Capitol Hill Fly-In Day Reports

by Gary Wood, Chairman of the Legislative Task Force

October 6, 2009

Introduction

A representation of the DBA leadership came to Washington, DC recently to address a number of specific issues with Obama Administration officials and with Congress. 

One of our biggest priorities was to discuss the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), and the potential impact of debt buyers and originating creditors being regulated by the same entity. 

Associated with this topic is the issue of federal preemption of state statute of limitations laws on the collection of debts.  DBA's position is that our industry would benefit from a national statute that preempts the 50 state statutes to provide consistency from state to state.  Such preemptive action would provide predictability for consumers and help avoid confusion.  DBA has made the suggestion to federal decision-makers that a nationwide statute of limitations should mirror the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the FCRA’s seven year listing of debts in a credit file.  The CFPA may be one possible avenue to achieve uniformity in this area.

Other issues of interest to the DBA discussed in the various offices throughout the day include Gramm-Leach Bliley Act annual privacy notice requirement, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) reform, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) APA rulemaking authority, 1099c reporting requirements, as well as the reporting of medical debts that have been paid or settled.

Breakfast with Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)

The day began with a breakfast with Congressman Kanjorski, who is the second highest ranking Democratic member of the House Financial Services Committee (HFS).  He began his remarks with a very sobering description of the 2008 financial meltdown by detailing some of the worst possible scenarios that the country faced threatening not only the U.S. economy, but the world economy. 

The Congressman demonstrated a strong understanding of the debt buying industry and an awareness that debt buyers perform a necessary function which benefits both credit issuers and consumers. 

The DBA members that attended this event, including myself, came away with the feeling that Congressman Kanjorski would give a fair hearing to our concerns in the future.  The Congressman’s Chief of Staff Karen Feather was also in attendance at the event. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

We then went to the Federal Trade Commission, where we met with Mr. Joel Winston, the Associate Director of the Privacy & Identity Protection Division of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Tom Kaine and other FTC staff were also in attendance at this meeting.  We focused on the DBA’s role as a representative of the debt buying industry and discussed each of the DBA’s main legislative points.  Other issues discussed include the re-aging of debt, the role of the FTC under the CFPA, the establishment of a self-regulatory organization for the debt industry, adequate documentation, and various litigation and arbitration issues.

The Treasury Department

Our next meeting was at the Department of the Treasury, where we me with Michael Barr, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions; Eric Stein, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection; and Peggy Twohig, Director of the Office of Consumer Protection, and formerly of the FTC.  Issues discussed include CFPA preemption, CFPA assessments from regulated entities, and CFPA civil penalty authority.

Congressional Meetings

• Glen Sears, Professional Staff Member for Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS)
• Kellie Larkin, Counsel to HFS Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA)
• Larry Lavendar, Chief of Staff; Kevin Edgar, Sr. Counsel; Warren Tryon, Deputy Chief of Staff to HFS Ranking Member Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
• Kristin Richardson, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
• Noah Cuttler, Senior Legislative Assistant to Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH)
• Brendan Devine, Legislative Director for Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)
• Brian Kelly, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT)

Cocktail Reception for Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI)

We finished the day with a Cocktail Reception for Congressman Peters - freshman member of Congress and the HFS Financial Institutions Subcommittee.  Congressman Peters had a successful career in business prior to being elected to Congress, and demonstrated a thorough understanding of our issues. 

Conclusion

I have participated in most of DBA’s visits to Capitol Hill and this was one of the most productive efforts that I can remember.  Much credit goes to our DC team of Bob Belair, Kim Phan, and John Blount.  And of course, it is Roger Knauf who makes it all happen.

Once again, I encourage all of our members to join us for one of these Hill Days.  You will be pleasantly pleased at the professionalism exhibited by our team that works to assist the DBA and its members to develop a keener understanding of the legislative process.

September 22, 2009

Introduction

Last month a small group of the DBA leadership (Roger Knauf, Bob Belair, John Blount, Kim Phan and Gary Wood) visited a number of congressional offices.

• Matthew Janiga, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
• Jill Allen Murray, Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Daniel Maffei (D-NY)
• Jessica Perry, Legislative Director for Rep. Michele Bachman (R-MN)
• Stephane LeBouder, Staff Director for Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY)
• Glen Sears, Professional Staff Member to Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS)
• Lauren Todorovich, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA)
• Paolo Mastrangelo, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL)
• Hillary West, Legislative Counsel to Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC)

Discussion

Our primary message was that, given the right package, DBA would be supportive of the CFPA.  In part, this position is the result of a firm belief that a CFPA in some form is a certainty. 

DBA does, however, have a number of recommendations to improve the current CFPA proposal that we presented to the congressional staff that we met.  Number one among those recommendations is for the CFPA to have preemptive authority over state laws with regard to the statute of limitations on the collection of debt.  A universal standard could eliminate much of the confusion and uncertainty that consumers face when confronted with potentially 51 different statutes nationwide.  As an example, we described how the creation of a statute of limitations that mirrors the FCRA reporting period for a debt on a consumer’s credit file would be beneficial for the debt buying industry and for consumer.  We also discussed the unintended consequences that would arise from a shorter statute of limitations that would harm consumers.

We continued to discuss legislation to relieve debt buyers from the duplicative and confusing annual privacy notice requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.  We also worked to further the conversation on the Treasury Department’s 1099-C reporting requirements.

Conclusion

Through these meetings, your association continues to work hard to preserve the opportunities the debt buying industry provides to lenders, consumers and our membership.