Conservative Newspaper Cautions on Lifting Collection Call Cell Restriction

Patrick Lunsford

The editorial board of the Albuquerque Journal voiced their opinion on President Obama’s proposal to allow debt collectors working on behalf of the U.S. government use auto-dialers to contact consumers at cell phone numbers. The piece urged caution and deference to consumer protection.

“Private companies and the federal government need to be able to contact debtors. But as the managing attorney for the National Consumer Law Center points out, ‘this is one of the most abusive industries in the country.’ Washington must look carefully at these proposals and ensure they balance the needs of debt collectors with real protections for consumers,” the piece concluded.

Using the minutes defense, the editorial notes that consumers could end up paying more on their phone bills under the President’s proposal. “And so the painfully persistent debt collector who refuses to accept that a consumer is not the John Smith/Juan Sanchez he is looking for costs the bill-paying cell-phone owner time and money,” Journal editors wrote.

Obama last month included a provision in his deficit reduction plan that would allow debt collectors to use auto-dialers to call cell numbers if they were collecting for Uncle Sam.

The editorial comes from a board that is generally regarded as conservative and pro-business. Previous editorials advocate for traditionally conservative points of view, and the paper features widely distributed conservative syndicated columnists.

It is not known whether the piece was a knee-jerk reaction to a proposal from a President the paper did not endorse in 2008, or if the editorial board really favors consumer protection over business interests in this case.

But the debt collection industry would be well-served to get traditional pro-business and/or conservative publications on its side as the long battle over TCPA reform begins.

Patrick Lunsford is the Senior Editor of insideARM.com. He’s been to New Mexico once and had a lovely time while there.