NLIHC and Partners Submit Comment Letter on Strengthening CFPB Interim Final Rule

NLIHC, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) submitted a comment letter on May 7 to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on the interim final rule it issued to strengthen and enforce the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) federal eviction moratorium (see Memo, 4/26). The letter commends the CFPB for taking action in support of the CDC eviction moratorium and outlines recommendations to strengthen the interim rule to better protect tenants.

The interim final rule, which went into effect on May 3, requires debt collectors (including attorneys) to provide written notice to tenants of their rights under the eviction moratorium and prohibits debt collectors from misrepresenting tenants’ rights under the moratorium. Debt collectors who evict tenants without providing notice of the moratorium or who misrepresent tenants’ rights can be prosecuted for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The comments submitted by NLIHC, NCLC, and CRL address §1006.9(c)(1) of the rule, which requires that a debt collector provide written disclosure of the CDC order on the date the eviction action is filed.

NLIHC, NCLC, and CRL recommend that the CFPB clarify that debt collectors must provide the disclosure on the date that the eviction action is filed if an eviction notice is required and they receive the account after the eviction notice has already been provided by a non-debt collector. Doing so would address concerns that the rule’s current language and its official interpretations do not clearly state that a debt collector must separately disclose the existence of the CDC order if a landlord who does not qualify as a debt collector under the FDCPA provided the eviction notice.

Overwhelmed tenants who have just received an eviction notice or been notified that an eviction has been filed against them may be less likely to notice the disclosure or comprehend the information about the CDC order’s protections. To ensure tenants are aware of the CDC order, the CFPB should require debt collectors to provide the disclosure multiple times. The letter also recommends that the CFPB require debt collectors to provide the disclosure at the same time and in the same manner as the eviction notice or notice of the eviction action to ensure tenants receive timely notice of the CDC eviction moratorium. Additionally, NLIHC, NCLC, and CRL urge the CFPB to address language access by requiring debt collectors to provide disclosures in English and Spanish in all communications, translating the sample disclosures into additional languages, and requiring debt collectors to provide a translated disclosure if they know the tenant speaks that language.

The CFPB interim final rule requires debt collectors to provide the disclosure only in evictions for nonpayment of rent where the CDC order “reasonably might apply.” Debt collectors, however, may not know whether the CDC order might reasonably apply and may erroneously exclude some tenants that should have received the disclosure. NLIHC, NCLC, and CRL recommend that the CFPB require the disclosure for all tenants facing eviction for nonpayment of rent. This would simplify the application of the rule and prevent debt collectors from erroneously excluding some tenants who should have received the disclosure. The comment letter also urges the CFPB to require debt collectors to provide tenants information about state, local, territorial, or tribal protections that may apply to them.

Read the comment letter at: https://bit.ly/3feA1S1

Read the CFPB interim final rule at: https://bit.ly/3n9Zq2S

Renters can learn about their rights under the FDCPA and how to report debt collectors who break federal law at: https://bit.ly/3tLU5kI