the home location; and
- The licensee shall at all times exercise supervision of the activity being performed at the home office and ensure that appropriate safeguards and controls are in place to protect consumer information and data.
The Minnesota Commerce Department wrote that the no action position refers specifically to Minn. Stat. § 332.33, subd. 3 (“A collection agency who desires to carry on business in more than one place shall procure a license for each place where the business is to be conducted”). All other legal requirements under Chapter 332, and other applicable law are still in force. A licensee will still be responsible for any other violations of law from the activity performed at the home office, if there are violations. The Commissioner may amend, revise, or extend this position at any time and at his discretion. This does not constitute a permanent statutory or regulatory exemption from licensure. This is a response to the current COVID-19 outbreak to ensure the safety and wellness of all licensees and their employees. To read the statement in its entirety, click here: Memorandum Issued by the MN Department of Commerce.
Meanwhile, the Idaho Department of Finance issued its own temporary guidance offering licensees the ability to take precautions deemed necessary to avoid the risk of exposure or to comply with requirements of voluntary or mandated quarantines and is effective through June 30, 2020, unless otherwise modified or withdrawn. The temporary guidance is in reference to mortgage broker/lenders, mortgage loan originators, regulated lenders, title lenders, payday lenders and collection agency licensees and registrants
The department will not take an enforcement action against a licensee or registrant for unlicensed activity as long as licensable activities conducted from the employee’s residence meet the following requirements:
- Data security requirements include provisions for the employee to access the company’s secure origination system from any out-of-office device the MLO uses through the use of a VPN or other system that requires passwords or an identification authentication. The company is responsible to maintain any updates or other requirements in order to keep information and devices secure;
- Neither the employee nor the company is to do any act that would indicate or tend to indicate that the employee is conducting business from an unlicensed location. Such acts include but are not limited to:
- Advertising in any form, including business cards and social media, the unlicensed residence address or landline telephone or a fax number associated to the unlicensed residence;
- Meeting consumers at, or having consumers come, to an employee’s unlicensed residence;
- Holding out in any manner, directly or indirectly, by the employee or company licensee, the residence address that would suggest or convey to a consumer that the residence is a licensed location for conducting licensable activities;
- Employees and companies must exercise due diligence in the safeguarding of company and customer data, information and records, whether in paper or electronic format, and to protect them against unauthorized or accidental access, use, modification, duplication, destruction or disclosure.
Questions regarding this Temporary Guidance may be directed to [email protected] or to (208) 332-8000. (https://www.finance.idaho.gov/coronavirus/
ACA International will continue to follow the COVID-19 story as it relates to the accounts receivable management industry and will post ongoing updates.