Legal League 100, a trade association of financial services law firms in the United States, formed to advance the mortgage services industry, has released its latest white paper titled “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Regulation F)” . In the white paper, four LL 100 members and subject matter experts examine the 2021 amendments to the Federal Debt Collections Rule (Regulation F) and provide insight into the mortgage services industry.
Regulation F of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) covers several important aspects related to debt collection, including:
- Communications in connection with debt collection
- Prohibitions of certain debt collection behaviors
- Validation information
- Prescribed debts
- Debt litigation
- State Exemption Programs
- Records retention
Authors of the white paper include Brooke E. Sanchez, Esq. of Kent McPhail & Associates LLC, chairman of LL 100; Ryan Bourgeois, Esq. Barrett Daffin Frappier Turner & Engel LLP, member of the LL 100 Special Initiatives Working Group (SIWG); Michelle Garcia Gilbert, Esq. Gilbert Garcia Law Group, member of the SIWG; and Jennifer Rogers, Esq. of Idea Law Group LLC, a member of the SIWG.
As a partner at Kent McPhail & Associates, Sanchez currently manages the firm’s bankruptcy practice. She focuses on serving creditors in all aspects of bankruptcy law, as well as collecting and defending creditors in claims under the FDCPA, FCRA, TILA, and RESPA. She is admitted to practice law in Alabama and Florida.
Bourgeois manages the Texas, Colorado and Georgia foreclosure groups and is responsible for compliance of the BDF legal group. He attended Texas Christian University, where he received a degree in finance in 2002. He received a Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 2005. He is currently a member of the Legal League 100 Advisory Council and the LL 100’s SIWG. Bourgeois is also a member of the USFN Publications Committee and Advocacy Working Group.
As President and Chief Executive Officer of Gilbert Garcia Group, Garcia Gilbert manages a variety of legal matters for the firm and has extensive litigation experience in default and no-default cases, including jury trials and non-jury, motions practice and appellate arguments, throughout the state of Florida. She managed the firm’s expansion into the areas of probate, estate planning, commercial transactions and corporate law. She has practiced real estate and business law since 1989, specializing in default service legal work, including contentious foreclosures, property foreclosures, evictions and commercial litigation.
For 20 years, Rogers’ practice has focused primarily on representing mortgage lenders and services in real estate, remedial title matters, routine and complex civil litigation, bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, foreclosures residential and commercial and evictions. Rogers is a founding member of the Colorado Creditor’s Bar Association. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado.
After a brief introduction to the F-regulations and the FDCPA, the whitepaper details specific changes/requirements to the F-regulations, including:
- The validation notice
- Actions required before the credit report
- Prescribed debts
- Contact, awareness and communication
In addition to the rule’s implications for mortgage servicers, the authors cite unanswered questions in the CFPB guidance, including:
- Can a Mortgage Manager use a non-periodic statement to satisfy the requirements of the Special Mortgage Rule?
- Can a Mortgage Manager use another date, for example, Issue Date, with the Mortgage Special Rule instead of using the last periodic statement date?
- Why does the CFPB appear to require a mortgage agent to use the date of the last periodic statement under the special rule, even if provided by a collection agent, contrary to other validation requirements?
Click here for more information or to access the latest LL 100 white paper, “Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (Regulation F)”.
