During the second half of 2010, there has been a great deal of federal and state activity touching on credit counseling and debt services, including: new rules for debt relief services under the Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule and mortgage assistance relief services rulemaking; major enforcement actions by the FTC, state regulators, and state Attorneys General against DMP providers, debt settlement companies, mortgage foreclosure consultants, and lead generators; a new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development housing counseling manual and protocols for reverse mortgage counseling, along with rulemakings on reverse mortgage counseling; and changes in state debt adjusting laws. In addition, the rollout of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – which will regulate credit counseling agencies, debt settlement companies, and housing counseling providers – as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is now well underway.

To help put all of this into perspective, below is a list of the best of the credit counseling and debt services-related legal articles and PowerPoint presentations published or delivered by our attorneys over the second half of the year. We have put together some very interesting, useful materials that should be of help to your organization as you tackle the always challenging array of legal issues facing credit counseling and debt services providers.

Please see full article below for more information.