Welcome to the Research Assistant Weekly Newsletter - a subscriber-only resource for insight into emerging compliance challenges, details on peer calls, and links to new Research Assistant reports, documents, tools, and more.

Sponsored by TCN and Finvi

During this week’s peer call one of our Research Assistant members inquired about how others were handling New York State’s requirement to send a statement no less than quarterly to consumers with payment arrangements on file. These rules became effective over 9 years ago in 2014, so we thought we’d use this week’s newsletter to provide a refresher in case they’ve fallen off your radar.

The full rule is 23 NYCRR 1, but the specific requirements for payment arrangements can be found in 23 NYCRR 1.5(b). Here’s the info you need to know:

What are the requirements when a consumer commits to a payment arrangement in New York State? 

• Within five (5) days of agreeing to a debt payment schedule or other agreement to settle a debt you must: 

• Provide written confirmation of the debt payment schedule or agreement to settle the debt. (Notice that term “written” here meaning E-SIGN applies if a digital communication channel is used.) The written confirmation must include all material terms and conditions relating the payments which the consumer agreed to; and 

• Provide the following notice: “If a creditor or debt collector receives a money judgment against you in court, state and federal laws prevent the following types of income from being taken to pay the debt:

1. Supplemental security income, (SSI);

2. Social security;

3. Public assistance (welfare);

4. Spousal support, maintenance (alimony) or child support;

5. Unemployment benefits;

6. Disability benefits;

7. Workers’ compensation benefits;

8. Public or private pensions;

9. Veterans’ benefits;

10. Federal student loans, federal student grants, and federal work study funds; and

11. Ninety percent of your wages or salary earned in the last sixty days.”

• When a consumer agrees to a debt payment schedule or other agreement to settle a debt, you must provide the consumer with an accounting of the debt on at least a quarterly basis while the consumer is making scheduled payments.

• Within 20 business days of the receipt of a payment satisfying a consumer’s debt, the debt collector shall send to the consumer a written confirmation of the satisfaction of the debt that identifies the original creditor and the account number.

What should this quarterly statement look like? 

The statement may be included in your intent to deposit/ post-dated payment reminder or in the form of a receipt. The important part is to include a full accounting of the account including: 

• Original Balance 
• Interest and Fees 
• Payments Applied 
• Current Amount Owed 

For more information you can refer to the FAQ the New York State’s Department of Financial Services put together regarding the rules.

Documents and Crowdsourced Materials:

• Member Questions: Software recommendations, Call monitoring and analytics, and Phone Policies

Top Reads:

• Texas Federal District Court Invalidates CFPB Exam Manual Changes Which Opined that Discrimination is a UDAAP Violation

• New York District Court Approves Class Action in FDCPA Case Alleging Improper Debt Assignment Notification

• Statement a Company Used an “Autodialer” Not Sufficient To Win TCPA Suit Appellate Court Holds

Upcoming Webinars/ Other Announcements:

• Upcoming Webinar: Work Smarter, Not Harder – Keeping Tabs On Laws, Rules, and Regs (and keeping ops looped in),October 25th at 2:00 ET,  Register here.

• Please make a note of our updated email addresses: 

• Sara Woggerman, Sara_Consultant@roundtables.us 

• Missy Meggision, mmeggison@roundtables.us 

• Reminder: Send any topics or questions that you want to discuss to Sara_Consultant@roundtables.us by Thursday to ensure it makes it on our agenda!