The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on debt collection issued by the CFPB earlier this week solicits comments on an array of issues relating to the debt collection practices of third-party debt collectors and debt buyers as well as those of creditors collecting their own debts. Based on the CFPB’s discussion of its rulemaking authority in the ANPR’s supplementary information, in proposing debt collection rules, the CFPB can be expected to rely on a wide range of authority, including its new authority to issue substantive rules under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and its Dodd-Frank authority to prescribe rules prohibiting “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” acts or practices.  A detailed analysis of the ANPR is provided in our legal alert.  

Given the significance of the issues that the CFPB plans to address and the potential impact of its rulemaking, it is critical that members of the consumer financial services industry weigh in on the ANPR.  Comments must be submitted within 90 days of the ANPR’s publication in the Federal Register.

On November 25, 2013, from 12 p.m.to 1 p.m. ET, Ballard Spahr will conduct a webinar, “The CFPB’s Debt Collection Rulemaking: Our Predictions and the Potential Impact on the Industry.” The registration form is available here.