Changes to the FDCPA That Will Redefine Debt Collection

There are a number of Congressional efforts underway to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). One bill, introduced in late October and titled Fair Debt Collection Improvement Act, focuses narrowly on the treatment of time-barred debt. Another bill filed in late July under the title Fair Debt Collection Practices Technical Clarification Act of 2013 would provide relief to collection attorneys under the FDCPA. And there is an entirely separate effort from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to reform the law in a much more comprehensive way.

But the first changes in the rules governing debt collectors are not likely to come from legislative fixes. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), with the release of its advance notice of proposed rulemaking, will probably beat lawmakers to the punch.

The CFPB is moving forward with plans to overhaul the FDCPA, focusing specifically on debt documentation, call frequency, and modernizing the law to account for technology changes since the FDCPA was enacted in 1977.

In the latest episode of ARM legal podcast The Debt Collection Drill, attorneys John Rossman and Mike Poncin discuss the CFPB’s recent Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and identify three areas of potential change for the industry.

Listen to the 12-minute podcast below:

Changes to the FDCPA That Will Redefine Debt Collection

(If you can’t see the audio player above, please visit http://traffic.libsyn.com/thedrill/TDCD_ep33.mp3 to listen to the podcast)

Also, if you’d like to hear more about the CFPB’s notice, we have made available a recording of a webinar we held last week explaining the comment process (which also features John Rossman, among others). Download it now.