In This Update
State Legislation Impacting Your Business
2022 DIGEST OF NEW STATE LAWS
A New Resource for RMAI Members
RMAI is pleased to provide its members this Digest of New State Laws that were enacted during the 2022 legislative cycle that may impact your operations. Members are encouraged to share this list with your legal, compliance, and operational staff. The most impactful laws requiring your closest attention are designated with an asterisk (*).
While every effort has been made to provide you a comprehensive list of collection-related laws, RMAI makes no representation that the laws and their summary descriptions provided below are an exhaustive list. Although a fairly rare occurrence, additional laws may be passed in the Fall during special legislative sessions. Even more rare, one such law that might be adopted in November is via a ballot initiative, where the voters in the state of Arizona will decide whether to ban wage garnishment on individuals earning below $50,000 and increase the homestead exemption to $450,000.
Arizona SB 1394 [Chapter 45] Effective: September 24, 2022 – Permits entities, including debt collectors, licensed by the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions to no longer obtain a separate license when doing business under an assumed name or a trade name if the licensee notifies the department in writing, on a form prescribed by the director, before using the assumed name or trade name.
NOTE: The California Legislature adjourned on August 31st. The Governor has until September 30th to sign bills into law. RMAI expects the following five California bills to be signed into law by the Governor.
California AB 2424 [Chapter ___ Awaiting Governor’s Signature] Effective: January 1, 2023 – This bill adds additional requirements impacting the activities of credit services organizations. Specifically, credit service organizations would be required to: (1) provide a monthly statement to the consumer detailing the services performed; (2) redact the personal information of consumer as specified; (3) make written communications sent on behalf of consumers available to the consumer; and (4) provide sufficient information in the first written communication to be able to investigate an account. Additionally, credit service organizations would be prohibited from: (1) making, counseling, or advising a consumer to make, a statement that is untrue or misleading to a data furnisher and (2) communicating without the prior written authorization of the consumer.
*California SB 975 [Chapter ___ Awaiting Governor’s Signature] Effective: July 1, 2023 – Requires creditors/debt collectors to cease collection activities upon receipt of documentation or a sworn written certification of a coerced debt until a review is performed. The bill would also allow a debtor to bring an action or a claim against a creditor/debt collector to establish that a particular debt is coerced. If a debtor establishes that a particular debt is coerced, the bill: (1) would entitle the debtor to specified relief, including an injunction prohibiting the creditor/debt collector from holding or attempting to hold the debtor personally liable on the debt, and (2) would require the court to issue a judgment in favor of the creditor/debt collector against any person who coerced the debtor into incurring the debt.
California SB 1099 [Chapter ___ Awaiting Governor’s Signature] Effective: January 1, 2023 – Provides that neither the act of filing a bankruptcy petition by the buyer or other person liable on a motor vehicle sales contract nor the status of either of those persons as a debtor in bankruptcy constitutes a default in the performance of any of the buyer’s obligations under the contract and neither may be used as a basis for accelerating the maturity of any part or all of the amount due under the contract or for repossessing the motor vehicle.
*California SB 1200 [Chapter ___ Awaiting Governor’s Signature] Effective: January 1, 2023 – Reduces the post-judgment interest rate from 10% to 5% for: (1) a money judgment under $200,000 that remains unsatisfied for a claim related to medical expenses and (2) for a money judgment under $50,000 that remains unsatisfied for a claim related to personal debt. The bill would also limit the aforementioned judgments to 10 years with one five-year renewal.
*California SB 1477 [Chapter ___ Awaiting Governor’s Signature] Effective: September 1, 2023 – Increases the disposable earnings that are exempt from wage garnishment by increasing the minimum wage multiplier from 40x to 48x. This bill would also limit earnings that can be garnished above the statutory exemption to 40% until that exceeds 20% of weekly disposable income.
Colorado HB 1049 [Chapter 118] Effective: April 21, 2022 – Allows colleges to withhold a student’s transcript or diploma for failure to pay debt in certain circumstances.
Colorado HB 1137 [Chapter 367] Effective: August 9, 2022 – Procedures for collection of delinquent accounts related to a homeowner’s association assessments, fines, or fees.
Colorado HB 1285 [Chapter 447] Effective: February 15, 2023 – Prohibits a hospital or entity collecting on behalf of the hospital from initiating or pursuing collection actions against a patient or patient guarantor for debt incurred by the patient when the hospital was not in material compliance with federal hospital price transparency laws.
Colorado HB 1403 [Chapter 203] Effective: September 1, 2022 – Changes the effective date of House Bill 21-1198 which established health-care billing requirements for indigent patients from June 1, 2022 to September 1, 2022. The Indigent Care Act requires health care facilities to screen patients for eligibility for charity care or other government assistance. Prior to taking any collection action or selling any accounts, the health care facility shall provide a 30-day notice of potential collection actions and shall include with the notice a statement developed by the department of health care policy and financing that explains the availability of discounted care for qualified individuals and how to apply for such care.
