FDCPA Reform Coming? Senate Subcommittee to Hold Hearings on Debt Collection

The Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection will be holding a series of two hearings beginning next week to discuss the debt collection industry and possible legislative fixes to current law.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), chairman of the subcommittee, last month sent a formal letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray urging the federal watchdog to issue rules and regulations to tighten oversight of the debt collection industry. At the time, Brown promised to hold hearings on how to best update the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

The first hearing, titled “Shining a Light on the Consumer Debt Industry,” is scheduled for Wednesday, July 17. The hearing’s only two witnesses currently confirmed are government regulator representatives: Corey Stone of the CFPB and Reilly Dolan of the FTC. Dolan was featured at the ARM Regulatory Summit, hosted earlier this year by insideARM.com, where he talked about the current limits of the FDCPA.

According to ACA International, the second session will be held in September. At that hearing, other stakeholders and industry representatives will be called on to testify, including the ACA.