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Call Attempts and Licensing in New York
Back in January of 2020 -- were we ever so young? -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his state's FY2021 budget. The budget was of interest to collection agencies and collection attorneys because it suggested some substantive changes to how debts could be collected in New York.
This came up in a question sent to the Research Assistant:
I’m looking for info regarding the limitations on phone call attempts within a seven day period for New York.
In January, the budget and its rules seemed set to place these restrictions on debt collectors in the whole state:
- Anyone acting as a “consumer debt collector” would need to obtain a license from the New York Banking Superintendent.
- This would also include collection attorneys who, since 2014, had had an exception to the licensing rule.
- Under the proposed New York law, a debt collector would be limited to two communications in a seven-day period.
Many believed that there would be a high likelihood the entire budget -- new rules and all -- would sail through, with an implementation date of 1 October 2020.
"This did not pass. It was removed from the budget," Don Maurice of Maurice Wutscher told me in an email. Which is a relief because I spent hours trying to find any follow-up to the proposed bill buried in the budget.
As it stands:
New York State: No frequency limitations
New York City: 2 calls within a 7-day period (cf. New York City, N.Y. Rules, Tit. 6, § 5-77(b)(1)(ii), (iv))
And with that, another mystery solved. Tip your Research Assistant.
