FCC Should Provide Maximum Clarity in Debt Collection Rules, CFPB Says
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the FCC should clarify its limited role in a follow-up order on a narrow aspect of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act -- providing an exception for companies hired by the federal government to collect…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
funds that are owed the government (see 1605090037). Congress provided a special exemption for federal debt collectors in last year’s budget deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act, and the FCC is drawing up rules. The CFPB said it has broad authority to oversee debt collection. The FCC NPRM “appropriately does not suggest in any way that Section 301 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 was intended to weaken consumer financial protections under the Bureau’s authority or to limit the Bureau’s exercise of its authority,” the CFPB commented. “It would provide greater certainty to many stakeholders if the FCC in connection with this rulemaking were to state expressly its understanding that Section 301 affects the TCPA and its implementing regulations but does not affect other laws, including specifically those for which the Bureau has responsibility.” The CFPB is the independent federal agency responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector, created in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was approved in the wake of the near collapse of parts of the financial sector in 2007-2008.