On Dec. 15, 2022, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (FFIEC) Task Force on Consumer Compliance adopted revised examination procedures for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and its implementing regulation, Regulation F.
The revised interagency procedures will apply to examinations conducted by FFIEC’s member regulators of their respective regulated institutions. FFIEC is composed of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The OCC specifically announced that, in light of the new interagency procedures, it is rescinding the “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act” section of the “Other Consumer Protection Laws and Regulations” booklet of the Comptroller’s Handbook. OCC examiners will rely on this new interagency guidance instead.
In announcing this release, FFIEC highlighted the following issues addressed by the revised examination procedures:
- Determinations of whether a financial institution is a debt collector under the FDCPA and Regulation F;
- Prohibitions on certain communications with consumers in connection with debt collection;
- Requirements for a reasonable and simple method that consumers can use to opt out of additional communications and attempts to communicate; and
- Prohibited practices of a debt collector to not harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt.
The revised procedures also incorporate the CFPB’s 2020 and 2021 Fair Debt Collection Final Rules that went into effect on November 30, 2021. A copy of the revised procedures can be accessed by clicking here.
FFIEC is a U.S. government interagency body that was established in 1979 to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions.
