RMAI Honors an Outstanding Member and a Former Board President

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Receivables Management Association International celebrated its 25th Annual Conference in Las Vegas, February 7-10, 2022. With a strong attendance of more than 1,200 representatives from the industry, leaders from RMAI took the opportunity to honor an outstanding member and a former board president.

Bud Reitzel Award

The RMAI Board of Directors awarded the Bud Reitzel Lifetime Commitment Award, the industry’s highest recognition, to Kaye Dreifuerst, former Board President of RMAI and President of Security Credit Services.

RMAI created the Reitzel Award to recognize an individual for outstanding leadership and dedication in the receivables management industry, who has demonstrated, over many years of service, the ideals that Bud Reitzel so firmly believed in.

Kaye Dreifuerst has more than 20 years of experience in the collection and debt purchasing industry.  She is currently President and Partner at Security Credit Services based in Atlanta, where she oversees its acquisitions and the collection operation. Kaye is a Past President of RMAI and one of the association’s most respected members. As President, Kaye was always measured and thoughtful when navigating the complex issues that arose at the Association level. She has garnered tremendous respect among her peers and is a proven and effective leader in all circumstances.

Kaye was instrumental in developing, advocating, and implementing the RMAI Receivables Management Certification Program, the gold standard in the industry.  The Certification Program is arguably one of the most recognized and tangible benefits to the Association and its members overall in its 25-year history.

President’s Award

RMAI awarded the President’s Award to Stephanie Clark, CEO of VeriFacts, Inc., a long-time generous sponsor of RMAI.

In 2017, RMAI created the President’s Award to recognize an individual for outstanding contributions and service to the association and membership. The award goes to someone serving on an RMAI Committee who is selected because of their contribution to committee goals and their innovative ideas helping to further the success of RMAI.

Stephanie Clark has been involved in committee work for over five years, and on the Legislative Fundraising Committee and Affiliate Task Force for two years. She heads one of the original affiliate companies to meet with RMAI leadership in 2016 when discussing ideas to reimagine the Annual Conference; this led to the creation of the popular Suite Crawl – now Cabana Crawl – 0networking event. VeriFacts has set the standard for hosting a suite and, in the past two years, a cabana for Cabana Crawl.

As CEO of VeriFacts since 2017, Stephanie is responsible for the vision of the company and the oversight of strategy execution over the entire organization.  She is always willing to take risks and innovate, and RMAI’s Annual Conference would not be the same without the enthusiasm that she and her team bring to the event.


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Everything You Need to Know about the CFPB’s New IT Risk Management Expectations

2021 brought the financial services industry new requirements to add to their Risk Management Framework. I’d be hard-pressed to find a creditor who wasn’t aware of the CFPB’s Regulation F, and the additional monitoring and auditing responsibilities that are required when forwarding accounts to third-party collection agencies.


Additionally, the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC have proposed new Risk Management Guidance for banking organizations for managing risk associated with third-party relationships, including relationships with vendors. This proposed guidance would combine the three agencies’ current guidelines into one streamlined risk management guidance document. But this has yet to be posted in the Federal Register.


However, in September 2021, the CFPB also updated their exam procedures to include additional requirements related to Information Technology. And that update didn’t get nearly the press that Reg F or the combined agency guidance did. 


The CFPB’s Exam Procedures Compliance Management Review – Information Technology (CMR-IT) is an additional exam procedure specifically related to Information Technology and IT controls within a covered entity. When comparing it side-by-side with the CFPB’s Exam Procedures (CMR) (last updated August 2017), it appears that much of the introduction and explanatory sections are an exact duplicate of the CMR.


However, an additional paragraph has been added to the introduction that helps explain what the CFPB is looking for:


“Institutions often use information technology (IT) that could impact compliance with Federal consumer financial laws. As part of its overall CMS assessment, the CFPB may evaluate the technology controls of an institution and its service providers. The CFPB may also evaluate an institution’s IT as it relates to compliance with Federal consumer financial laws.”


