The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have announced the topics that will be discussed at a workshop next week on credit reporting, and at least one of the four panel discussions will be related to an issue that many companies in the credit and collection industry are dealing with.
The workshop, which will be held at the Constitution Center in Washington, D.C., starting at 9am ET on Tuesday, December 10 is open to the public and will be live-streamed on the FTC’s website. It will feature four panel discussions:
- the current practices of furnishers of information and compliance with accuracy requirements;
- current accuracy topics for traditional credit reporting agencies;
- accuracy considerations for background screening; and
- navigating the dispute process
Managing disputes is a very complicated and difficult task for companies in the accounts receivable management industry today. From being able to determine whether an individual is disputing a debt to determining whether a dispute is coming from an individual or a credit repair organization, companies who report unpaid debts to a credit bureau are dedicating a tremendous amount of time and resources to their dispute operations.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Have you signed up for a webinar on December 11, sponsored by Microbilt, where a panel of compliance experts will answer all of your dispute questions? Sign up now!]
The CFPB and the FTC have not yet announced who will participate in the panel discussions. The plan is to “bring together stakeholders — including industry representatives, consumer advocates, and regulators — for a wide-ranging public discussion on the changes in the landscape over recent years that may affect the accuracy of consumer reports, such as changes in legal requirements and technological developments,” according to the FTC’s website.
