CFPB Announces Effective Date for FDCPA Final Rules

The CFPB announced on recently that two final rules issued under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act will take effect as planned on Nov. 30, 2021.

The first rule, issued in October 2020, focuses on debt collection communications and clarifies the FDCPA’s prohibitions on harassment and abuse, false or misleading representations, and unfair practices by debt collectors when collecting consumer debt.

The second rule, issued in December 2020, clarifies disclosures debt collectors must provide to consumers at the beginning of collection communications and prohibits debt collectors from suing or threatening to sue consumers on time-barred debt. Additionally, the second rule requires debt collectors to take specific steps to disclose the existence of a debt to consumers before reporting information about the debt to a consumer reporting agency.

The Bureau will publish a formal notice in the Federal Register withdrawing its April 2021 proposal that would have postponed the effective date to Jan. 29, 2022. The CFPB's statement said that nothing in its decision not to change the effective date precludes the CFPB from reconsidering the debt collection rules at a later date.