CFPB Releases Annual FDCPA Report

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") report, which provides a comprehensive overview of both the CFPB's and Federal Trade Commission's enforcement efforts throughout 2015.  The report specifically provides a background of the debt collection market, an overview of consumer complaints, a description of the CFPB's supervisory and enforcement activities in the debt collection market, and a discussion of the Bureau's rulemaking activities and the FTC's policy and research initiatives.

Specifically, with regards to the Bureau's supervisory activities, the CFPB noted a number of FDCPA violations discovered throughout 2015.  During the examination of one or more debt collectors, the CFPB determined that the collectors' employees did not always state that the calls were from debt collectors and also failed to implement consumer requests regarding communications.  The Bureau's examiners also found