WASHINGTON–NAFCU and CUNA have joined with the American Financial Services Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable and the Electronic Transactions Association to send a joint letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the Petition for Rulemaking and Declaratory Ruling regarding prior express consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
In the letter, the trade groups request a denial of the petition and lay out seven reasons why they say it would prove harmful in today’s economy. The petition, which claims the FCC exceeded its authority in two previous orders, would create an unworkable standard to receive consent from consumers, the groups are claiming.
“Not only do customers desire these communications, there are a multitude of laws that mandate Institutions contact their customers,” the letter states. “For example, mortgage servicing activity is governed by:
· The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “Early Intervention Rule,” which requires institutions to establish live contact or make a good faith effort to establish live contact with customers within 36 days after a mortgage loan becomes delinquent;
· Fannie Mae’s “Quality Right Party Contact,” which is a standard that establishes a code of conduct for interactions with customers with delinquent debt that includes a requirement to establish a rapport with those customers and open an ongoing dialogue to attempt to resolve the delinquency in a positive manner, and
· The Home Affordable Modification Program, which requires that institutions “proactively solicit” customers for inclusion in the program by making a minimum of four telephone calls to the customer at different times of day.”
In addition to highlighting the legal conflict the petition presents, the letter also seeks to highlight what the groups called the dampening effects such a petition, if granted, would have on customer-business communications. As a result, the groups ask the FCC to consider as part of its review the many critical and just reasons why a company would need to call a consumer, highlighting how companies often call to address an issue or provide a service.
In the Senate report recommending the TCPA’s passage, the United States Senate recognized a “substantial governmental interest in protecting telephone subscribers’ privacy rights from unsolicited telephone solicitations.”
However, this is not the type of communications the Institutions are attempting to send, the letter reiterates. After receiving consent from their customers/members, they are seeking to send informational, non-telemarketing calls that consumers have requested and in many instances need, the letter states.