*Colorado SB 86 [Chapter 74] Effective: April 7, 2022 – Establishes a $2,500 exemption for garnishments on bank accounts and increases the homestead exemption from $75,000 to $250,000 for the general public and $105,000 to $350,000 for the elderly and disabled. See RMAI’s April 15, 2022 Member Alert.
Connecticut HB 5473 [Public Act No. 22-117] Effective: May 27, 2022 – Authorizes the Commissioner of Revenue Services to study the feasibility of selling outstanding tax liabilities that are owed to the state.
*Connecticut SB 6 [Public Act No. 22-15] Effective: July 1, 2023 – Enacts comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation. Collection agencies generally fall within the Gramm Leach Bliley data and entity exemptions. RMAI provided members with a detailed summary of the Act’s applicability, exemptions, consumer rights, contractual requirements, risk assessments, and enforcement. See RMAI’s May 11, 2022 Member Alert.
*Connecticut SB 268 [Public Act No. 22-94] Effective: October 1, 2022 – Increases collection agency bonds (debt buyers are exempted from this requirement) from $25,000 to $100,000 for the main office and $50,000 for each branch office.
*District of Columbia Bill 357 [L24-0154] Effective: January 1, 2023 – Enacts comprehensive debt collection reforms in the District of Columbia, including: (1) expanding the prohibitions on deceptive behavior; (2) prohibiting debt collectors from making more than four phone calls to a consumer in seven days; (3) limiting debt collectors to one email, text, or direct messaging communication in a seven day period until the consumer opts into e-communications; once opting in they can make five communications; (4) requiring debt collectors to have complete documentation related to the consumer debt being collected; (5) requiring debt collectors to provide extensive data and documents to the consumer within 15 days of a written request; (6) requiring lengthy consumer notices informing consumers of their rights; (7) requiring debt collectors who enter into a payment schedule or settlement to provide a written copy of the schedule or agreement; (8) adding specific requirements for a debt collector when initiating a cause of action against a consumer for consumer debt; (9) requiring account level-affidavits similar to New York; and (10) increasing damages that can be awarded to a consumer for violation of the act.
*Idaho HB 610 [Chapter 286] Effective: July 1, 2022 – Amends the collection agency act to create licensing efficiencies, including, but not limited to: (1) eliminating the designation of a responsible person in charge of the license; (2) permitting the use of an electronic filing system; and (3) allowing for the reinstatement of an expired license. The law also adds a provision to allow collection agencies to collect incidental charges included in the contract between the creditor and the debtor.
*Illinois HB 5220 [Public Act No. 975] Effective: January 1, 2023 – Amends the collection agency act to: (1) require a collection agency’s owners or officers to demonstrate financial responsibility, business experience, character, and general fitness to merit a license; (2) allow the department to seek disciplinary action for an adjudicated finding by the Federal Trade Commission or other federal or State agency that a licensed collection agency violated the FDCPA or its rules; and (3) authorize broad rulemaking authority.
Maryland HB 128 [Chapter 618] Effective: October 1, 2022 – Requires debt settlement servicers to make certain disclosures to consumers relating to student education loan debt, including all advertisements for services related thereto.
Maryland HB 804 [Chapter 106] and Maryland SB 252 [Chapter 107] Effective: July 1, 2022 – Prohibits financial institutions from performing acts that are anticompetitive, unfair, deceptive, abusive, or injurious to the public interest. It also authorizes the Commissioner of Financial Regulation to issue orders requiring the correction of a violation of law subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner, including the restitution of money or property.
Maine HB 669 (LD 913) [Public Law No. 644] Effective: August 8, 2022 – Provides that civil court records are only accessible by the public at the courthouse when: (1) there was resolution by agreement of the parties; (2) dismissed or resolved in favor of the defendant; and (3) they are older than 3 years.
Maine SB 656 (LD 1838) [Public Law No. 538] Effective: August 8, 2022 – Prohibits a college from withholding a student’s transcript or diploma or conditioning its release on an agreement to a repayment plan except in certain circumstances.
Minnesota SB 1391 [Chapter 67] Effective: August 1, 2022 – Exempts certified professional accountants, CPA firms, enrolled agents, and enrolled agent affirms from the definition of “Debt Management Services Provider.”