It’s also important to point out the CFPB’s expectations of a covered entity relating to compliance management in general: “Institutions are expected to manage relationships with service providers to ensure that service providers effectively manage compliance with Federal consumer financial laws applicable to the product or service being provided.”

This is a good reminder to add this additional checkpoint to your regular audits of your service providers, and other third parties you engage with.


There are five Modules in the CFPB’s Exam Procedures for IT. The Module section names are the same as in the CMR, as are the explanations of each module and the examination objectives.


However, the differences come in the actual exam procedures and the requirements of what the examiners are looking for. In the new CMR-IT, the procedures that will be reviewed relate to IT function, IT controls, IT organizational structures, etc.


Let’s break down the five Modules and take a look at the new examination procedures.

Module 1: Board and Management Oversight

Overview: The CFPB reminds us: “… the board of directors is ultimately responsible for developing and administering a compliance management system that ensures compliance with Federal consumer financial laws and addresses and minimizes associated risks of harm to consumers.” In the absence of a formal board of directors, companies should have a group or team that is responsible for these tasks. This is the group the CFPB will look to for the information needed to complete this section of the exam. Exam 

Objectives:

  • Does the board demonstrate their commitment to the CMS? Do they provide resources, including capital that are in line with their institution’s size, complexity, and risk profile? Is the staff knowledgeable of Federal consumer financial laws, and are they empowered to comply and are they held accountable? Does the board conduct ongoing due diligence and oversight of service providers including review of policies & procedures, internal controls, and training?

  • Does the board respond promptly to changes in the applicable Federal consumer financial laws and determine if changes need to be made across their business?
  • Does the board comprehend and identify compliance risks? Do they engage in managing the risks? Are the potential risks and harm to consumers by the institution addressed as products are developed, marketed and administered?
  • Are issues proactively identified? Once issues are identified, are they promptly responded to and remediated?

Examiner Procedure: Examiners will request documentation, including board meeting minutes, organizational reporting structure and duties, information security program, IT risk management process, policies and procedures, risk assessment program, IT strategic plan, SDLC controls, change management process, business continuity plan, IT system reporting, and other documents as necessary to determine compliance.

Module 2: Compliance Program

The CFPB expects your compliance program to be a formal written document, administered by your chief compliance officer. They require the compliance program to contain four components: Policies & Procedures, Training, Monitoring/Audit and Consumer Complaint Response. The examiners have varying objectives and procedures for each component.


1. Policies & Procedures (Board Approved):


Overview: An institution’s policies & procedures should follow the policy enacted by the board of directors.

Objectives:

  • Ensure policies & procedures are designed to effectively manage IT controls and compliance risk in the products, services & activities of the institution.
  • Ensure they are consistent with board-approved compliance policies.
  • Do they address compliance with applicable Federal consumer financial laws and are they designed to minimize violations, and detect and minimize risks to harm to consumers?
  • Do they cover the full life cycle of all IT products and/or services offered?
  • Are they maintained and modified to remain current?


Examiner Procedure: Examiners will require access to your IT policies & procedures so they can review how your program is structured and how it interacts with your IT functions. The examiners will also require information on who created the policies & procedures, when they were created and who maintains them. They will review your SLDC to see how your IT policies & procedures fit into it. Additionally, they will require access to your records retention and destruction timeframes. If you have more than one office, they will need to review the policies & procedures for each location to determine if they are consistent with the applicable corporate-level policies.


Educating your entire staff, from the board on down, is essential to maintaining an effective CMS.


2. Training

Overview: Educating your entire staff, from the board on down, is essential to maintaining an effective CMS. The CFPB expects that training should be sufficient to cover the duties of the individual. Training should not just cover your policies & procedures, but also the regulations relating to Federal consumer financial laws, including unlawful discrimination and Unfair Deceptive Abusive Acts and Practices (UDAAP).


Objectives:

  • Ensure training is comprehensive, timely and specifically tailored to the responsibilities of the staff receiving it.
  • Is the training program updated proactively in advance of the rollout of new or changed products?
  • Is the training consistent with policies & procedures?
  • Do the compliance and IT professionals have access to training?

