ACA International has pointed out that the House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, June 25 on the topic of debt collection, but has not provided many details about what exactly will be discussed.
The announcement of the June hearing schedule including the hearing on the 25th, “Examining Legislation to Protect Consumers and Small Business Owners from Abusive Debt Collection Practices” does not reference which legislation will be discussed.
A review of hearings held by the House Financial Services Committee shows that it has not held a hearing specifically on the topic of debt collection in more than six years.
The hearing on debt collection legislation is one of three hearings that the full committee will hold in June, according to the schedule. Six different subcommittees will hold hearings in June, as will two task forces. Some of the other scheduled hearings should be of interest to the credit and collections industry.
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is holding a hearing on June 11, “An Examination of State Efforts to Oversee the $1.5 Trillion Student Loan Servicing Market.” And the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence is holding a hearing on June 26, “Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence: Where We Are and the Next Frontier in Financial Services.”
The House Financial Services Committee is chaired by Rep. Maxine Waters [D-Calif.]. Legislation she sponsored — the Consumers First Act, which seeks to overhaul the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — was recently passed in the House of Representatives.
It will be interesting to see who the committee invites to participate in the hearing and which pieces of proposed legislation are going to be discussed.
