16994 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 60 / Wednesday, March 31, 2021 / UA: Reg Flex Agenda 

1The listing does not include certain routine, 

frequent, or administrative matters. The Bureau is 

reporting information for this Unified Agenda in a 

manner consistent with past practice. 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

12 CFR Ch. X 

Semiannual Regulatory Agenda 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Semiannual regulatory agenda. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (Bureau) is 

publishing this agenda as part of the 

Fall 2020 Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. 

The Bureau reasonably anticipates 

having the regulatory matters identified 

below under consideration during the 

period from November 2020 to 

November 2021. The next agenda will 

be published in spring 2021 and will 

update this agenda through spring 2022. 

Publication of this agenda is in 

accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 

DATES: This information is current as of 

September 11, 2020. 

ADDRESSES: Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20552. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A 

staff contact is included for each 

regulatory item listed herein. If you 

require this document in an alternative 

electronic format, please contact CFPB_

Accessibility@cfpb.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Bureau is publishing its fall 2020 

Agenda as part of the Fall 2020 Unified 

Agenda of Federal Regulatory and 

Deregulatory Actions, which is 

coordinated by the Office of 

Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866. The agenda lists 

the regulatory matters that the Bureau 

reasonably anticipates having under 

consideration during the period from 

November 2020 to November 2021, as 

described further below.1 The complete 

Unified Agenda is available to the 

public at the following website: http:// 

www.reginfo.gov. 

Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall 

Street Reform and Consumer Protection 

Act, Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376 

(Dodd-Frank Act), the Bureau has 

rulemaking, supervisory, enforcement, 

consumer education, and other 

authorities relating to consumer 

financial products and services. These 

authorities include the authority to 

issue regulations under more than a 

dozen Federal consumer financial laws, 

which transferred to the Bureau from 

seven Federal agencies on July 21, 2011. 

The Bureau’s general purpose, as 

specified in section 1021(a) of the DoddFrank Act, is to implement and enforce 

Federal consumer financial law 

consistently for the purpose of ensuring 

that all consumers have access to 

markets for consumer financial products 

and services and that markets for 

consumer financial products and 

services are fair, transparent, and 

competitive. 

In addition, section 1021 of the DoddFrank Act specifies the objectives of the 

Bureau, including ensuring that, with 

respect to consumer financial products 

and services, consumers are provided 

with timely and understandable 

information to make responsible 

decisions about financial transactions; 

consumers are protected from unfair, 

deceptive, or abusive acts and practices 

and from discrimination; outdated, 

unnecessary, or unduly burdensome 

regulations are regularly identified and 

addressed in order to reduce 

unwarranted regulatory burdens; that 

Federal consumer financial law is 

enforced consistently, without regard to 

the status of a person as a depository 

institution, in order to promote fair 

competition; and markets for consumer 

financial products and services operate 

transparently and efficiently to facilitate 

access and innovation. 

As a general matter, the Bureau 

believes that it can best achieve these 

statutory purposes and objectives by 

using its various tools to focus on the 

prevention of consumer harm. With 

specific regard to rulemaking, the 

Bureau seeks to articulate clear rules of 

the road for regulated entities that 

promote compliance with the law, foster 

competition, increase transparency, and 

preserve fair markets for financial 

products and services. If Congress 

directs the Bureau to promulgate rules 

or address specific issues through 

rulemaking, the Bureau will comply 

with the law. If the Bureau has 

discretion, the Bureau will focus on 

preventing consumer harm by 

maximizing informed consumer choice, 

and by reducing unwarranted regulatory 

burden which can adversely affect 

competition and consumers’ access to 

financial products and services. 

Consistent with these priorities and to 

enhance transparency, the Unified 

Agenda identifies the rulemaking 

activities in which the Bureau is likely 

to be engaged over the next 12 months 

and those that are contemplated in the 

ensuing year. 

Rulemaking To Implement EGRRCPA 

The Bureau is conducting the two 

remaining rulemakings mandated in the 

Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, 

and Consumer Protection Act of 2018, 

Public Law 115–174, 132 Stat. 1297 

(EGRRCPA). As part of these 

rulemakings, the Bureau is working to 

maximize consumer welfare and 

achieve other statutory objectives 

through protecting consumers from 

harm and minimizing regulatory 

burden, including facilitating industry 

compliance with rules. 

