The Certification Council is proposing edits to the Receivables Management Certification Program (RMCP). The Council is required to perform a review of certification program standards at least annually to ensure the program reflects “evolving industry best practices, input from key stakeholders and communities of interest, areas of Council concern, and recent regulatory and statutory changes.”

The proposed changes to the Certification Governance Document have been posted on the RMAI website.  RMAI members are encouraged to review the changes and email any comments they have to [email protected] no later than February 26, 2024.

Here is a summary of the major substantive changes to Certification Standards contained in version 12.0:

  • Appendix A – Standard # A2 (Insurance Coverage) – Updates Cyber insurance and E&O insurance levels. Adjusts thresholds for small-medium-large companies.
  • Appendix A – Standard # A7 (Data Security) – Updates standard to require policies to address physical access to facilities and artificial intelligence.
  • Appendix A – Standard # A15 (Vendor Management) – Updates the Vendor Management standard to require commercially reasonable efforts to require in contracts that vendors report major regulatory or judicial actions against the vendor to the certified company within 30 days. Requires the certified company to perform an assessment within two months of such notice.
  • Appendix A – Standard # B1 (Purchase & Sale Documentation Requirements) – Updates the commercially reasonable efforts data column to include the last 12 monthly statements for credit cards. Language similar to what was adopted in North Carolina in 2023.
  • Appendix A – Standard # B4 (Sale Restrictions) – Expands the Sale Restrictions standard to also apply to purchases. Updates standard to prohibit the sale and purchase of accounts that have been in default status for more than 15 years. Fifteen years corresponds with the longest statute of limitations in the nation — Kentucky and Ohio. The standard exempts judgments.
  • Appendix A – Standard # C3 (Legal Malpractice Insurance) – Increases legal malpractice insurance for law firms to $2 million.
  • Appendix A – Standard # C5 (Meaningful Attorney Involvement) – Updates standard to provide additional clarity to the types of documents an attorney should be reviewing to ensure meaningful attorney involvement.

Here is a summary of the major substantive changes to Administrative Provisions contained in version 12.0:

  • Article 4 – Standing Committees – Eliminates the Educational Requirements and Public Relations & Marketing Committees; clarifies responsibilities of the Standards Committee; and indicates the Council Chair and consumer representative on Council serve in ex-officio roles on committees.
  • Article 9.10 – Contracting Services – Indicates the Board may contract with an independent nonprofit corporation to fulfill the responsibilities of the Remediation Committee.
  • Appendix G – Administrative Policies – Adds a new appendix for the documentation of staff administrative policies. The first policy is the requirement to redact company names on the audit reports that are submitted to the Audit Committee.

When responding via email to [email protected], please: (1) indicate “30-Day Comment” in the email subject line, (2) provide your name and company name in the body of the message, and (3) indicate the page and section number from the Certification Governance Document that your comment is referencing. Please note that the page numbers in the index will be slightly off in the redline version – use the page numbers on the bottom of the page.

Based on comments received from this 30-day comment period, additional edits may be incorporated prior to final adoption.  If you have any questions, please contact RMAI at (916) 482-2462.

This Member Alert is intended for members of the Receivables Management Association International, is for informational purposes only, and is in no way intended to provide legal advice. Members are encouraged to consult with an attorney of their choice for legal advice concerning this matter.