Debt Collectors Will Be Allowed to Contact You Through Social Media
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has made a change to the rules that regulate debt collectors and the way they contact customers. The new rules that are expected to go into effect a year from now. Once they do, debt collectors will be able to contact consumers not just by and even using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Collection agencies will also be allowed to contact consumers more frequently. They’ll be able to place up to seven debt-collection phone calls per week, and even more in certain cases. They will also be able to send an unlimited number of text and email messages and social media private posts.
In its announcement, the CFPB says that consumers can opt out of all electronic communications with debt collectors. But there’s no clear guidance on how to do that exactly. You will be able to request such a thing for a specific platform once they contact you. More details could be presented later on, before the new rules go into effect.
These changes could affect nearly a quarter of adult in the country. About 70 million people have a bill in collections at any given time, according to the National Consumer Law Center.
Another problem with the new rule, is that it doesn’t require debt collectors to verify that debt is actually owed by a consumer or is still legally valid before contacting them, Consumer Reports says.
“The rule clarifies how debt collectors can use email, text messages, social media, and other contemporary methods to communicate with consumers. And our rule will allow consumers, if they prefer, to limit the ability of debt collectors to communicate with them through these newer communication methods,” the bureau’s director, Kathleen L. Kraninger, explained. “We are finally leaving 1977 behind and developing a debt collection system that works for consumers and industry in the modern world,” she added.
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[…] bombarded with a plethora of textual content messages, Fb messages, and Twitter DMs. As identified Miles to Memories, the Nationwide Heart for Client Regulation states that as much as 70 million Individuals have […]
[…] you may soon be bombarded with a slew of texts, Facebook messages and Twitter DMs. As noted by Miles to Memories, the National Consumer Law Center states that up to 70 million Americans have an outstanding debt […]
I just took a Daves Ramsey class and he had a whole segment on what debt collectors can and can not do such as only contact you between 9AM – 8 PM in your time zone. If they violate the laws you can also flip it back on them and sue them. He also talked about to stop them from contacting you at all you just need to send a certified receipt Cease & Desist letter (many examples on the web) but it only recommend as a last resort. Once you order them to stop communication all they are backed in to a corner and they may sue you Vs. working with you. If your really being harassed by debt collectors I would suggest brushing up on the law (or take a Dave Ramsey class) so you know your rights and how to protect yourself.
https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/the-truth-about-debt-collectors
Is this a Trump administration change? Can’t believe his leveraged a$$ would go for this. Deutsche Bank will be tweeting him every hour asking for their Deutsche marks back for the Dump Tower here in Chicago.
Good – deadbeats should have to pay!