NCBA Issues Statement in Response to the CFPB's Debt Collection Rule Release

National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA) issues the following statement after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (Bureau) final rulemaking on the implementation of the Fair Debt Collection Procedures Act (FDCPA):

NCBA acknowledges and thanks the Bureau for its ongoing efforts to provide fairness and clarity to consumers, creditors, creditors’ rights attorneys, and the entire credit ecosystem. We applaud the Bureau for its fair, transparent, and open rulemaking process. We appreciate the Bureau’s careful attention to our members’ concerns on regulating attorney conduct and the importance of the independence of the practice of law. In particular, the removal of the Safe Harbor Meaningful Attorney Involvement provision reflects the Bureau’s understanding of the separation between the Executive branch and the Judiciary. NCBA looks forward to further productive dialog with the Bureau.

NCBA Executive Director Liz Terry elaborated, “Our government has three distinct branches--Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Attorneys are regulated by the judicial branch of the government. We applaud the CFPB for listening and recognizing that an agency under the power of the Executive Branch should not attempt to regulate the practice of law.”

NCBA President Mark Groves added, “NCBA, the American Bar Association, and numerous other bar associations made known their opposition to the safe harbor provision in the Bureau’s proposed debt collection rule. I applaud the Bureau for its considerable and careful attention to these issues and acknowledging the independence of the practice of creditors' rights law.”