The American Bankers Association is supporting a petition to the Federal Communications Commission from the Federal Housing Finance Association to have certain categories of calls from mortgage services exempted from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
The FHFA is seeking to have calls placed by mortgage servicers to individuals during disasters fall under the “emergency purposes” exemption of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Normally, callers must have prior expressed consent to contact an individual on his or her cell phone, except unless the call is made for “emergency purposes.”
The FCC defines “emergency purposes” as necessary in any situation affecting the health and safety of consumers. In its brief supporting the petition, the ABA noted:
“Mortgage servicers seek to place important, pro-consumer calls and texts to mortgage borrowers during a disaster situation, including to advise that the borrower may temporarily forego making mortgage payments, to provide information on filing an insurance claim, and to warn of disaster-related fraudulent schemes,” ABA noted. These messages “serve borrowers’ interests and can be conveyed most efficiently and reliably by automated calls to borrowers’ telephones.”
