Topic archive
Research and practical notes filed under this topic.
December 9, 2025
Federal debt-collection rules now address email, text messages, and private electronic communications, but those tools do not displace core limits on harassment, third-party disclosure, validation information, or consumer requests to stop a channel. This overview explains the current federal baseline under the FDCPA and Regulation F, along with the safeguards any future reform should preserve.
Read the analysisDecember 9, 2025
An original creditor collecting its own consumer accounts is not automatically a debt collector under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This guide distinguishes federal rules for statutory debt collectors from the state-law and operational questions that original creditors should evaluate before running a collection program.
Read the analysisDecember 9, 2025
Debt collection call scripts should guide accurate, respectful conversations and direct agents to pause when a consumer raises a dispute, contact restriction, attorney representation, or other issue requiring review. This framework explains a federal baseline for debt collectors, safer conversation modules, and the limits that require state-specific and counsel-approved controls.
Read the analysisJanuary 23, 2025
The January 2025 federal regulatory-freeze memorandum affected certain pending agency actions, but it did not displace the federal debt-collection rules already in force. Accounts receivable management (ARM) organizations should maintain documented FDCPA and Regulation F controls while separately assessing state-law and account-specific requirements. Published by Search Receivables, a research publication for the receivables industry edited by Jeffery Hartman.
Read the analysisJanuary 18, 2025
FDCPA, TCPA, FCRA, and UDAAP govern different parts of consumer-debt operations: collection communications, certain calling and texting practices, credit reporting, and broader consumer-protection conduct. This federal overview explains the scope of each framework, the operational questions to ask, and why state-law and fact-specific legal review still matter.
Read the analysisJanuary 28, 2023
Consumer debt sales and collection activity require more than a signed purchase agreement. A sound framework identifies the account type, ownership record, collection role, credit-reporting role, and applicable federal and state requirements before contact or reporting begins. This article explains the federal baseline and the operational questions that require jurisdiction-specific review.
Read the analysisApril 14, 2019
If you are contacted about an unfamiliar or older account, identify the party seeking payment before making a decision. Compare your records, the original creditor's response, any validation notice, and the account information on your credit reports, while keeping state-law and timing issues in view. Published by Search Receivables, a research publication for the receivables industry edited by Jeffery Hartman.
Read the analysis