Consumer Relations Consortium Submits Comment to CFPB’s SNPRM for Time-Barred Debts

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Yesterday, the Consumer Relations Consortium (CRC) filed its comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for time-barred debts (SNPRM). The SNPRM comment supplements CRC's comment to the larger Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for debt collection, issued last year. Yesterday's comment provides a detailed analysis of the proposal, including:

• A recommendation for the final debt collection rules to include a right to cure, especially since the CFPB agrees that calculating when a debt becomes time-barred is a nuanced and complex analysis impacted by many variables;
• A recommendation for a clear safe harbor provision that details which statute of limitations should be used and how the calculation should be applied;
• A discussion of the conflict between the CFPB's proposal and certain state laws, including a recommendation for an exemption to the CFPB-proposed time-barred debt disclosure in states that already require debt collectors to use specific language to notify consumers of a debt's time-barred status;
• A discussion of the testing procedures used by the CFPB to survey the effectiveness of the proposed time-barred debt disclosure, and a recommendation to conduct in-market testing of said disclosure through the CFPB’s own Trial Disclosure Testing Program; and
• A legal analysis of how the proposal goes beyond the CFPB’s authority.

CRC would like to thank the editorial board of this comment, which consisted of attorney members of CRC’s Legal Advisory Board, established in 2020. Editorial board members included: 

John Rossman is an attorney with Moss & Barnett and co-host of the podcast The Debt Collection Drill featured in insideARM. John is a long-time member of CRC's Steering Committee and was heavily involved in drafting CRC's comments to the CFPB's proposed debt collection rules from the beginning, including the comments to the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and the NPRM. 

Joann Needleman, leader of the firm's Consumer Financial Services Regulatory & Compliance group, serves as a navigator to her clients seeking advice and guidance in the complex regulatory environment facing the financial services industry. She provides counsel, consultation, and litigation services to a wide array of financial institutions, law firms, credit reporting agencies, as well as venture capital firms looking to invest in the fin-tech space. Joann is a former member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Consumer Advisory Board and is the host of the podcast "Credit Eco to Go: Curbside Thought Leadership for Financial Services.

Stefanie Jackman is the leader of Ballard Spahr’s Debt Collection Team and partner located in Ballard’s Atlanta office. Stefanie is nationally recognized for her expertise with respect to applying debt collection laws across all segments of the financial services industry, including traditional financial products, fintech and online lending, healthcare, and student lending. She brings her collections compliance and litigation experience to bear in assisting her financial services industry clients facing state and federal government investigations and examinations, counseling them on complex compliance issues, assisting with debt portfolio acquisition diligence, and defending them in individual and class action lawsuits. She regularly advises her clients on issues arising under an array of federal and state consumer financial laws, including UDAP/UDAAP statutes, FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, EFTA, SCRA, and TILA. 

Robert Horowitz is an attorney with the Horwitz Law Firm, PLLC. Rob specializes in litigation (individual and class actions), regulatory and compliance issues arising under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Rob’s vast experience includes making partner at an Am Law 200 Firm (Dykema), managing and handling FDCPA/FCRA/TCPA litigation and a FTC investigation while at Asset Acceptance, LLC where he played a critical role in implementing a compliant framework to comply with the statute of limitations disclosure requirements in a 2012 FTC Consent Decree, and General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of RevSpring, Inc.

Katie Neill serves as General Counsel and Regulatory Editor for The iA Institute, is the Chair of CRC’s Legal Advisory Board, and is a member of CRC’s steering committee. Katie is the mastermind behind iA’s Case Law Tracker, a unique, industry-specific legal research tool that allows attorneys and compliance professionals in the credit and collections industry to make informed litigation and compliance strategy decisions with just a few clicks. Prior to joining iA, Katie served as the sole in-house counsel for a large, national debt collection agency. 

About the Consumer Relations Consortium

The Consumer Relations Consortium is an organization comprised of more than 60 national companies representing the diverse ecosystem of debt collection including creditors, data/technology providers and compliance-oriented debt collectors that are larger market participants. Established in 2013, CRC is evolving the debt collection paradigm by engaging stakeholders—including consumer advocates, Federal and State regulators, academic and industry thought leaders, creditors and debt collectors—and challenging them to move beyond talking points and focus on fashioning real-world solutions that actually improve the consumer experience. CRC’s collaborative and candid approach is unique in the market.  CRC is managed by The iA Institute.

Learn more at www.crconsortium.org.

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About the iA institute

The iA institute (iA) is a media company that produces handcrafted news, events, and education for the consumer and commercial debt industry. The iA team believes that the value of your investment in our content should be undeniable, so we thoughtfully design everything we do with a focus on the details that make a difference. iA initiatives bring a range of stakeholders to the table in candid and intimate environments to inform, to collaborate, to innovate, and to make profitable connections. The iA institute, under the name insideARM LLC, is a certified woman-owned and woman-controlled business (WBE).

Learn more at www.theiainstitute.com.