Just received a Dunning letter via email. Have a question about time frame for reporting to CB’s

[DiamondDan73]

In response to the shared email, I am not an attorney but just like a home phone number, you have to take certain precautions when leaving a message. With email you should have to take certain precautions as well. There are numerous ways to send an encrypted email that only I would have a way to access it. Such as entering my birthdate. It would be similar to leaving a message on an answering machine. You have to give the person listening to the message an opportunity to skip the message if you are not that person.

I'm going to let my attorney figure out the violations if there are any. 

My main concern is not getting another collection account added to my reports. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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@gdale6 wrote:

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

It just became legal to contact you using email, text, and social media.

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Pretty stupid, now the thieves will be everywhere....

OP: That email is illegal as the law doesnt change until 2021....

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I agree. A lot of scams will be happening. I also have been receiving emails from an old collections.

[RobertEG]

No, it is not a violation of the FDCPA for a debt collector to communicate with and/or disclose to your spouse information regarding a debt they are seeking to collect.  FDCPA 805(d) explicitly states that,  for purposes of communication with a consumer regarding a debt, "the term "consumer" includes the consumer's spouse, parent (if the consumer is a minor), guardian, executor, or administrator."

As for communicating a dunning notice via email, FDCPA 809(a) requires that the notice must be a "written notice."

I am not familiar with the supposed "rule" that now permits email communications of some sort, but the issue is whether that would include situations where there is an express requirement of statute that a notice must be written.

Can you provide reference to the rule and the language that would extend emails to written statutory requirements?

[blindambition]

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@RobertEG wrote:

No, it is not a violation of the FDCPA for a debt collector to communicate with and/or disclose to your spouse information regarding a debt they are seeking to collect.  FDCPA 805(d) explicitly states that,  for purposes of communication with a consumer regarding a debt, "the term "consumer" includes the consumer's spouse, parent (if the consumer is a minor), guardian, executor, or administrator."

As for communicating a dunning notice via email, FDCPA 809(a) requires that the notice must be a "written notice."

I am not familiar with the supposed "rule" that now permits email communications of some sort, but the issue is whether that would include situations where there is an express requirement of statute that a notice must be written.

Can you provide reference to the rule and the language that would extend emails to written statutory requirements?

The new rule goes into affect on October 30th, 2021. one year from its vote at CFPB. When it takes effect, you'll be able to opt out of digital correspondence, how you opt out haven't been finalized.

a brief summary can be found here 

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[RobertEG]

Thanks for providing the citation of the new and final rule published in the federal register by the CFPB.

It is very lengthy, but I suspect that somewhere within the long and detailed discussion lies some reference to application to dunning notices, as opposed to general communications attempting collection.

I will review in detail and provide comments at a later time.

Meanwhile, an additional observation regarding the original post.

No, there is no requirment that a debt collector must make any communication with or send the consumer a dunning notice prior to reporting to a CRA.  They can, if they choose, report at any time after they have obtained collection authority without violation of the FDCPA.

[bass_playr]

Regarding the 12/21 date, they are not only giving you two days from date of letter to pay it.  They are only saying that the amount they listed is the correct amount owed up until that date--after 12/21 the balance may increase due to collection fees, interest, etc.  Not an attorney, but in my experience and opinion, the wording as you described it appears to be acceptable under the law.  If they made any direct threat of any further collection effort, like "we are going to sue you unless payment in the above amount is received in our office by 12/21...", then that would be a violation of FDCPA.

A couple of thoughts....first, interest is a tricky business when it comes to debt collection because some jurisdictions have ruled that debt collectors cannot enforce any provision of an agreement that the original creditor waived.  Typically, when dealing with debt--especially credit card debt--the OC will stop charging interest and charge the account off.  This does two things, first, it gets the debt off of their books.  Second, it allows them to stop sending you periodic statements on the account, per the TILA.  TILA requires that if any interest is charged, they must send you periodic statements showing the accrual of all charges and fees.  When they charge off the account, they no longer charge interest so they dont have to send you those monthly statements anymore.

But here's where it can get tricky.  As I said, some courts have ruled that a debt collector cannot charge that interest if the OC waived its right to do so.  The debt collector "steps into the shoes of" the OC...meaning the debt collector has the same rights under the credit agreement--no more, and no less.  Remember that courts differ on this, so there is still confusion and more research is warranted, but in your case, if the OC stopped charging interest and charged off the debt, it's possible that this debt collector has no right to charge interest now.  One notable case is Stratton v. Portfolio Recovery Assocs., LLC, 770 F.3d 443 (6th Cir. 2014), in which the court ruled that the OC had waived its right to collect interest and therefore PRA had no such right itself.  more info on this for you:

https://consumerfinancialserviceslaw.us/can-credit-card-debt-collectors-continue-to-charge-interest-...

[DiamondDan73]

Wow! What a great explanation. Thank you. I called them and they said as long as I pay the full amount owed by 1/29 they would not report it to my credit. I set up a payment plan and will pay it off in time.