For more information, please visit www.lenderlawwatch.com or www.enforcementwatch.com 25 WHAT TO WATCH Trend towards state enforcement | Scrutiny over student loan and pay day lending debt collectors and relief providers TELEPHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT DEBT COLLECTION LOOKING AHEAD TO 2018 On November 14, the CFPB published in the Federal Register its plans to conduct an 8,000 person survey to better understand debt collection disclosures. This survey is likely to lead to a rulemaking process by the CFPB later in 2018 or early 2019, which may foreshadow a renewed effort by the CFPB to increase its regulation and enforcement of the debt collection process. Last year, we noted a significant level of cooperation in this area exemplified through federal agencies working in partnership with state attorneys general and agencies. 2017 saw that trend come to a halt, as state agencies provided a substantial amount of the enforcement activity and often acted alone. This is likely due, in part, to the fact that the FTC’s federal/state partnership program “Operation Collection Protection” ended at the close of 2016. We are watching whether the states, acting alone, will continue to provide the largest number of enforcement actions, or whether federal agencies will seek to reassert themselves in the area. 0 5 10 15 20 25 CFPB State AG or Agency FTC DOJ / USAO OCC/FDIC 3 - Debt Collection Number of Actions 2 2 17 23 6 2016 2017 1 11 14 22 8 3 - Debt Collection V2 $4.2M 2 2016 NUMBER OF DEBT COLLECTION ACTIONS