Examiner Procedure: Examiners will need an explanation of how your board or management is involved in training, and how training is selected for each group of employees. Examiners will require access to your IT training materials as well as your schedule of training and records of completion as well as any follow-up, escalation or enforcement that comes out of the training program. They will also require access to any IT training you have provided for your service providers, along with schedule and documentation of completion. They will also need to see your plan for new training that will be rolled out in the next 12 months.


3. Monitoring and/or Audit

Overview: Monitoring is essential to identify your CMS’s weaknesses through the prompt identification of such weakness. Monitoring is generally done more often than auditing, and auditing is generally a more formal process, and likely carried out by an audit department or outside contracted party. IT and compliance audits provide the board of directors with crucial information to ensure the company is in compliance with regulations, consumer laws and policies & procedures that have been established by the board.


Objectives:

  • Ensure the institution’s compliance monitoring, management information systems, reporting, auditing and internal control systems, including IT controls, are comprehensive, timely and successful at identifying and measuring compliance risk throughout the institution
  • Ensure programs are monitored proactively to identify weaknesses and mitigate regulatory violations.
  • Ensure all consumer engagements supported by IT systems are handled according to the entity’s policies & procedures.
  • Ensure monitoring considers the results of risk assessments and that findings resulting from monitoring are properly escalated.
  • Ensure the audit program is independent and reports to the board. Ensure appropriate compliance and business unit managers receive copies of audit reports in a timely manner.
  • Does the program address compliance with all applicable Federal consumer financial laws?
  • Ensure the schedule and coverage of the audit activities is appropriate for the institution’s size, complexity, and risk profile.

Examiner Procedure: Examiners will require access to monitoring and audit documentation, including; Quality Assurance and Quality Control procedures and the schedule of these procedures, policies & procedures pertaining to IT audits, any other documentation related to monitoring and audit. Additionally, the examiners will require proof of the independence of the monitoring/audit functions, and how well it identifies and reports weaknesses. They will also need to review auditor expertise and training to ensure it is sufficient for the complexity of the IT functions of the institution. If your auditing is performed by a third-party, the examiners will need to review the applicable policy, contracts, etc. you have with that auditor for the review period. The examiner will also need to see that the monitoring/audit coverage includes assessment of IT system capabilities and compliance with Federal consumer financial laws, and that it addresses access restrictions and unauthorized access. They will also check to ensure the board of director’s risk assessment process is being properly executed, that the board is receiving reports of the monitoring and audits and that any findings are being properly remediated.


4. Consumer Complaint Response 


Overview: The CFPB expects that you will not only have a consumer complaint process in place, but that you will also gather information from consumer interactions in an organized fashion, that the information be retained, and that it be used as a part of your CMS. Additionally, the CFPB requires that companies make a deliberate and good faith effort to resolve each consumer complaint.


Objectives:

  • Are the processes and procedures for addressing consumer complaints appropriate?
  • Are the investigations and responses reasonable?
  • Are the complaints appropriately recorded, categorized, addressed, and resolved promptly?
  • Are complaints that may raise legal issues appropriately categorized and escalated?
  • Are complaints monitored by management to identify risks of potential consumer harm, and to see if a CMS deficiency or IT issue has caused the complaint?
  • Is corrective action being taken when appropriate?
  • Note the number of consumer complaints received by the entity during the exam time period.

Examiner Procedure: The examiner will review any IT related consumer complaints, including any that are received at the institutions service providers. They will require access to policies and procedures relating to consumer complaints. Examiners will also review any responses, corrective actions, analysis and categorization of any IT complaints, and determine whether correct corrective action was taken.


Consumer complaints and inquiries should be an integral part of an institution’s compliance management system.


Module 3: Service Provider Oversight


Overview: While the CFPB acknowledges third-party service providers may be a necessary part of doing business, they also state that engaging with a service provider does not negate the institution’s responsibility to comply with Federal consumer financial laws. Service providers must be familiar with any legal requirements applicable to the products being offered and must have processes in place to ensure consumer protections. Legal responsibility may lie not only with the service provider, but also the institution if there is consumer harm.


