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During this week’s Research Assistant Peer Group meeting a member inquired about state laws that are more restrictive than the FDCPA and Regulation F. This question led to a great discussion where we addressed unique state level requirements. I’m looking at you Massachusetts. The biggest area where states have enacted more conservative laws is regarding call frequency. Here are the cliffnotes version of those call frequency laws. 

• Louisiana – Allowable call times are between the hours of 8:00am – 8:00pm. This is more restrictive than section 805 of the FDCPA which defines allowable call times as 8am-9pm in the consumer’s time zone.

• Massachusetts – Restricted to 2 attempts to communicate via phone or text message in a 7-day period to the consumer’s residence, cell phone or other phone number provided by the consumer. Phone numbers obtained through skip tracing are restricted to 2 attempts to communicate via phone or text message within a 30-day period.

• New York City – Restricted to 2 attempts to communicate in a 7-day period.

• Washington – Restricted to 3 attempts to communicate within a 7-day period. POE calls are restricted to 1 attempt to communicate within a 7-day period.

• District of Columbia – Restricted to 4 phone calls per account, inclusive of all phone numbers the debt collector has for the consumer, in any 7-day period. After a completed call between the debt collector and the consumer, the collector shall not call the consumer back for 7 days. Consent for emails, private messages and text messaging must be obtained before the debt collector contacts the consumer using those methods and then the debt collector is limited to sending 5 emails, private messages or text messages on any 7-day period.

As a result of this discussion Research Assistant will be putting together a state matrix addressing state laws that govern communications as we suspect more states may enact similar laws. Stay tuned.

Documents and Crowdsourced Materials:

• Member Questions: States More Conservative than the FDCPA and Attorney Meaningful Involvement Post-Reg F

Top Reads:

• 9th Cir. Holds TCPA Autodialer Must Generate and Dial Random or Sequential Phone Numbers

• Court Finds Letter to Debtor is Not a Debt-Collection Communication Under the FDCPA

• Regulating medical debt collection: A 2022 review and look ahead

Upcoming Webinars/ Other Announcements:

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• Research Assistant sponsor Provana has a new resource page just for Research Assistant members. Check out the new Provana resources and check in for special offers right here. 

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