First, section 307 of the EGRRCPA 

amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) 

to mandate that the Bureau prescribe 

certain regulations relating to ‘‘Property 

Assessed Clean Energy’’ (PACE) 

financing. As defined by EGRRCPA 

section 307, PACE financing results in 

a tax assessment on a consumer’s real 

property and covers the costs of home 

improvements. The required regulations 

must carry out the purposes of TILA’s 

ability-to-repay (ATR) requirements, 

currently in place for residential 

mortgage loans, with respect to PACE 

financing, and apply TILA’s general 

civil liability provision for violations of 

the ATR requirements the Bureau will 

prescribe for PACE financing. The 

regulations must ‘‘account for the 

unique nature’’ of PACE financing. 

Section 307 of the EGRRCPA also 

specifically authorizes the collection of 

data and information necessary to 

support a PACE rulemaking. In March 

2019 the Bureau issued an Advance 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(ANPRM) and is continuing to engage 

with stakeholders and collect 

information for the rulemaking, 

including by pursuing quantitative data 

on the effect of PACE on consumers’ 

financial outcomes. 

Second, section 108 of the EGRRCPA 

directs the Bureau to conduct a 

rulemaking to exempt from the escrow 

requirement loans made by certain 

creditors with assets of $10 billion or 

less and meeting other criteria, adding 

to a 2013 rule issued by the Bureau 

under the Dodd-Frank Act that created 

an exemption for creditors with under 

$2 billion in assets and meeting other 

criteria. In anticipation of future 

rulemaking activity, the Bureau 

conducted, and in late summer 2019 

released, a preliminary analysis of the 

number of lenders potentially impacted 

by implementation of the new 

exemption in section 108 of EGRRCPA. 

This analysis showed that a limited 

number of additional lenders would be 

exempt under section 108 of EGRRCPA 

once implemented by rule. The Bureau 

issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 


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(NPRM) in July 2020 and expects to 

issue a final rule in early 2021. 

Rulemakings To Implement the DoddFrank Act and Other Statutes 

1. Continuation of Other Rulemakings 

The Bureau is continuing certain 

other rulemakings described in its 

Spring 2020 Agenda to articulate clear 

rules of the road for regulated entities 

that promote compliance with the law, 

foster competition, increase 

transparency, and preserve fair markets 

for financial products and services. 

Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act 

amended the Equal Credit Opportunity 

Act to require, subject to rules 

prescribed by the Bureau, financial 

institutions to collect, report, and make 

public certain information concerning 

credit applications made by womenowned, minority-owned, and small 

businesses. The Bureau hosted a 

symposium on small business data 

collection in November 2019 to 

facilitate its decisionmaking. In 

addition, in July 2020, the Bureau 

released a survey of lenders to obtain 

estimates of one-time costs lenders of 

varying sizes would incur to collect and 

report data pursuant to section 1071. In 

September 2020, the Bureau released an 

outline of proposals under 

consideration and alternatives 

considered in advance of convening a 

panel under the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 

(SBREFA), in conjunction with the 

Office of Management and Budget and 

the Small Business Administration’s 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy, to obtain 

feedback from representatives of small 

businesses on the likely impacts the 

rules the Bureau is considering 

proposing to implement section 1071 

would have on small entities. The 

Bureau expects to convene a SBREFA 

panel in October 2020 and consistent 

with the Bureau’s statutory obligations 

under SBREFA, will complete the panel 

report within 60 days of the panel’s 

convening. 

In addition, to consider concerns 

about possible unwarranted regulatory 

burden, the Bureau also issued an 

ANPRM in May 2019 concerning certain 

data points that are reported under the 

2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act 

(HMDA) rule and coverage of certain 

business or commercial purpose loans. 

The Bureau expects to issue an NPRM 

in early 2021 to follow up on the 

ANPRM. The Bureau also expects to 

issue an NPRM in early 2021 addressing 

the public disclosure of HMDA data in 

light of consumer privacy interests, so 

that stakeholders can concurrently 

consider and comment on the collection 

and reporting of data points and public 

disclosure of those data points. This 

NPRM will follow up on the Bureau’s 

2018 final policy guidance regarding 

disclosure of the HMDA data. Until the 

Bureau promulgates a final rule, it 

anticipates that it will continue to 

disclose HMDA data in the manner 

detailed in the 2018 final policy 

guidance. 