Objectives:


  • Review the Risk Management Program for Service Providers to determine appropriateness based on size, scope, complexity, importance and potential for consumer harm.
  • Does the Service Provider Risk Management Program include initial and ongoing due diligence reviews to ensure compliance with Federal consumer financial laws?
  • Does the institution ensure each service provider conducts proper training and oversight of employees?
  • Does the contract with the service provider include clear expectations relating to compliance and appropriate and enforceable consequences for violation?
  • Has the institution established internal controls and ongoing monitoring to determine compliance with Federal consumer financial laws?
  • Does the institution take prompt action to address any problems or violations identified through the monitoring process?

Examiner Procedure: The examiner will require a list of the institution’s service providers as well as a description of the services each service provider provides for the institution, and what IT functions the service provider may support. They will also require access to documentation relating to service providers including the institution’s risk management program for service providers that support IT functions that could have consumer compliance implications, policies & procedures, contracts, audits, monitoring and tests performed, and the results. Additionally, if service providers have access to sensitive consumer information, the examiner will also need access to the service provider’s written information security programs.


Creditors may be held liable for the actions of their service providers.


Module 4: Violations of Law and Consumer Harm


Overview:  Throughout the exam process, the examiner will be looking for violations of law and consumer harm. If a violation is found, the examiner will determine if the institution’s CMS identified the violation, and if so, what remediation resulted. If a CMS is not appropriate for the institution’s size, complexity and risk profile of the institution’s business, it may not be suited to catch violations. The CFBP views self-identification and subsequent corrective action as evidence of an institution’s commitment to responsibility and consumer protection.


Self-identification and correction of violations of law reflect strengths in an institution’s CMS.


Objectives: In the event an examiner identifies a violation of Federal consumer financial law, they consider the following factors:


  • What was the root cause of the violation? Was a weakness in the CMS a contributing factor?
  • The severity of consumer harm and type of harm resulting from the violation.
  • The duration of the violation.
  • The pervasiveness of the violations.

Examiner Procedure: If an examiner determines there has been a violation of law that has resulted in consumer harm, they must review the conclusions drawn from the previous Modules in the exam that were identified as the root cause of the violation. They must then determine if the institution self-identified the violation, and review the documentation related to the identification and any corrective action taken as a result of the violation, including management’s awareness, and length of time it took to resolve. The examiner must determine the level of weakness in the institution’s CMS, and how critical they were to the violation. They must then determine the extent of consumer harm as a result of the violation, including financial harm and non-financial harm. Lastly, they must determine how pervasive the violation was by determining the number of consumers impacted.


Module 5: Examiner Conclusions and Wrap-Up


Overview: This module is the written summary of the previous four Modules. The examiner will provide their conclusions on the effectiveness of the institution’s Compliance Management System in relation to their IT functions.


Examiner Procedure: The examiner must now summarize their findings, supervisory concerns and conclusions for each module completed. They must identify any action needed to correct weaknesses in the institution’s CMS. The examiner will discuss their findings with the institution’s management, and, if necessary, obtain a commitment for corrective action. Finally, the examiner must report their findings back to the CFPB via their official system of record.


Conclusion


While the new exam procedures for compliance management review for IT will only be used by the CFPB when they are examining a company, and while your company may not (yet) be on the list of company’s the CFPB is looking to examine, it is still considered a best practice to follow the CFPB’s guidelines and be prepared.


When the risk of consumer harm is at stake, financial services companies can never be too careful. And those who use outside service providers have an additional level of risk to their customers. The strength of your compliance management system will help enormously when and if the CFPB comes knocking on your door. Will you be ready?


——


Linda Straub Jones is a Sr. Account Executive with NeuAnalytics. She has over 30 years of experience in the credit/collections industry and has worked as a collector, skip tracer, paralegal, and a data specialist for bankruptcy, deceased, and compliance data.


This article was originally published at the NeuAnalyics Blog and is reprinted here with permission. NeuAnalytics provides the only comprehensive compliance management system built for financial institutions to monitor their third-party service provider’s daily activities for performance and compliance risk. ISP is purpose-built for CFPB compliance, including early warning of possible consumer harm and management reporting.


