Compliance Blog

Written by Michael Coleman, Regulatory Compliance Counsel

On Wednesday July 10^th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) conducted a field hearing in Portland, Maine, on debt collection. In conjunction with the field hearing the CFPB released two bulletins on debt collection practices. Here is an excerpt from the CFPB’s press release on the bulletin quoting Director Cordray:  

“These bulletins make clear that it doesn’t matter who is collecting the debt — unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices are illegal,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray at a field hearing in Portland, Maine. “Consumers need options to help them secure fair and respectful treatment from those debt collectors that fail to abide by the law. They can protect themselves by using our action letters to communicate with debt collectors and by submitting a complaint to us if they believe they are harmed by illegal conduct.”

We will blog about the bulletins in more detail in upcoming posts, but in the meantime here are links to the bulletins and related notices:

• CFPB Bulletin 2013-07: Prohibition of Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices in the Collection of Consumer Debts
• CFPB Bulletin 2013-08: Representations Regarding Effect of Debt Payments on Credit Reports and Scores
• CFPB Press Release on debt collection bulletins
• CFPB Blog Post on debt collection practices
• CFPB Field Hearing Video (posted on the CFPB blog)

Both the press release and the blog post provide “Action Letters” for consumers, which are templates consumers can use when corresponding with debt collectors. And last but not least, the CFPB is now accepting complaints about debt collection. And the hits just keep on coming. 

Have a great weekend everyone!