Soon Debt Collectors Will Be Allowed to Contact You via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
Soon Debt Collectors Will Be Allowed to Contact You via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
If there was anyone you never want to see sliding into your DMs it’s definitely a debt collector. However, it looks like it will be a definite possibility. In a new rule finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) debt collectors will now be permitted to use platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and it also gives them permission to contact consumers more frequently.
The new rule will go into effect next year. Debt collection agencies will be able to place up to seven debt-collection phone calls per week per person as well as send an unlimited number of texts, emails and social media messages.
“The rule clarifies how debt collectors can use email, text messages, social media, and other contemporary methods to communicate with consumers and our rule will allow consumers, if they prefer, to limit the ability of debt collectors to communicate with them through these newer communication methods.” CFPB director Kathleen L. Kraninger stated.
According to the National Consumer Law Center, nearly 1 in 4 adults in America (70 million people) have a bill in collections at any given time and about 18 million have more than one bill in collections.
According to Consumer Report the credit collection industry welcomes the final rule. “It is a significant step forward in updating outdated collections practices that hurt small businesses and left consumers in the dark,” the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, the largest industry group representing collection agencies in the U.S., said in a statement. “Collections professionals are uniquely trained to provide flexible payments schedules and emergency hardship assistance, and consumers will now reap these benefits more efficiently—especially during COVID-19,” they added.