Coming this year from insideARM’s Research Assistant, a comprehensive, practical deep-dive into risk and gap assessments and CFPB expectations, section-by-section – including the IT controls. Get the practical insight you need to implement your own assessment with Research Assistant, insideARM’s resource and roundtable for practical, how-to industry legal and compliance insight.

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Should You Fight, Settle or Stay? Defeat Hunstein Lawsuits with Three Simple Arguments [Video]

Since the 11th Circuit ruling in Hunstein v. Preferred in April 2021, consumer attorneys filed hundreds of “copycat” lawsuits against debt collectors in Courts across the country, asserting that the use of a letter vendor by a debt collector somehow violates the FDCPA.  While the 11th Circuit will hear arguments on standing in the case later this year, debt collectors need a robust strategy now to minimize the business disruption caused by these Hunstein cases with the ultimate goal of obtaining summary judgment dismissing the claims.  

In this episode of the Debt Collection Drill videocast, Moss & Barnett attorneys John Rossman and Mike Poncin discuss the best strategies for defeating Hunstein lawsuits and also considerations regarding insurance coverage and choice of counsel.  

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Nevada to Transition Collection Agency and Manager Licenses to NMLS

On February 3, 2022, the Nevada Financial Institutions Division announced that on January 2, 2022, it began transitioning non-depository licenses to the Nationwide MultistateLicensing System (NMLS). All current licensees must transition their license to NMLS no later than June 30, 2022.

Other important points in the announcement:

  • Paper forms will only be accepted until March 31, 2022
  • On April 1, 2022, current collection agency and manager licensees can begin to transition their licenses to NMLS (see the announcement for the process)
  • Licenses not transitioned to NMLS by June 30, 2022, will expire and not be eligible for reinstatement
  • companies that submit for a transition will not need to submit a paper renewal during the June 2022 renewal period. 
  • Renewal dates will change after the transition to NMLS

Contact information for both NMLS and the Nevada Financial Institutions Division are in the announcement

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Hunstein: Case Moves Forward; Consumer Files Final Brief Before Case is Reheard

The Kaulkin Report, 2022 Edition, Sub-Report: Introduction to Accounts Receivable Management

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Bedard Law Group and Provana Create New Compliance Paradigm

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Provana,
provider of the industry’s first unified platform for compliance and
performance management, today announced collaboration with BedardLaw Group, P.C. (BLG), to bring 360-degree compliance to the Accounts Receivable
Management (ARM) market. The new solution combines BLG360 services with
Provana’s comprehensive compliance management suite. BLG360 is an on-demand
subscription service to BLG’s expert attorneys, while Provana’s GRC technology
platform is tailored specifically to CFPB requirements.

Announced at RMAi’s 25th
Annual Conference in Las Vegas, the solution comes at a pivotal moment as the
ARM industry continues to grapple with
Regulation F compliance. The only such combination available today, this new
offering provides an unbeatable and intelligent solution for managing policies,
audits, training, remediation, certification, complaints, and all aspects of
CFPB compliance.

John H. Bedard, Jr., Managing Partner of BLG, noted, “I have seen the use Provana’s products and services growing within our client base for many years. This is a perfect opportunity to deliver the unique value of BLG360 as part of greater service offering of sophisticated compliance management system software to more fully meet the needs of the modern debt collector.”.” 

“We are excited to work with
one of the preeminent compliance firms in ARM to enrich our compliance
management capabilities for customers,” said Sean Clark, Provana’s SVP of
Platforms. “Adding BLG360 as part of our compliance solutions provides a level
of intelligence and support unparalleled in ARM, enabling collection entities
drive higher revenues with less risk.”

To learn more about the
benefits Provana and BLG360, specifically in the context of Regulation F,
register for the webinar, where the companies will share a complete overview
of new, foreclosure-specific solutions and services.

