CFPB Compliance Bulletin 2015-07

Compliance Bulletin 2015-07 warns creditors, debt buyers, and third-party collectors of potentially unlawful in-person debt collection practices.  The bulletin reminds the financial services industry of debt collection practices prohibited by the Dodd-Frank Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, including:

• Engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices,
• Communicating with a consumer at any place or time that the debt collector knows, or should know, to be inconvenient to the consumer,
• Communicating with persons other than the consumer for purposes other than acquiring location information,
• Using unfair or unconscionable means to collect, or attempt to collect, debt, and
• Engaging in any conduct the consequences of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse a person in connection with collecting a debt.

Collection staff should review the bulletin to ensure compliance with collection practices requirements.