*Minnesota SB 2922 [Chapter 70] Effective: June 1, 2022 (work from home) and September 1, 2023 (consumer notice) – Modifies the collection agency act to permit employees of a licensed collection agency to work from a location other than the licensee’s business location if the licensee and employee comply with all requirements under this section that would apply if the employee were working at the business location, except that a branch license fee will not be required. The law also requires the Department of Commerce to develop a consumer notice in English, Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Vietnamese, and Chinese which collection agencies must provide in their initial written communications. The notice reads: “There are resources available to help manage your debt. The following Minnesota organizations offer debt and credit counseling services. The Department of Commerce does not control or guarantee any of the services provided by these organizations. The provision of this list is not a referral to, or endorsement or recommendation of, any organization or the organization’s services.”
*North Carolina SB 496 [Session Law Number 2022-46] Effective: July 7, 2022 – Requires (see Part X of bill) collection agencies to discontinue attempts to collect debt against consumers who reside within an area where a major disaster has been declared when the consumer notifies the collection agency that they are experiencing significant financial hardship related to the public health emergency or stay at home order.
*New York AB 7487 [Chapter 238] Effective: December 27, 2022 – Requires a creditor to cease collection activities, until a review has been completed, upon receipt of a completed and signed federal trade commission identity theft victim’s report filed by the debtor alleging that the debtor is the victim of identity theft. The law also permits “an express statement that the debtor was coerced to authorize the use of the debtor’s name or personal information for incurring the debt” as a basis for identity theft.
Rhode Island HB 7690 [Public Law No. 2022-203] Effective: June 27, 2022 — Requires a judgment creditor to provide a judgment debtor 25 days to contact the judgment creditor to resolve a matter prior to court intervention and in the event the debtor does not contact the creditor, the court shall issue a notice with a time and date for a hearing.
*Rhode Island HB 7781 [Public Law No. 2022-338] Effective: June 29, 2022 – Establishes a $50,000 bond for licensed debt collectors in Rhode Island. See RMAI’s July 8, 2022 Member Alert.
*Utah SB 227 [Session Law Chapter: 462] Effective: December 31, 2023 – Enacts the Utah Consumer Privacy Act. The law provides consumers the right to access and delete certain personal data maintained by certain businesses and opt out of the collection and use of personal data for certain purposes. Collection agencies generally fall within the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) data and entity exemptions.
Vermont HB 287 [Act No. 119] Effective: July 1, 2022 with large health care facilities coming into compliance by July 1, 2024 — Provides that each large health care facility in the state shall develop a written financial assistance policy that, at a minimum, complies with specified provisions and any applicable federal requirements.
Vermont SB 11 [Act No. 183] Effective: July 1, 2022 – Provides in section 57, that a person shall not initiate an automatically dialed or prerecorded telephone call to a Vermont consumer in violation of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, and the regulations adopted pursuant to those Acts.
Virginia HB 714 [Chapter 451] and Virginia SB 534 [Chapter 452] Effective: January 1, 2023 – Amends the Consumer Data Protection Act to eliminate the Consumer Privacy Fund and requiring all civil penalties, expenses, and attorney fees collected pursuant to the act be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Regulatory, Consumer Advocacy, Litigation, and Enforcement Revolving Trust Fund.
Washington HB 1616 [Chapter 197] Effective: July 1, 2022 – Amends the state’s Charity Care Act. Requires hospitals to include in their policies procedures for identifying patients who may be eligible for health care coverage through medical assistance programs or the Washington health benefit exchange and actively assisting patients to apply for any available coverage. The amendments also state that asset information obtained by the hospital in evaluating a patient for charity care eligibility shall not be used for collection activities.
The RMAI Government Affairs Team and RMAI’s state lobbyists were instrumental in obtaining amendments favorable to the industry on the vast majority of the bills indicated above as being impactful to the industry, and outright stopped countless other bills. RMAI is proud of our over 90 percent legislative success record we have achieved over the past decade in our state-level advocacy efforts. RMAI is already preparing for the 2023 Legislative Session with meetings this fall with key legislators in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New York. However, advocacy does not come cheap. Over the past ten years, RMAI has spent over $2 million in retaining the highest caliber lobbyists. We could not have accomplished what we have without your generous contributions to the RMAI Legislative Fund. For more information on how you can contribute to the RMAI Legislative Fund, click here.
This resource 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.
RMAI’s leadership cultivates relationships within the receivables management industry to expand business opportunities for members.
RMAI 2022 Washington D.C. Regional Event | September 26-27, 2022
Applications due for the RMAI Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) 2023 Annual Conference Scholarship | October 14, 2022
RMAI 2023 Annual Conference | February 6-9, 2023
Thank you to our September 2021 – September 6, 2022 Legislative Fund Contributors!
Diamond $25,000
Cavalry Investments, LLC
Crown Asset Management, LLC
Financial Recovery Services, Inc.
First Financial Portfolio Services, LLC (FFAM360)
Midland Credit Management
Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
Resurgent Holdings, LLC
Titanium $15,000
National Credit Adjusters, LLC
Platinum $10,000
Blitt and Gaines, P.C.