About Provana

Provana’s SaaS-based digital
operating platform is the first of its kind, giving leaders control over
process-intensive operations. We serve law firms, insurance companies, accounts
receivable agencies and networked enterprises in the US market that are tightly
regulated by the CFPB and other authorities. Built on decades of experience in
machine learning, natural language processing and business process management,
Provana helps customers manage sensitive interactions,
analyze unstructured data, process personal information, and ensure compliance.
Provana is backed by a NYC-based Fintech PE, most recently raising funds in
November 2020. Learn more at 
www.provana.com.

 

About BLG
Bedard Law Group, P.C. is a full-service
law firm serving the credit and the collection industries. Founded in 2009, the
firm delivers superior service, sound advice, and unparalleled value to all of its
clients. The firm’s services include Defense Litigation, Compliance Advice,
Collection Letter Review, On-Site Compliance Auditing, Nationwide Litigation
Management, General Corporate Counselling, Policies and Procedures and BLG
Insight Speech Analytics. To learn more about its suite of products and
services online at 
https://bedardlawgroup.com/.

 

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ConServe Sponsored Seminars and Webinars Award Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Credits

ROCHESTER, N.Y. –– Continental Service Group, Inc., d/b/a ConServe has renewed their registration with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and will continue to award sponsored Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits through its ConServe University® quarterly Seminars and Webinar Series. CPE is a requirement for most CPAs and financial leaders to maintain their professional competence and provide quality professional services.

The idea for awarding CPE credits for their training programs was brought to them by their Clients, and ConServe delivered by taking appropriate action through the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).  State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit*.

For their kickoff webinar that occurred on January 27, 2022, ConServe was thrilled to award 55 CPE credits to their valued Clients.  Michelle Hartmann, Vice President of Sales said, “In addition to providing innovative, customized recovery solutions, our Client training programs provide a fantastic forum to share knowledge and solutions in an efficient and effective manner.  We have invested in the right technology to continue to interact with our Clients and provide valuable tools, resources and complimentary effective training, including industry updates, professional development and networking with other collection experts.”

About ConServe:

ConServe is a top-performing accounts receivable management service provider specializing in customized recovery solutions for their Clients. Anchored in ethics and compliance, and steadfast in their pursuit of excellence, they are a consumer-centric organization that operates as an extension of their Clients’ valued brands.  For over 36 years, they have partnered with their Clients to provide unmatched customer service while simultaneously helping them achieve their accounts receivable management goals.  Visit us online at: www.conserve-arm.com

About NASBA – National Registry of SPE Sponsors

Since 1908, NASBA has served as a forum for the nation’s 55 State Boards of Accountancy, which administer the Uniform CPA Examination, license more than 650,000 Certified Public Accountants and regulate the practice of public accountancy in the United States.  Visit them online: https://nasba.org/

*ConServe is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.NASBARegistry.org.

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3 Things All Collections Professionals Need to Know about the No Surprises Act

Surprise! Almost no one noticed the No Surprises Act (Act) buried as it was in a 3000-page omnibus spending bill. But it is in effect now. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) immediately put out a bulletin stating they plan to enforce it. And suddenly, the medical collections industry is in turmoil. 

It’s a mistake to think the CFPB Bulletin only matters for medical debt covered by the Act. There are implications and lessons here for the entire industry. 

The Act was aimed at healthcare billing practices; it created rules for certain types of medical bills and the amounts which can be charged to patients. Although it was not aimed at debt collectors and did not explicitly intertwine with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) or Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the CFPB has stated in no uncertain terms that if a debt collector attempts to collect a debt prohibited by the Act they may face liability under the FDCPA and FCRA.  In other words, if a health care provider makes a mistake at the beginning of the billing process, the CFPB expects the debt collector to know that and refrain from collecting the debt.  

The rest of the collection industry should take note. Since the FDCPA does not have a substantiation requirement, then what does the CFPB’s bulletin regarding the Act mean? What are debt collectors expected to do for other lines of debt? How can a company protect itself?  

The Act may have been written to apply to medical debt, but the law itself and its enforcement by the CFPB have implications for the entire industry. Here are three things you absolutely need to know about the No Surprises Act and what it means for you, whether you’re collecting medical debt or not.

