The guidance from the Nevada Financial Institutions Division is now in place through July 31, 2021.
5/13/2021 13:30
The Nevada Financial Institutions Division (NFID) has again extended its temporary guidance allowing employees of licensed collection agencies to work from home for what it says is a final time.
The NFID has indicated several times in the past that its extensions are final, but notes the state is continuing to work through ever-changing conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidance was set to expire at the end of May. It is now in place through July 31, 2021.
ACA International and the Nevada Collectors Association (NCA) advocated for work-from-home allowances for licensed agencies after the state included them in the “non-essential” business category in March last year and will continue to advocate as the end of the current guidance approaches.
The work-from-home procedures continue to cover:
- Data security requirements, which include provisions for the employee to access the company’s secured system from any out-of-office device the licensee or registrant 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 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 facsimile 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 protect them against unauthorized or accidental access, use, modification, duplication, destruction or disclosure.
According to the NFID, it may not extend this guidance past July 2021; therefore, it is imperative that collection agencies continue making plans to ensure they can both comply with Nevada law and the laws of the other jurisdictions they do business in.
ACA and the NCA will continue to work with the NFID on this guidance and will provide ongoing updates for members.
Questions regarding the temporary guidance may be directed to [email protected].