What You Need To Know About New Rules Allowing Debt Collection Robocalls From Feds
by Chris Morran, The Consumerist
If you ask any American to name the things they love the most, they are sure to reply, “debt collectors, intrusive pre-recorded phone calls, and the federal government!” So today — under orders to do so from a piece of rushed, tacked-on legislation — the Federal Communications Commission released its final rules allowing the federal government and some of its contractors to make debt-collection robocalls to wireless lines.
By way of background, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) generally prohibits businesses from making a non-emergency robocall to a wireless number without the recipient’s prior consent. Then in late 2015, Congress tacked on a last-minute addition to must-pass budget bill, revising the TCPA to explicitly exempt robocalls that involve the collection of debts owed to the federal government.