1. The speed with which the CFPB jumped on the No Surprises Act was shocking, and it’s a clear sign of how enforcement has evolved across collections

The instant the law went into effect, the Bureau issued its bulletin. Instead of reviewing actions taken by debt collectors over a period of time, the CFPB proactively issued its expectations.  What’s more, since the law was not aimed at debt collection, it seems the CFPB drafted the bulletin to inform debt collectors that they must confirm balances are correct before contacting consumers (a requirement that does not explicitly exist in the FDCPA). The implication here is that, though the FDCPA does not require substantiation, the CFPB expects debt collectors, which are the last stop on the billing block, to do something more than taking their clients’ records at face value.  


There is some debate as to whether the CFPB has the authority to enforce the No Surprises Act when the Act does not pertain to debt collection. The takeaway here, though, is that the CFPB thinks it has authority to enforce the Act and presumably will enforce it. 

2.  Be careful – the No Surprises Act may have wider implications than you think. 

Does your agency collect account types other than medical debt? How about a debt buyer or a law firm that manages or purchases debt, medical or otherwise? Here’s another surprise for you. This law affects you, too

Although the CFPB bulletin was aimed at collecting medical debt, the overarching theme here is that the CFPB expects all debt collectors, regardless of their specific role, to take measures to ensure balances sought from consumers and reported to credit reporting agencies are accurate, regardless of account type. It seems the CFPB is signaling that simply relying on client information may not be acceptable. 

This position is not new, though it is gaining speed. For example, back in 2019, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against a debt collector, which alleged, in part, that the debt collector should have noticed a high rate of disputes on certain portfolios, which should have alerted the debt collector there was an issue with the accounts. The lawsuit settled in 2021.  By issuing this bulletin, the CFPB is signaling its intentions and expectations of all debt collectors.

There has been some discussion about whether or not the CFPB properly issued the Bulletin. However, debt collectors would be well advised to ensure that they are as protected as possible until that matter is determined.  

This means that whether you think the CFPB has the authority to enforce the No Surprises Act against debt collectors or not, you should ensure your organization is ready to deal with it through client engagement, contract updates, collector scripting, dispute management with trend analysis, auditing procedures and more. Further, your agency should be prepared to respond to consumers who state simply, “this bill is a surprise- isn’t that illegal now?”  You’ll need to determine when these disputes are valid? How will your team respond to these statements? And how will you gather data to ensure that you can properly escalate broader issues to your clients? 

3. The No Surprises Act may only apply to medical debt, but it is yet another clear signal that risk and gap assessments are even more important right now – for medical debt companies and everyone else, too. 

On its face, the bulletin indicates, the CFPB expects debt collectors to have policies and procedures in place to ensure they do not seek inaccurate balances from consumers. In other words, debt collectors need to have procedures in place to look at empirical data such as complaint and dispute trends and determine when they need to delve deeper into potential client issues. This may include severing client relationships that do not comply and put your company at risk. 

Although there is no substantiation requirement in the FCPA or in Regulation F, it is clear that the CFPB expects debt collectors to have adequate policies and procedures in place to proactively identify and address issues, even where an issue might be with the data provided by a client.  All ARM entities should be routinely performing internal risk and gap assessments to ensure they can find these issues.*

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*A thorough internal risk and gap assessment has never been more important. Starting next month, insideARM’s Research Assistant takes a deep-dive into best practices for internal risk and gap assessments. We’ll go through the CFPB’s guidance, section-by-section, and deliver the practical insight you need to conduct a stronger, more compliant assessment. Get a masterclass on gap and risk assessments AND the discussion and resources you need to assess new compliance challenges quickly when you join Research Assistant. Don’t miss a section.


