If there was any lingering doubt among the minds of anyone in the accounts receivable management industry that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was not going to put Regulation F into effect on November 30 — those doubts can be put to rest. The CFPB has taken the official step of withdrawing its proposed rule that would have delayed the effective date of the debt collection rule by 60 days and published the notice in The Federal Register.
In April, the CFPB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that sought to delay the effective date of Regulation F until January 22, 2022, from November 30. 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.
Then, in July, the CFPB announced that it was abandoning the proposal and instead moving forward with the original enactment date of November 30. “The CFPB has now determined that such an extension is unnecessary,” it said in a press release. “Following this announcement, the CFPB will publish a formal notice in The Federal Register withdrawing the April 2021 proposal.”
That notice was published on September 1.
“Most industry commenters stated that, despite the pandemic, they will be prepared to comply with the Debt Collection Final Rules by November 30, 2021,” the CFPB said in the notice. “Many industry commenters also stated that an extension would reduce regulatory certainty and thus increase burden on small entities. Consumer advocate commenters generally supported extending the effective date. However, these commenters generally did not focus on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or on whether stakeholders need additional time to review and implement the Rules. Instead, they urged the Bureau to use the extension to reconsider the Debt Collection Final Rules. However, extending the effective date to reconsider the rules is beyond the scope of the Bureau’s proposal. For these reasons, the Bureau has decided to withdraw the proposal. The Debt Collection Final Rules will take effect on November 30, 2021.”
