View Recent CFPB Enforcement Action Here
- Source: consumerfinance.gov
Treliant Takeaway:
Treliant knows the compliance and consumer protection, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts and Practices (UDAAP). If you need assistance with enhancing your debt collection and reporting capabilities, Treliant can help.
Enforcement Action Highlights:
Since the beginning of September 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has engaged in several enforcement actions related to debt collection. The enforcement activities cite FDCPA, FCRA, and UDAAP concerns, including:
- Collecting debts, threatening to sue, and suing to collect debts in states where the collector did not have the required state licenses;
- Threatening arrest or legal action that the collectors could not legally take, or had no intention of taking;
- Failing to provide consumer disclosures required by the FDCPA;
- Wrongful repossession of consumer vehicles;
- Failure to return personal property from repossessed vehicles;
- Unfairly failed to disclose lower fee options to consumers making delinquent payments;
- Impermissibly contacting or threatening to contact debtors’ friends, families, and employers;
- Harassing debtors with excessive contacts;
- Failing to provide required debt verification notices to consumers;
- Providing inflated statements of amounts owed to consumers;
- Failing to conduct reasonable and timely investigations of consumer disputes; and
- Failing to distinguish between, and properly respond to, disputes under the FCRA and disputes under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
These consent orders show the CFPB remains focused on all aspects of debt collection, including both first-party and third-party collectors. Although some of the conduct by the collectors in these matters was egregious, all first- and third-party collectors need strong compliance management systems to manage the risk of collection activities, including the risks associated with use of third-parties in collections. If you need assistance ensuring your firm is prepared for scrutiny of its debt collection practices, Treliant can help.