On Thursday, July 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it plans to publish final debt collection rules in October 2020. The final rules will be the first rules clarifying the nearly 40-year-old Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and are expected to address a variety of topics including:
- Communications with borrowers;
- Guidance on what constitutes harassment or abuse, false or misleading representations, and unfair practices; and
- Disclosures (including time-barred debt disclosures).
In the proposed rule that was published in May 2019, the CFPB proposed a one-year implementation before the debt collection rules would become effective. If they incorporate the same implementation period in the final rule so that it becomes effective one year after publication in the Federal Register, it likely could become effective as early as October or November 2021.
As we have previously discussed, the CFPB’s debt collection rulemaking process, which started in 2013, has evolved over time. However, we expect that the bureau, after its seven-year-long rulemaking process, will largely stick with the proposed debt collection rules that it published in May 2019 and the supplemental proposal regarding time-barred debt disclosures that it issued earlier this year. If you wish to obtain additional information about the debt collection rules, please take a look at our previous writings and stay tuned for additional posts in the lead up to the October 2020 release.
- Debt-Collection Proposals: CFPB Releases Outline of Proposals for Debt Collectors
- CFPB Takes Next Step Toward Issuing Debt Collection Rules
- CFPB Director Cordray Emphasizes Major Changes Coming to the Debt Collection Marketplace
- BCFP Revitalizes Efforts to Enact FDCPA Regulation
- First Party Creditors Should Carefully Consider the Upcoming Debt Collection Rules
- CFPB’s Upcoming Debt Collection Proposed Rule: What to Expect on Timing
- Does the New Debt Collection Rule Apply to First-Party Creditors?
- CFPB Extends Comment Period for Proposed Debt Collection Rule in Response to Consumer Advocate and Industry Requests