3 Things All Collections Professionals Need to Know about the No Surprises Act
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CFPB Launches Junk Fees Initiative

On January 26, 2022, the CFPB announced it launched an initiative to reduce exploitative junk fees charged by banks and financial companies. The initiative includes a request for information which seeks input from people regarding fees associated with their bank, credit union, prepaid or credit card account, mortgage, loan, or payment transfers, including:

  • Fees for things people believed were covered by the baseline price of a product or service
  • Unexpected fees for a product or service
  • Fees that seemed too high for the purported service
  • Fees where it was unclear why they were charged

The CFPB is also interested in hearing from small business owners, non-profit organizations, legal aid attorneys, academics and researchers, state and local government officials, and financial institutions, including small banks and credit unions.

According to the CFPB, Companies across the U.S. economy are increasingly charging inflated and back-end fees to households and families. This new “fee economy” distorts our free market system by concealing the true price of products from the competitive process. For example, hotels and concert venues advertise rates, only to add “resort fees” and “service fees” after the fact. And fees purportedly charged to cover individual expenses, like paperwork processing, can often greatly exceed the actual cost of that service.

“Many financial institutions obscure the true price of their services by luring customers with enticing offers and then charging excessive junk fees,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “By promoting competition and ridding the market of illegal practices, we hope to save Americans billions.”

insideARM Perspective:  

Although this initiative is not aimed at the ARM industry, it can serve as a good indicator of the temperature of the CFPB under Mr. Chopra’s direction.  Further, this initiative is a good reminder that any pass-through costs to consumers should be adequately documented and disclosed to the consumer.

CFPB Launches Junk Fees Initiative
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MyGovWatch.com Expands AI-Powered Government Leads Platform to Better Serve Debt Collection and Call Center Industries

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J.– MyGovWatch.com, a government bid notification and intelligence website serving the debt collection and call center industries since 2008, has expanded its platform to more than 200 industry subcategories.  At the same time, the company has announced users will now benefit from the deployment of a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) engine to help route the exact right leads to companies large and small interested in government contracting opportunities.

Debt collection and call center companies can now choose from among more than 200 other industry subcategories in 24 top-level industry categories to identify government procurements in related outsourcing industries where the scope of work is not quite debt collection or call center, but something else. Users can set extremely granular preferences around their business interests in the B2G space in a way never before possible. Further, the AI engine learns as it goes, so that users benefit from continuous training on which procurement titles it routes to each of more than 200 industries. The addition of so many subcategories supplements premium offerings that have always been available to debt collection and call center users, where the site caters to those users by delivering:

  • Open procurement tracking services to ensure users hear about every addendum and procurement change in real time.

  • The ability to submit questions to buyers anonymously through the site.

  • Contract award announcements as they become known.

  • Access to hard-to-obtain government documents like contracts, evaluations, and winning proposals to enable users to see detailed information showing why specific companies won specific procurements and – as important – why others did not.

  • Search tools to let users research competitor pricing and winning proposals by buyer type, region, and other attributes.

  • Advanced notice of upcoming procurements to kick start the sales cycle.

“These enhancements firmly position MyGovWatch to better serve our core debt collection and call center users,” said Nick Bernardo, President, continuing, “I would like to thank our team for their amazing dedication to bring these enhancements to our users, and I am excited about future deployments we have in mind that will change the landscape of this space.”

MyGovWatch has revolutionized how current and aspiring government contractors hear about and interact with leads by giving users the ability to get in where they fit it, through low-cost, no-contract monthly plans and transaction pricing on completing open records requests, for example.

Whether you are a sole proprietor or large corporation, or anywhere in between, there is no better time to get started and compare us to your current provider. To get started with a 14-day trial visit www.mygovwatch.com. For more information on MyGovWatch, please email media@mygovwatch.com. 

About MyGovWatch

MyGovWatch is a government bid notification and intelligence website that offers users no-contract, industry-targeted leads from every level & type of government buyer. With low-cost, monthly plans to choose from, users receive notifications and access to government purchasing opportunities about leads in over 200 subcategories. These subcategories cover every B2G NAICS code. For opportunities users wish to pursue further, MyGovWatch offers the option to buy credits to get help tracking and monitoring government purchasing activity. Get started today with a free, no-obligation trial at www.mygovwatch.com.


MyGovWatch.com Expands AI-Powered Government Leads Platform to Better Serve Debt Collection and Call Center Industries
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