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.

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Collection letters have become the bane of most agencies’ existence, and it can seem almost impossible to keep up with changing laws and regulations. Between the CFPB’s “safe harbor” Model Validation Notice (MVN), which has been the subject of several lawsuits and states requiring specific disclosure language, those in the collection industry must continually be on the lookout for updates to ensure their letters, policies and procedures are up to date and compliant.  

During this week’s Research Assistant call we specifically talked about state backers being too long to fit on one page for agencies operating in Colorado that collect medical debt. The Research Assistant members on the call brainstormed possible solutions. Suggestions included, using legal paper, experimenting with font types and sizes, and using electronic communication when possible.

The overall consensus of the group was that using electronic communication for letter delivery might be the easiest way to solve length issues. If you aren’t already using electronic communication, you may want to start looking into it. There are a lot of reputable vendors in the industry that can help you set up effective and compliant email and text messaging processes. As always, you need to keep your policies tight and audit the processes often.

Here are some other ways to use industry resources to help navigate your way to effective and compliant consumer communications and stay on top of the changes.

• Use your documents, training, and samples provided by your membership groups (ACA International, RMAi, insideARM’s Research Assistant, and/or other organizations). You can find your Research Assistant Resources, including our always-up-to-date State Law Matrix, here.

• Sign up for relevant industry newsletters. These newsletters are packed with information related to changes at the state and federal level. Don’t over subscribe though, find those that are directly relevant and that help you cut through the noise instead of just info dumping.

• Participate in webinars and training that are offered by industry professionals you respect. You never know what little nugget you may walk away with that will help you create or update consumer communication that is productive and compliant.

• Utilize the experts at your letter and electronic communication vendors. They’re paid to not only stay on top of communication changes, but to inform their clients and ensure your communications are compliant.

Don’t forget to audit your letters and as always- keep up with your industry network! Sometimes having someone to bounce ideas off is the best way to find a new approach. Research Assistant is weekly proof of that!

Documents and Crowdsourced Materials:

• Member Questions: Colorado Validation Letters and Self-Expiring Links

• Goldstein, et al v. AmSher Collection Services Inc.

Top Reads:

• Minnesota Implements New Credit Counseling Document Requirement

• Eleventh Circuit Rules District Court Did Not Abuse its Discretion by Dismissing Defendants in CFPB Enforcement Action as Sanctions for “Obstructionist Conduct” in Depositions

• CFPB Moves to Widen Supervisory Scope in Consumer Payments Market

• Collector Sued for Sending 19 Emails After Consumer Disputed Debt

Upcoming Webinars/ Other Announcements:

• Upcoming Research Assistant Webinar: Join us on June 28 at 2PM ET for Work Smarter Not Harder- Client RFIs: Tell Your Story, Streamline, Manage, and Avoid Repetition to find out how to optimize your RFI process and free up your compliance personnel for more important tasks.

• Going to ACA’s Annual Convention? Let us know so we can include you in our Research Assistant Meet-up!

• 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!