The Bureau also issued an NPRM in 

May 2019 that would prescribe rules 

under Regulation F to govern the 

activities of debt collectors, as that term 

is defined under the Fair Debt 

Collection Practices Act. The Bureau’s 

proposal would, among other things, 

address communications in connection 

with debt collection; interpret and apply 

prohibitions on harassment or abuse, 

false or misleading representations, and 

unfair practices in debt collection; and 

clarify requirements for certain 

consumer-facing debt collection 

disclosures. The proposal builds on the 

Bureau’s research and pre-rulemaking 

activities regarding the debt collection 

market; the conduct of debt collectors 

remains a top source of complaints to 

the Bureau. The Bureau expects to issue 

a final rule in October 2020 with regard 

to the May 2019 NPRM. The Bureau has 

also engaged in testing of time-barred 

debt disclosures that were not the focus 

of the May 2019 proposal. In early 2020, 

after completing the testing, the Bureau 

published a supplemental NPRM related 

to time-barred debt disclosures. The 

Bureau expects to issue a final rule in 

December 2020 addressing disclosures 

related to the validation notice and 

time-barred debt. 

In July 2019, the Bureau issued an 

ANPRM to solicit information about 

possible amendments to the qualified 

mortgage provisions of Regulation Z, 

which implement provisions of TILA. 

With certain exceptions, Regulation Z 

requires creditors to make a reasonable, 

good faith determination of a 

consumer’s ability to repay any 

residential mortgage loan, and loans that 

meet Regulation Z’s requirements for 

‘‘qualified mortgages’’ obtain certain 

protections from liability. One category 

of qualified mortgages (QMs) covers 

certain loans that are eligible for 

purchase or guarantee by either the 

Federal National Mortgage Association 

(Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan 

Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). 

Under Regulation Z, this category of 

QMs (Temporary GSE QM or ‘‘Patch’’ 

loans) is scheduled to expire no later 

than January 10, 2021. In June, the 

Bureau proposed amendments to the 

definition of General QM that would 

move away from the 43 percent Debt-toIncome (DTI) requirement and instead 

establish an alternative, such as a 

pricing threshold (i.e., the difference 

between the loan’s annual percentage 

rate (APR) and the average prime offer 

rate (APOR) for a comparable 

transaction) for loans to qualify as QMs. 

General QM loans would still have to 

meet the statutory criteria for QM status, 

including restrictions related to loan 

features, up-front costs, and 

underwriting. The Bureau also proposed 

in June 2020 to extend the Patch for a 

short period until the effective date of 

the proposed alternative or until one or 

more of the GSEs exits conservatorship, 

whichever comes first. This would help 

ensure a smooth and orderly transition 

away from the Patch by (among other 

things) allowing the Bureau to complete 

this rulemaking and to avoid any gap 

between the expiration of the Patch and 

the effective date of the proposed 

alternative. Finally, in August 2020 the 

Bureau proposed a new ‘‘seasoning’’ 

definition of QM. This definition would 

create an alternative pathway to QM 

safe-harbor status for certain mortgages 

when the borrower has consistently 

made timely payments for a period. The 

Bureau expects to take final action on 

each of these proposals later this year. 

The Bureau is participating in 

interagency rulemaking processes with 

the Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal 

Deposit Insurance Corporation, the 

National Credit Union Administration, 

and the Federal Housing Finance 

Agency to develop regulations to 

implement the amendments made by 

the Dodd-Frank Act to the Financial 

Institutions Reform, Recovery, and 

Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) 

concerning appraisals. The FIRREA 

amendments require implementing 

regulations for quality control standards 

for automated valuation models 

(AVMs). These standards are designed 

to ensure a high level of confidence in 

the estimates produced by the valuation 

models, protect against the 

manipulation of data, seek to avoid 

conflicts of interest, require random 

sample testing and reviews, and account 

for any other such factor that the 

Agencies determine to be appropriate. 

The Agencies will continue to work to 

develop a proposed rule to implement 

the Dodd-Frank Act’s AVM 

amendments to FIRREA. 

The Bureau is continuing a 

rulemaking to address the anticipated 

expiration of the LIBOR index, which 

the UK Financial Conduct Authority has 

stated that it cannot guarantee the 

publication of beyond the end of 2021. 

