The governor of Nevada this week vetoed a bill that would have required collectors to provide payoff letters and satisfaction letters to individuals who request them while also creating a private right of action against collectors that failed to provide those letters, and revising the way collectors were required to notify individuals with unpaid medical debts prior to initiating any collection activity.
A copy of AB 223 can be accessed by clicking here.
The bill received near-unanimous support in the Nevada legislature, passing in the Senate by a vote of 20-to-0 and in the state Assembly by a vote of 38-to-2. But Gov. Joe Lombardo, who called the bill “well-intended” said that the private right of action against collection agencies was a deal-breaker, according to a published report. The state already has established processes for filing claims with the Financial Institutions Division and Department of Business Industry that “are less expensive and more streamlined than traditional litigation,” the governor said in the report.
“While debtor protection is an important goal, the policy changes contemplated in this bill should instead be deliberated and executed upon through the Department of Business and Industry’s regulatory processes,” the governor wrote in his veto letter. “As such, since the FID’s mechanism for resolving debt-collection disputes better serves the needs of Nevadans without the need for costly litigation, I cannot support this bill.”
The veto can be overridden with a two-third majority, which Democrats have in the Assembly, but are one vote shy of in the Senate. The report indicated that the legislature would not attempt to override the bill.
