Starting in January, debt collection companies will be under the supervision of the CFPB. Many have been waiting for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to bring that industry in, but time will tell if it makes a difference.
Laws not to be broken
Debt collectors are not all that bad the majority of the time, but there are a few bad ones that given the rest a bad name. The market and the people working in it are hated by most.
The Federal Trade Commission, according to the New York Times, received more than 180,000 grievances about debt collectors in 2011. In 2000, the Federal Trade Commission received 13,950. According to Forbes, the top 100 debt collectors by receipts accounted for 21 percent of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission about debt collection agencies, meaning most of the bad activity is concentrated among the smaller firms.
A ton of people have waited for the CFPB to notice and deal with the problem, and the agency just announced its plans to do just that.
Getting guidelines in Jan
Starting Jan. 2, 2013, debt collectors will officially be under Consumer Financial Protection Bureau direction. The bureau asserts that it wants debt collection agencies will have to clearly identify themselves and disclose the amount of debt owed, as well as communicates "civilly and honestly" with people they are attempting to collect a debt from. Granted, people should pay their personal loans and other obligations, but that does not mean they should be subjected to abuse.
The Dodd-Frank Act produced the agency and is what allows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to deal with non-bank financial institutions.
The only issue with it all is that smaller businesses are off the hook since only companies with $10 million or more in annual receipts are being viewed, according to the Washington Post. The New York Times points out that it is still going to be $12.2 billion a year watched and about 63 percent of business, which is good. However, only 175 of the 4,500 debt collectors are represented in that number.
Reprieve or token gesture
Debt collection agencies are not that bad, specifically when you consider about every 5 in 1 million people complains, according to Forbes.
The largest firms are the largest creditors, and it makes sense that they would be more careful with their practices. It may not be worth creating guidelines just for them since the small corporations are making the mistakes. Still, the CFPB is working on guidelines to regulate the market better.
Laws not to be broken
Debt collectors are not all that bad the majority of the time, but there are a few bad ones that given the rest a bad name. The market and the people working in it are hated by most.
The Federal Trade Commission, according to the New York Times, received more than 180,000 grievances about debt collectors in 2011. In 2000, the Federal Trade Commission received 13,950. According to Forbes, the top 100 debt collectors by receipts accounted for 21 percent of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission about debt collection agencies, meaning most of the bad activity is concentrated among the smaller firms.
A ton of people have waited for the CFPB to notice and deal with the problem, and the agency just announced its plans to do just that.
Getting guidelines in Jan
Starting Jan. 2, 2013, debt collectors will officially be under Consumer Financial Protection Bureau direction. The bureau asserts that it wants debt collection agencies will have to clearly identify themselves and disclose the amount of debt owed, as well as communicates "civilly and honestly" with people they are attempting to collect a debt from. Granted, people should pay their personal loans and other obligations, but that does not mean they should be subjected to abuse.
The Dodd-Frank Act produced the agency and is what allows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to deal with non-bank financial institutions.
The only issue with it all is that smaller businesses are off the hook since only companies with $10 million or more in annual receipts are being viewed, according to the Washington Post. The New York Times points out that it is still going to be $12.2 billion a year watched and about 63 percent of business, which is good. However, only 175 of the 4,500 debt collectors are represented in that number.
Reprieve or token gesture
Debt collection agencies are not that bad, specifically when you consider about every 5 in 1 million people complains, according to Forbes.
The largest firms are the largest creditors, and it makes sense that they would be more careful with their practices. It may not be worth creating guidelines just for them since the small corporations are making the mistakes. Still, the CFPB is working on guidelines to regulate the market better.
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