Debt Collectors Will Soon Be Allowed To Reach You By Text Or On Social Media!
Agencies are finding a new way to collect their money! According to CBS News, debt collectors will soon be able to contact consumers by email, text message, and social media platforms!
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule late last week outlining how collectors can use new communication methods. The federal government cleared the new way for collection agencies to reach out for debt owed and did not limit the number of messages collectors could send. However, it did require that each message come with instructions on how to opt-out. For instance, consumers will have the ability to unsubscribe from emails and stop text messages.
To note, there are limits on the number of CALLS a debt collector can place within a week because of the 1977 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which was created to prohibit harassing, abusive and unfair debt collection practices. As WCPO notes, consumers can report debt collectors that use abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices when collecting debts to the Federal Trade Commission. The rule is set to go into effect in October 2021.
Consumer advocates have criticized the rule for not requiring alleged debtors to consent before being contacted by email or text, and for setting a limit on phone contact that could result in a flood of calls for people who owe money to several creditors, CBS notes.
“Nobody wants unwanted communication,” Linda Jun, senior policy counsel at the nonprofit Americans for Financial Reform, recently told USA Today. “But lower-income folks, a lot of them are on pay-as-you-text plans, so that’s a major concern if a debt collector gets that number. That is costing that person money, especially money they might not have.”
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