WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released its annual report to Congress on the administration of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
The report highlights the continued efforts by the Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to stop unlawful debt collection practices, including vigorous law enforcement, consumer education and public outreach, and policy initiatives.
Additionally, the Bureau announced it is extending the comment period on its Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) implementing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The SNPRM, which proposed to require debt collectors to make certain disclosures when collecting time-barred debts, provided a 60-day public comment period that was set to close on May 4, 2020. Given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the comment period will be extended to June 5, 2020, the agency said.
In the report, the Bureau states that it handled approximately 75,200 debt collection complaints related to first-party (creditors collecting on their own debts) and third-party collections. Debt collection is among the most prevalent topics of consumer complaints about financial products or services received by the Bureau, the agency said.
Five Enforcement Actions
In 2019, the Bureau engaged in five public enforcement actions, two of which were initiated in years prior to 2019, arising from alleged FDCPA violations. The Bureau resolved two of these cases and obtained partial consent judgments in a third. These judgments ordered nearly $50 million in consumer redress and levied $11.2 million in civil money penalties. The Bureau also banned eight individuals who engaged in serious and repeated violations of law from working in the debt collection industry. The remaining three cases are in active litigation.
In the report, the FTC states that it filed or resolved law enforcement actions against 25 defendants and obtained more than $24.7 million in judgments. The FTC also banned 23 companies and individuals that engaged in serious and repeated violations of law from ever working in debt collection again.
MoU Signed
In January 2012, the Bureau and the FTC entered into a memorandum of understanding that provides for coordination in enforcement, sharing of supervisory information and consumer complaints, and collaboration on consumer education. The two agencies reauthorized a permanent memorandum of understanding on February 25, 2019.
“The Bureau and the FTC continue to work closely to coordinate efforts to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive debt collection practices and other practices that violate the FDCPA,” the Bureau said.