The Bureau’s work is designed to 

facilitate compliance by open-end and 


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closed-end creditors and to lessen the 

financial impact to consumers by 

providing examples of replacement 

indices that meet Regulation Z 

requirements. For creditors for home 

equity lines of credit (HELOCs) 

(including reverse mortgages) and card 

issuers for credit card accounts, the rule 

would facilitate the transition of 

existing accounts to an alternative 

index, beginning around March 2021, 

well in advance of LIBOR’s anticipated 

expiration. The rule also would address 

change-in-terms notice provisions for 

HELOCs and credit card accounts and 

how they apply to the transition away 

from LIBOR, to ensure that consumers 

are informed of the replacement index 

and any adjusted margin. To facilitate 

compliance by card issuers, the rule 

would address how the rate reevaluation provisions applicable to 

credit card accounts apply to the 

transition from LIBOR to a replacement 

index. This rulemaking will enable the 

Bureau to facilitate compliance by 

creditors with Regulation Z as they 

transition away from LIBOR. The 

Bureau issued an NPRM in June 2020 

and expects to issue a final rule in 

January 2021. 

New Projects and Planning for Future 

Rulemakings 

The Bureau anticipates issuing an 

NPRM in spring 2021 to consider 

possible amendments to the Bureau’s 

mortgage servicing rules to address 

actions required of servicers working 

with borrowers affected by natural 

disasters or other emergencies. In 

January 2013, the Bureau issued final 

mortgage servicing rules, pursuant to 

Regulations X and Z, implementing 

numerous provisions of the Real Estate 

Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and 

TILA, as amended by title XIV of the 

Dodd-Frank Act. The Bureau has since 

made various corrections, clarifications, 

and other amendments to the January 

2013 rules. In June 2020, the Bureau 

issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) 

amending aspects of the mortgage 

servicing rules to address the exigencies 

of COVID–19. Comments received on 

the IFR and information gathered 

through the Bureau’s market monitoring 

suggest that the rules may need 

additional updates to address natural 

disasters or other emergencies. 

Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act 

provides that, subject to rules prescribed 

by the Bureau, covered persons shall 

make available to consumers, upon 

request, transaction data and other 

information concerning a consumer 

financial product or service that the 

consumer obtains from a covered 

person. Section 1033 also states that the 

Bureau shall prescribe by rule standards 

to promote the development and use of 

standardized formats for information 

made available to consumers. In 

November 2016, the Bureau issued a 

Request for Information seeking 

comment from the public to better 

understand the consumer benefits and 

risks associated with market 

developments that rely on access to 

consumer financial account and 

account-related information. In October 

2017, the Bureau issued Consumer 

Protection Principles for ConsumerAuthorized Financial Data Sharing and 

Aggregation to express the Bureau’s 

vision for the data aggregation market. 

The Bureau hosted a symposium on 

consumer authorized financial data 

sharing in February 2020. In fall 2020, 

the Bureau expects to issue an Advance 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

concerning consumer data access to 

implement section 1033 of the DoddFrank Act. 

The Bureau has decided to add two 

new items to its long-term regulatory 

agenda. This portion of the agenda 

focuses on potential regulatory actions 

that an agency may engage in beyond 

the current fiscal year. First, the Bureau 

is adding an entry related to its TILA/ 

RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) 

rule. The Dodd-Frank Act directed the 

Bureau to integrate the mortgage 

disclosures required under TILA and 

RESPA. In November 2013, the Bureau 

issued a final rule to implement this 

requirement (the TILA/RESPA 

Integrated Disclosure or TRID rule). The 

Bureau amended the 2013 final rule on 

two occasions before its effective date, 

and the amended rule took effect on 

October 3, 2015. The Bureau 

subsequently amended the 2013 final 

rule in July 2017 and April 2018. The 

July 2017 Amendments took effect on 

October 10, 2017, and the April 2018 

Amendments took effect on June 1, 

2018. As noted below, in October 2020 

the Bureau will publish a report of its 

assessment of the TRID rule, as 

amended when the rule took effect in 

October 2015, as required by section 

1022(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act. The 

Bureau has received feedback—in 

response to a November 2019 Request 

for Information in connection with the 

TRID rule assessment, the Bureau’s 2018 

Calls for Evidence, and other Bureau 

outreach—suggesting that modifications 

of aspects of the TRID rule may make 

the rule more effective. As the Bureau 

continues to monitor market 

developments, the Bureau will evaluate 

possible policy responses to issues 

identified, including potential 

rulemaking, guidance, or other 

activities. Possible topics for 

consideration will be determined based 

on the findings in the Bureau’s 

assessment report as well as other input 

the Bureau receives on the TRID rule. 

