House Bill 2356 went into effect in Oregon on Monday, putting into place a host of new requirements for debt buyers and collection agencies.
EDITOR’S NOTE: AccountsRecovery will be hosting a free webinar tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 4, to go over the law and how ARM industry companies must change their policies and procedures to comply. Register here.
Among the new requirements:
- Debt buyers must now obtain a license from the state’s Department of Consumer and Business Services in order to purchase or sell receivables based in Oregon.
- Organizations or individuals which file lawsuits against individuals to collect on unpaid debts now have to provide more information in its pleading and a court may not grant summary judgment unless all the information is provided.
- The state’s Department of Consumer and Business Services has broader powers to regulate and enforce the law.
Among the information that is now required to be included in the initial pleading is:
- The original creditor’s name
- The name, address and telephone number of the person that owns the debt and a statement as to whether the person is a debt buyer
- The last four digits of the original creditor’s account number for the debt
- A detailed and itemized statement that shows:
- The amount the debtor last paid on the debt, if the debtor made a payment, and the date of the payment
- The amount and date of the debtor’s last payment on the debt before the debtor defaulted or before the debt became charged-off debt, if the debtor made a payment
- The balance due on the debt on the date on which the debt became charged-off debt
- The amount and rate of interest, any fees and any charges that the original creditor imposed, if the debt buyer or debt collector knows the amount, rate, fee or charge
- The amount and rate of interest, any fees and any charges that the debt buyer or any previous owner of the debt imposed, if the debt buyer or debt collector knows the amount, rate, fee or charge
- The attorney fees the debt buyer or debt collector seeks, if the debt buyer or debt collector expects to recover attorney fee
- Any other fee, cost or charge the debt buyer seeks to recover
- The date on which the debt buyer purchased the debt.