What?

In 1977, Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to eliminate abusive debt collection practices. The FDCPA generally covers the collection activities of debt collectors collecting on others’ debts and debt buyers (collectively “debt collectors”) but not the collection activities of first-party debt collectors (i.e., creditors collecting on debts owed to them).

The federal government for many years has received more consumer complaints about debt collectors than about any other single industry. Since 2011:

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has brought more than 25 debt collection cases against first- and third-party collectors alleging FDCPA violations or unfair, deceptive, and abusive debt collection acts and practices in violation of the Dodd-Frank Act. In these cases, the Bureau has ordered over $100 million in civil penalties, over $300 million in restitution to consumers, and billions of dollars in debt relief to consumers.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has brought more than 40 debt collection cases alleging FDCPA violations or unfair or deceptive acts and practices in violation of the FTC Act.
• States have brought numerous additional actions against debt collectors for violating state debt collection and consumer protection laws.

The CFPB is developing proposed rules to regulate debt collection practices. The CFPB issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for debt collection in November of 2013. The ANPR sought information about both first- and third-party collection issues including, among other things:

• The conduct of collectors in interacting with consumers in trying to recover on debts through the collection process;
• The quantity and quality of information in the debt collection system;
• Debt collection litigation;
• Recordkeeping, monitoring, and compliance issues; and
• How to address contemporary debt collection challenges, including questions such as how collectors apply the FDCPA to technology such as cell phones, text messages, and email.

Why?

This two-hour webinar explains the current FDCPA requirements, recent enforcement actions, and the direction of proposed changes. Participants receive a detailed manual that serves as a handbook long after the program is completed.

Covered Topics:

Upon completion of this program, participants understand: 

• The basic requirements of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act;
• The connection between the FDCPA and Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) provivions as seen in a recent enforcement action against a large depository institution.
• Recent CFPB and Federal Trade Commission cases;
• What the CFPB hopes to accomplish with proposed revisions;
• Scope of the proposals;
• Information integrity concerns;
• Review and transfer of certain information;
• Validation notice and statement of rights;
• Communication practices:
• Contact frequency and leaving messages;
• Time, place and manner restrictions; and
• Decedent debt.

Who Should Attend

The program is designed for loan department management, compliance officers, loan operations personnel, loan officers, loan collectors and others involved in collecting debt.

The Presenters

Jack Holzknecht is the CEO of Compliance Resource, LLC. He has been delivering the word on lending compliance for 41 years. In 36 years as a trainer over 130,000 bankers (and many examiners) have participated in Jack’s live seminars and webinars. Jack’s career began in 1976 as a federal bank examiner. He later headed the product and education divisions of a regional consulting company. There he developed loan and deposit form systems and software. He also developed and presented training programs to bankers in 43 states. Jack has been an instructor at compliance schools presented by several state bankers associations. As a contractor, he developed and delivered compliance training for the FDIC for ten years. He is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager and a member of the National Speakers Association.

Kelly M. Owsley is Director of Training Services for Compliance Resource, LLC. Kelly’s career in banking began in 2000. Since then she has worked for financial institutions ranging in asset size from $250 million to $3 billion. Kelly has worked in numerous areas of the financial services industry including retail branch management, lending, product development and training. In addition, Kelly spent three years in a training and development role with CUNA Mutual Group servicing the largest credit union in the United States. Most recently, she served as the Vice President of Compliance, BSA Officer, and CRA Officer for a community bank where she was responsible for implementing and training all compliance related topics. Kelly has conducted seminars in multiple states and has participated in numerous webinars sponsored by national providers. She is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager.