FTC Details Remaining Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration Panels

The Federal Trade Commission will hold two more roundtable discussions centered around debt collection litigation and arbitration practices. The additional panels will be held in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

The panels follow up on the FTC’s February 2009 report Collecting Consumer Debts: The Challenges of Change – A Workshop Report, which recommended that the debt collection regulatory system in the U.S. should be reformed and modernized (“FTC Proposes Significant Changes to FDCPA in Workshop Report,” Feb. 27). The report noted that not enough was known to recommend regulation for debt collection litigation and arbitration, so the agency announced that roundtables would be held to gather more information.

The first roundtable, held in Chicago in early August, featured a robust panel of more than a dozen accounts receivable management industry representatives, attorneys, legal experts and consumer advocates. Much of the discussion centered around process servers (“Key Figures Download on FTC Discussion on Process Servers and Legal Collection Issues,” Aug. 11).

The FTC said late last week that the next discussion will be held in San Francisco on September 29 & 30. San Francisco State University will host the event. The last event is scheduled for December 4 in Washington, although the FTC did not give details on where the event will be held.

The formal title for the San Francisco event is “Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration: A Roundtable Discussion.” The first day of the Roundtable, September 29, will cover topics in consumer debt collection arbitration proceedings, such as the role of consumer choice, perceptions of bias, transparency of results, post-decision issues, and future directions in arbitration of consumer debts. The second day of the Roundtable, September 30, will cover topics in consumer debt collection litigation proceedings, such as service of process, consumer default rates, time-barred debts, evidentiary requirements in collection actions, and post-judgment issues.

The FTC is also asking for comments from the public on the matter. Written comments and original research can be sent to the FTC until November 30, 2009. Comments should refer to “Debt Collection Roundtable – Comment, Project No. P094806.” To file electronically, follow the instructions and fill out the form at https://public.commentworks.com/ftc/debtcollectroundtable2.