The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” or FAQs relative to Regulation F that provide answers to questions about the Limited-Content Message and the call frequency provisions of the debt collection rule.
The questions answered by the CFPB are:
- What is a limited-content message
- Is a limited-content message a “communication”?
- Is a voicemail a limited-content message if it contains information that is required by state law but that is not required or optional content under the Rule?
- If a call drops or is otherwise interrupted while a debt collector is leaving a limited-content message, is the voicemail still a limited-content message?
- Can a debt collector use a pre-recorded voicemail message to deliver a limited-content message?
- Are Zortman voicemails considered limited-content messages?
- Does the Debt Collection Rule prohibit a debt collector from leaving a Zortman voicemail?
- Is a debt collector required to use their legal or registered Doing Business As (DBA) name in a limited-content message?
- If the recipient of a limited-content messages researches the business name and identifies the caller as a debt collector, does that mean the voicemail is no longer a limited-content message?
- Does the Debt Collection Rule limit the frequency of telephone calls a debt collector can place, or telephone conversations a debt collector may have, about a debt?
- What are the presumptions related to telephone call frequency?
- Do incoming telephone calls from a consumer to a debt collector about a debt count for purposed of the “call frequency prong” of the presumptions related to telephone call frequency?
- Does the prohibition against repeated or continuous telephone calls or conversations apply to other media types, such as electronic messages that may be received on a mobile phone?
- How do the presumptions related to telephone call frequency apply if a consumer has multiple telephone numbers?
- If a debt collector learns that a telephone number the debt collector previously called is not associated with the consumer, do those calls count toward the presumptions related to telephone call frequency for the consumer?
- How does a telephone conversation about multiple debts count for purposes of the “conversation frequency prong” of the presumptions related to telephone call frequency?
- If a debt collector calls a consumer to discuss multiple debts the consumer owes or allegedly owes but does not reach the consumer or leave any voicemails, how do those telephone calls count for purposes of the “call frequency prong” of the presumptions related to telephone call frequency?
- What if a debt collector operates in a state that has different rules regarding how many times a debt collector may call or have a conversation with a consumer about a debt?
- Are certain telephone calls excluded from the presumptions related to telephone call frequency?
- How long is a consumer’s direct prior consent valid?
- What are some examples of calls that are connected to a dialed number and calls that are not connected to a dialed number?
- Is a limited-content message excluded from the presumptions related to telephone call frequency?
- Is a debt collector’s return telephone call responding to a consumer’s inquiry about settling the consumer’s debt excluded from the presumptions related to telephone call frequency?
- What factors rebut the presumption of compliance with the prohibition against repeated or continuous telephone calls or conversations?
- What factors rebut the presumption of a violation of the prohibition against repeated or continuous telephone calls or conversations?
- If a debt collector places a payment reminder call that exceeds the telephone call frequencies, can the collector rebut the presumption of a violation?
- If a debt collector places a telephone call in response to a consumer inquiry about resolving the consumer’s debt, and the debt collector’s call exceeds the telephone call frequencies, can the collector rebut the presumption of a violation?
