With the recent changes made to the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act a DMS system like Deal Pack Pro will help you stay compliant with the new changes.

A final rule has been issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that clarifies prohibitions on harassment, misleading representations, and unfair practices by debt collectors. This rule is in place for collecting consumer debt and focuses on the communications between the consumers and the debt collectors. Consumers now have more control over how often, and through what means debt collectors can communicate with them. This rule adds protections for newer communications such as text and emails to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act passed in 1977.

As a result of public feedback during the rulemaking process, the rule establishes a presumption on the number of calls debt collectors may place to reach consumers weekly. The debt collector violates federal law if they contact a consumer more than seven times within seven consecutive days or within seven consecutive days from having a telephone conversation about the debt. Consumers may set limits on communications which reflect their preferences and the limits on communicating with third parties about their debt. If the debt collectors communicate electronically, they must offer consumers a simple and reasonable way to opt out of these communications with a specific email or phone number. The consumer may also use electronic communications to notify the collector that they wish to cease communication or refuse to pay the debt.

Harassing, oppressive, or abusive conduct has also been clarified in this ruling as prohibited on telephone calls and other communication media and gives examples demonstrating how the prohibition restricts emails and text messages. It also restates the FDCPA’s prohibitions on deceptive, unfair, or misleading representations or means. The rule also contains provisions on record retention and disputes.

Having the best Dealer Management Software can assist your business with staying compliant with the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act.  Deal Pack Pro is a very robust DMS system and has top of the line collection tools to help your collectors stay compliant.  Text messages can be sent to consumers with the click of a button and the customer can easily opt out by replying STOP.  This will automatically mark the customer as Restrict SMS=Y in the system and if an attempt to text that person is made the system will prevent it. Deal Pack Pro collections module also has a shared queue feature which allows more than one collector to work the same set of accounts, but the collector is forced to leave a remark before moving on to the next account. This feature helps prevent multiple collectors reaching out to the same customer repeatedly. Deal Pack Pro also has a remark section so the collection can read the latest notes to make sure they are not contacting the customer again.

To learn more about how Deal Pack Pro can help you stay complaint with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act call Deal Pack Pro Support at 1-800-526-5832 or go online to our New Chat feature found here: https://dealpack.com/support and click Live Chat!