2020 has been a roller-coaster year, to say the least. However, it’s not over yet, and there have been several significant developments in the world of legal collections worth noting and briefly discussing. In this segment, we will briefly discuss “Part One” of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (the “CFPB”) Final Collections Rule.
On October 30, 2020, the CFPB released “Part One” of its Final Collections Rule (the “Rule”), which affects many aspects of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”). In fact, the Rule has been referred to as one of the most significant developments in the realm of debt collection law since the passage of the FDCPA in 1977. Part One of the Rule is voluminous, spanning 653 pages. Accordingly, interesting portions of the Rule are discussed herein, and the remainder of the Rule can be located utilizing an online search engine. The Rule will become effective one year after it has been published in the Federal Register. “Part Two” of the Rule is due to be released by the CFPB sometime in December 2020.
As mentioned above, the Rule is lengthy and not designed to be read in one sitting; however, we will highlight several pertinent and interesting portions thereof for consideration. First, the Rule sets forth a rebuttable presumption that seven or fewer calls within a seven-day period is not harassment. The Rule further lists a set of factors that a debt collector can use to rebut the presumption that it engaged in harassment if more than seven calls are made in a seven-day period. The Rule retains a safe harbor provision for use of limited context messages, but said protection now only covers voicemails and no other types of correspondence. Further, within the Rule the CFPB removed the prohibition against selling debts subject to identity theft claims. Finally, the Rule requires that, in the event debt collection communication occurs in more than one language, the debt collector must state the mini-Miranda Warning in all languages used with the debtor.
Finally, we are pleased to report that Docketly’s coverage attorneys’ percentage of positive outcomes at appearances for clients in October was 98.2 percent. This is great news for our clients in these unprecedented times. Rest assured, the Docketly Team is diligently working even during the Covid-19 pandemic (to the extent permitted by local law) to ensure the best possible coverage attorneys and results for our tremendous clients.
Should you have any questions with respect to this article, feel free to reach out to Docketly’s Corporate Counsel, Samuel C. Pierce, via telephone at 1-(800)-910-1492, Ext. 740.
