1. New Pre-Collection Obligations - Don't even think about collecting until you've done these 3 steps!
- Review all required information.
- Scrub for "warning signs" and investigate if found.
- Due diligence re: creditor's policies and procedures.
- All before beginning collection activity!
2. Big Changes to Letters and Disputes - Bigger letters with more information, itemization, inserts, and a tear-off page. Plus validation requirements explode outside the black letter law!
- Validation notices need more information including debt itemization, more disclosures, a Statement of Rights insert, and a tear-off page for disputes.
- New letter disclosure requirements for litigation, time-barred debts, and debts past credit reporting date of obsolescence.
- Collectors must investigate all disputes - written, oral, and untimely. If account transferred, subsequent collector must finish the process!
3. Good and Bad Communication Rules- The good? A safe harbor for leaving messages. The bad? Limited communication attempts and expansion of the convenient time and place rules.
- Communication limits per week, per account. All contact methods count toward the limit. And the limit varies after confirmed right party contact (by you or a prior collector!)
- Safe harbor for limited-content messages left with third parties, on voicemail, email, or text.
- Convenient time and place rules expanded - applies to emails and texts; automatically inconvenient places identified; deceased debtor waiting period required.
4. Administrative and Operations Issues - Information sharing, record retention, local numbers, incidental fees, and other implementation nightmares you should start thinking about now.
- Collectors must share with each other any account information related to contact restrictions or special statuses.
- Record retention requirements blown up beyond industry standards. This will affect service providers, too!
- CFPB identified several practices it deems FDCPA violations, including use of local numbers, incidental fees, particular misleading statements, etc.