The 30-day comment period on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to delay the effective date of Regulation F, its Debt Collection Rule, is now open, after the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published today in the Federal Register.
Comments on the NPRM to delay the implementation of Regulation F to Jan. 29, 2022 from November 30 of this year must be submitted on or before May 19. Comments can be submitted electronically by going to http://www.regulations.gov/ and searching for Docket No. CFPB-2021-0007 or RIN 3170-AA41. As well, comments can be submitted via email to 2021-NPRM-DCEffectiveDate@cfpb.gov. You must include Docket No. CFPB-2021-0007 or RIN 3170-AA41 in the subject line of the message. If you are old school, you can mail your comment to the CFPB by addressing it to Comment Intake — Debt Collection Effective Date, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
The CFPB said it is seeking to delay the effective date of the rule in order to give companies more time to comply because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The proposed delay would allow stakeholders affected by the pandemic additional time to review and implement the rules,” the CFPB stated in a release announcing the NPRM. The CFPB is asking for comments about whether the effective date needs to be extended and, if it does, whether 60 days is an appropriate amount of time.
Among the information being sought by the CFPB in the NPRM to delay the effective date are requests for comment on whether the CFPB would facilitate implementation to retain the November 30 effective date for some or all of the safe harbors identified in the Debt Collection Final Rules. As well, The Bureau is seeking comments on the costs and benefits of permitting debt collectors to obtain a safe harbor for using the Bureau’s model validation notice as of November 30, even if the Debt Collection Final Rules do not otherwise take effect until Jan. 29, 2022.
