MINNEAPOLIS – Two major developments in Washington, D.C., this week are being hailed as victories for both consumers and the credit and collection industry, according to ACA International (ACA), the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.
?The actions taken by Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday will advance the interests of American consumers by reducing the abuse of the legal system through frivolous lawsuits and by affirming consumer privacy,? said ACA General Counsel Rozanne Andersen.
On Thursday, the FCC responded to ACA?s August 2003 petition for reconsideration of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). ACA has worked closely with the FCC to clarify measures of the TCPA that create unworkable contradictions with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
Under the FDCPA, a powerful consumer protection law, collectors are not allowed to disclose a consumer?s past-due debt to anyone other than the debtor in the interest of consumer privacy. The troublesome measures of the TCPA would have required collectors to identify the state-registered name of their business in any pre-recorded telephone messages to consumers. Since the name of many collection agencies indicates that the call is being made for the purpose of debt collection, ACA argued that requiring the agency to declare its company name before verifying that it has contacted the correct party constituted a violation of the FDCPA.
?Additional clarification is needed on the use of auto-dialers under the TCPA, but today is a landmark day for ACA International,? said Andersen. ?ACA thanks our many members who met with their congressional representatives and FCC staff to bring about this positive ruling.?
Also on Thursday, by an overwhelming majority of 72-26, the U.S. Senate approved a bill to reform class action litigation. Class action reform has been on the association?s legislative agenda for two years, and has now cleared its first hurdle in the effort to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits filed against companies, including ACA members. A grassroots letter writing campaign by ACA members is credited with building support for the bill.
