The recently released Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) annual report to Congress on the administration of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) highlighted continued unlawful collection prevention efforts.
Preventive measures implemented by the CFPB, along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), include, per officials, vigorous law enforcement, education and public outreach and policy initiatives – adding the two agencies reauthorized their memorandum of understanding on Feb. 25, 2019, providing for coordination in enforcement, sharing of supervisory information and consumer complaints and collaboration on consumer education.
The report examines the CFPB’s intent to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on debt collection addressing issues ranging from communication practices to consumer disclosures. The report highlights that the CFPB handled 81,500 debt collection complaints related to first-party and third-party collections.
Debt collection is among the most prevalent topics of consumer complaints about financial products or services received by the Bureau.
Last year the CFPB engaged in six public enforcement actions arising from alleged FDCPA violations. The agency brought an action that resulted in an $800,000 civil penalty while accepting a judgment in favor of the defendant in a second case. Four other FDCPA cases remain in active litigation.
The analysis showed the FTC filed or resolved a total of seven cases against 52 defendants and obtained more than $58.9 million in judgments while banning 32 companies and individuals that engaged in serious and repeated law violations from ever working in debt collection again.