Second, the Bureau has commenced 

research that focuses on providing 

information to consumers about the 

costs associated with payday loans. The 

goal of this research is to identify 

possible ways the Bureau may be able 

to improve consumer understanding 

and aid consumer decisionmaking 

around payday loans through 

rulemaking or other actions. The first 

phase of this research involves 

qualitative testing, which the Bureau 

anticipates completing by the end of 

September 2021. The results of the 

qualitative testing will inform the 

Bureau in deciding whether and how to 

move forward with quantitative testing 

that might support possible future 

rulemaking or other actions related to 

payday loan disclosures. 

The Bureau is also actively reviewing 

existing regulations. Section 1022(d) of 

the Dodd-Frank Act requires the Bureau 

to conduct an assessment of each 

significant rule or order adopted by the 

Bureau under Federal consumer 

financial law and publish a report of 

each assessment not later than 5 years 

after the effective date of the subject 

matter or order. The Bureau expects to 

complete an assessment of its TRID rule 

and certain amendments in October 

2020. 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

also requires the Bureau to consider the 

effect on small entities of certain rules 

it promulgates. The Bureau published in 

May 2019 its plan for conducting 

reviews, consistent with section 610 of 

the RFA, of certain regulations which 

are believed to have a significant impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. Congress specified that the 

purpose of such reviews shall be to 

determine whether such rules should be 

continued without change, or should be 

amended or rescinded, consistent with 

the stated objectives of the applicable 

statutes, to minimize any significant 

economic impact of the rules upon a 

substantial number of such small 

entities. In August 2020 the Bureau 

commenced its review pursuant to 

section 610 of the RFA of Regulation Z 

rules that implement the Credit Card 

Accountability Responsibility and 

Disclosure Act of 2009. Specifically, the 

Bureau will review an interim final 

rule and three final rules published by 

the Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System (Board) from July 2009 

to April 2011. 

Finally, as required by the DoddFrank Act, the Bureau is also continuing 


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to monitor markets for consumer 

financial products and services to 

identify risks to consumers and the 

proper functioning of such markets. As 

discussed in a recent report by the 

Government Accountability Office, the 

Bureau’s Division of Research, Markets, 

and Regulations and specifically its 

Markets Offices continuously monitor 

market developments and risks to 

consumers. The Bureau also has created 

a number of cross-Bureau working 

groups focused around specific markets 

which advance the Bureau’s market 

monitoring work. The Bureau’s market 

monitoring work assists in identifying 

issues for potential future rulemaking 

work. 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU—PRERULE STAGE

Sequence No. Title Regulation 

Identifier No. 

408 .................... Business Lending Data (Regulation B) ............................................................................................................ 3170–AA09 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU—FINAL RULE STAGE

Sequence No. Title Regulation 

Identifier No. 

409 .................... Debt Collection Rule ........................................................................................................................................ 3170–AA41 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 

BUREAU (CFPB) 

Prerule Stage 

408. Business Lending Data (Regulation 

B) 

E.O. 13771 Designation: Independent 

agency. 

Legal Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1691c–2 

Abstract: Section 1071 of the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) 

amended the Equal Credit Opportunity 

Act (ECOA) to require, subject to rules 

prescribed by the Bureau, financial 

institutions to report information 

concerning credit applications made by 

women-owned, minority-owned, and 

small businesses. The amendments to 

ECOA made by the Dodd-Frank Act 

require that certain data be collected, 

maintained, and reported, including the 

number of the application and date the 

application was received; the type and 

purpose of the loan or credit applied for; 

the amount of credit applied for and 

approved; the type of action taken with 

regard to each application and the date 

of such action; the census tract of the 

principal place of business; the gross 

annual revenue of the business; and the 

race, sex, and ethnicity of the principal 

owners of the business. The Dodd-Frank 

Act also provides authority for the 

Bureau to require any additional data 

that the Bureau determines would aid in 

fulfilling the purposes of this section. 

