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NAFCU with other financial services trade groups on Thursday highlighted some of the unintended consequences that have resulted from vague language in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in a joint letter to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. NAFCU has consistently sought clarification related to the law as credit unions have ceased important communications with members about their accounts over fear of inadvertently violating the rule.

The letter was sent to House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., ahead of today's hearing, " Do Not Call: Combating Robocalls and Caller ID Spoofing." The hearing is slated to begin at 9 a.m. Eastern.

In the letter, the trades acknowledge the burden of illegal robocalls on consumers and the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) efforts to curb their frequency. However, they write that "it is important to distinguish between fraudulent and illegal robocalls and calls from legitimate businesses seeking to communicate with their members and customers."

Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision in a lawsuit, ACA International v. FCC, that stemmed from a declaratory ruling and order the FCC issued in July 2015 providing limited exemptions under the TCPA for financial institutions making free autodialed calls to consumers. The court invalidated the FCC's definition of "autodialer" and rejected the commission's interpretation of when a caller violates the TCPA by calling a reassigned number.

In light of this ruling, the trade groups urged the subcommittee to encourage the FCC to clarify the definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) for the sake of consistency and take other action to "ensure that consumers whose mobile phone numbers have been reassigned continue to receive important communications."

NAFCU has engaged on this issue since the FCC issued the declaratory ruling, entering into ACA's suit in September 2015. Since then, the association has been active in order to protect financial institutions' ability to communicate with their members about sensitive financial information:

• Last month, NAFCU sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai asking him to further address questions left unanswered by the court's decision.
• In February, the association met with the FCC and a coalition of other trade groups to discuss the TCPA and the commission's efforts to target illegal robocalls.
• In January, NAFCU again voiced its support for the creation of a reassigned numbers database overseen by the FCC, encouraging the commission to move forward with a rulemaking regarding this database as it would allow credit unions to verify reassigned numbers and avoid liability under the TCPA.
• In 2017 alone, NAFCU sent five letters to the FCC, in addition to others sent to Congress, asking for revisions to the TCPA.
• In November, NAFCU shared credit unions' concerns with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

Clyburn announced earlier this month that she will be stepping down soon from the FCC. During her eight years at the FCC, Clyburn focused on the needs of low-income and minority communities.