There have been no shortage of headlines in the mainstream media in recent months seeking to warn consumers that the next text message or direct message on Facebook may be coming from a debt collector. And while that may be true, it is hardly a cause for concern that consumers should be worried about. The text message or private message you receive is likely to be coming from a legitimate debt collector that is trying to help you resolve a financial obligation that may be impacting your credit score and causing you to pay higher interest rates on your car loan, mortgage, or credit card bill.
The reason you are receiving those text messages and private messages is not just because you have an unpaid financial obligation, but because a federal regulator called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has said that debt collectors are going to be allowed to contact consumers via those communication channels. Let’s face it. People don’t answer the phone anymore if they don’t recognize who is calling them. And most people ignore mail if they don’t know who is sending it. Even if they did answer the phone or open the mail, consumers prefer to communicate via text message. And the CFPB is helping debt collectors communicate with consumers via the channels that they want to use.
Communicating With Consumers In the Way They Want to Be Communicated With
Receiving a text message from a debt collector is not necessarily a bad thing. It can offer consumers an opportunity to take care of a past-due bill they may have forgotten about, but is impacting their credit score in a negative way. And the CFPB has set forth rules about what collectors can say in text messages and requiring that consumers are given the opportunity to opt out of receiving text messages at any time. And when a consumer does opt out, the collector has to honor that request, or they could be sued for not doing so.
There have been great technological advances in debt collection in recent years. Requiring collectors to operate like we are all still living in the 1980s is not good for anyone. Nobody ever likes to be contacted about a past-due debt. But receiving a message that allows the consumer to respond — if he or she chooses to do so — at a time and place that is convenient for them can never be a bad thing. If it was, then the CFPB probably would not have said it was ok to do.
Have questions about this or any other collection-related topic? Please reach out to us at ClientContact@PacificCreditServices.com.