Cascade Capital, LLC
InvestiNet, LLC
Second Round, LP
Unifund CCR LLC
Gold $7,500
Miller and Steeno, P.C.
Pressler, Felt and Warshaw, LLP
Rausch Sturm, LLP
Superlative RM
Silver $5,000
AscensionPoint Recovery Services, LLC
CKS Financial
Digital Recognition Network
FMA Alliance, Ltd
Halsted Financial Services, LLC
Klima, Peters, & Daly, P.A.
Spring Oaks Capital, LLC
T&I Enterprises, LLC
Tromberg, Morris & Poulin, PLLC
Velo Law Office
Bronze $2,500
Absolute Resolutions Corp.
Couch Lambert
DebtNext Software, LLC
Investment Retrievers, Inc.
Ragan & Ragan
RAzOR Capital, LLC
Resurgence Capital, LLC
SAM, Inc. – Solutions for Account Management
Security Credit Services, LLC
Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A.
Brass $1,000
Andreu, Palma, Lavin & Solis, PLLC
Bayview Solutions, LLC
Complete Credit Solutions, Inc.
FLOCK Specialty Finance
Gordon, Aylworth & Tami, P.C.
Hunt & Henriques
Kino Financial Co., LLC
Levy & Associates, LLC
Maxwell & Graves Solutions, LLC
Quantum3 Group, LLC
Simmonds & Narita, LLC
Slovin & Associates
Synergetic Communication, Inc.
The Cadle Company
Tobin & Marohn
VeriFacts, Inc.
Vertican Technologies, Inc.
Other
Accelerated Data Systems
Acctorp International, Inc.
Action Collection Agencies, Inc.
Advancial Federal Credit Union
Aldridge Pite Haan, LLP
Alliance Data
Alliant Capital Management LLC
Arko Consulting LLC
ARM Compliance Business Solutions
Atlas Acquisitions
Attunely Inc.
Autovest, LLC
Ballard Spahr, LLP
Beam Software
Business and Professional Collection Service, Inc.
Butler & Associates, P.A.
C&E Acquisition Group, LLC/ Diverse Funding Associates
Capio
Capital Collection Management, LLC
Capital Link Management, LLC
Client Services Incorporated
CMS Services
Commercial Credit Group Inc.
Complete Credit Solutions, Inc.
Comtronic Systems, LLC
Conficio Capital, Inc.
Converging Capital, LLC
Convoke, Inc.
Cornerstone Support, Inc.
Credit Control, LLC
Credit Management Corporation
Credit Corp Solutions, Inc.
CSS Impact!
Debt Recovery Solutions, LLC
Delev & Associates, LLC
Dyck-O’Neal, Inc.
Dynamic Recovery Solutions
Equabli
Experian
Finvi
First American Acceptance Co., LLC
First Solutions Debt Management, LLC
FMS, Inc.
G. Reynolds Sims & Associates, P.C.
Gaskell & Giovannini, LLC
Genesis Recovery Services
Guglielmo & Associates, PLLC
Harvest Strategy Group, Inc.
Indiana Receivables, Inc.
Interim Capital Group, Inc.
International Debt Buying Consultants, LLC
Invenio Financial, a Phillips & Cohen Associates Company
Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC
Jormandy
Keith D. Weiner & Associates Co., LPA
Kelly Knepper -Stephens
Kirschenbaum & Phillips, P.C.
Law Offices of Steven Cohen, LLC
Lockhart, Morris & Montgomery, Inc.
Malone Frost Martin PLLC
MauriceWutscher LLP
Metronome Financial LLC
Monarch Recovery Management, Inc.
National Debt Holdings, LLC
National Loan Exchange NLEX
National Recovery Associates, Inc.
National Recovery Solutions, LLC
Nationwide Recovery Systems
NCB Management Services, Inc.
Nelson & Kennard
NRA Group, LLC
PCI Group Inc.
Phin Solutions, LLC
Portnoy Schneck, L.L.C.
Poser Investments, Inc.
Premier Forty Financial, LLC
Premium Asset Recovery Corp (PARC)
Pro Forma Inc
Provana, LLC
ProVest LLC
Quall Cardot, LLP
RAS LaVrar LLC
Repay
Resource Management Services, Inc.
RevSpring
Robinson, Hoover & Fudge, PLLC
Scott & Associates, PC
Sentry Credit, Inc.
SMS Financial, LLC
State Collection Services, Inc.
Stone, Higgs & Drexler
Suttell & Hammer
Synchrony Financial
Tag Process Service, Inc.
Tate & Kirlin
Techno Brain BPO ITES Limited
TransUnion
Troy Capital, LLC
United Acquisitions, LLC
USASF Servicing
Vargo & Janson, P.C.
Velocity Portfolio Group, Inc.
Venable LLP
VoApps
Zenarate, Inc