The Bureau may adopt exceptions to 

any requirement of section 1071 and 

may exempt any financial institution 

from its requirements, as the Bureau 

deems necessary or appropriate to carry 

out section 1071’s purposes. The Bureau 

issued a Request for Information in 2017 

seeking public comment on, among 

other things, the types of credit products 

offered and the types of data currently 

collected by lenders in this market, and 

the potential complexity, cost of, and 

privacy issues related to, small business 

data collection. In November 2019, the 

Bureau hosted a symposium on small 

business data collection to facilitate its 

decision-making. The symposium 

explored how to efficiently collect 

appropriate data without imposing 

unnecessary or undue costs that could 

limit access to credit from existing 

market participants or discourage new 

entrants into the market for small 

business credit. The information 

received in response to the Request for 

Information and the symposium will 

help the Bureau as it determines how to 

implement the statute efficiently while 

minimizing burdens on lenders. In 

addition, in July 2020, the Bureau 

released a survey of lenders to obtain 

estimates of one-time costs lenders of 

varying sizes would incur to collect and 

report data pursuant to section 1071. In 

September 2020, the Bureau released an 

outline of proposals under 

consideration and alternatives 

considered in advance of convening a 

panel under the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 

(SBREFA), in conjunction with the 

Office of Management and Budget and 

the Small Business Administration’s 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy. Through 

this SBREFA process, the Bureau will 

obtain feedback from representatives of 

small businesses on the likely impacts 

the rules the Bureau is considering to 

implement section 1071 would have on 

small entities. The Bureau convened a 

SBREFA panel in October 2020 and 

consistent with the Bureau’s statutory 

obligations under SBREFA, will 

complete the panel report within 60 

days of the panel’s convening. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

Request for Information.05/15/17 82 FR 22318 

Request for Information Comment Period 

End.

09/14/17 

Pre-rule Activity— 

SBREFA Outline.

09/15/20 

Pre-rule Activity— 

SBREFA Report.

12/00/20 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: Yes. 

Agency Contact: Kristine Andreassen, 

Office of Regulations, Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau, 

Washington, DC 20552, Phone: 202 435– 

7700. 

RIN: 3170–AA09 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 

BUREAU (CFPB) 

Final Rule Stage 

409. Debt Collection Rule 

E.O. 13771 Designation: Independent 

agency. 

Legal Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1692l(d) 

Abstract: In May 2019, the Bureau 

issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM), which would prescribe rules 

under Regulation F to govern the 

activities of debt collectors, as that term 

is defined under the Fair Debt 

Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The 

Bureau’s proposal would, among other 

things, address communications in 

connection with debt collection; 

interpret and apply prohibitions on 

harassment or abuse, false or misleading 

representations, and unfair practices in 

debt collection; and clarify requirements 


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for certain consumer-facing debt 

collection disclosures. The proposal 

builds on the Bureau’s research and prerulemaking activities regarding the debt 

collection market, including convening 

a panel in August 2016 under the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act (SBREFA) in conjunction 

with the Office of Management and 

Budget and the Small Business 

Administration’s Chief Counsel for 

Advocacy. The conduct of debt 

collectors remains a top source of 

complaints to the Bureau. The Bureau 

expects to issue a final rule in October 

2020 with regard to the May 2019 

NPRM. The Bureau has also engaged in 

testing of time-barred debt disclosures 

that were not addressed in the May 2019 

proposed rule. In early 2020, after 

completing the testing, the Bureau 

issued a supplemental NPRM related to 

time-barred debt disclosures. The 

Bureau expects to issue a final rule in 

December 2020 addressing disclosures 

related to the validation notice and 

time-barred debt. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

ANPRM ............... 11/12/13 78 FR 67847 

ANPRM Comment 

Period Extended.

01/14/14 79 FR 2384 

ANPRM Comment 

Period End.

02/10/14 

ANPRM Comment 

Period Extended End.

02/28/14 

Pre-Rule Activity—SBREFA 

Outline.

07/28/16 

NPRM .................. 05/21/19 84 FR 23274 

NPRM Comment 

Period Extended.

08/02/19 84 FR 37806 

NPRM Comment 

Period End.

08/19/19 

NPRM Comment 

Period Extended End.

09/18/19 

Action Date FR Cite 

Supplemental 

NPRM.

03/03/20 85 FR 12672 

Supplemental 

NPRM Comment Period Extended.

03/27/20 85 FR 17299 

Supplemental 

NPRM Comment Period Extended End.

08/04/20 

Final Rule 1 ......... 11/00/20 

Final Rule 2—Disclosures.12/00/20 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: Yes. 

Agency Contact: Kristin McPartland, 

Office of Regulations, Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau, 

Washington, DC 20552, Phone: 202 435– 

7700. 

RIN: 3170–AA41 

[FR Doc. 2021–04346 Filed 3–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 


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