To the Point: TCPA (Updated 2015)

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act frequently outpaces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as the statute that causes the most confusion and lawsuits, and it wasn’t even geared at the collection industry to begin with! For instance, the emergence of new-to-the-industry technology like cell phones can throw collectors for a compliance loop. The way you communicate on your personal cell phone doesn’t always fly when it comes to debt collection. With a law that causes this much confusion, you want to make sure you have the latest information. Your business and your bottom line depend on it!

You’ll Learn:

• Does the TCPA pertain to first-party collection as well, with regard to cell phone communication?
• Can a first-party lender use a dialer as a reminder of delinquency? And what if the only number provided to the lender is a cell phone number?
• If a patient provides a cell phone number during patient registration to the original creditor, does that constitute consent? Can the patient then be contacted via ATDS by a third party collector?
• Have there been any class action lawsuits filed for violating the TCPA?
• Will the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s November Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking touch on TCPA issues, or even fix some of the problems plaguing the collection industry today?

This report contains guidance on:

• First-party collectors and consumer cell phone numbers
• TCPA class-action lawsuits and potential CFPB reforms
• Decoding text messages

Author: insideARM.com with John Rossman and David Kaminsky

Length: 179 pages