Consumer debt.

Existing law, the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, regulates the collection of a consumer debt, as defined, by a debt collector. Existing law defines "debt collector" to mean a person who, in the ordinary course of business engages in debt collection, including any person who composes and sells, or offers to compose and sell, forms, letters, and other collection media used or intended to be used for debt collection. Existing law, the Debt Collection Licensing Act, prohibits, beginning January 1, 2022, a person from engaging in the business of debt collection in this state without first obtaining a license from the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation. Existing law prohibits a debt buyer from making a written statement to a debtor in an attempt to collect a consumer debt unless the debt buyer possesses specified information, including the date of default or the date of the last payment, and requires the debt buyer to include specified information in the written statement to the debtor. Existing law defines "debt buyer" to mean a person or entity that is regularly engaged in the business of purchasing charged-off consumer debt for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt itself, hires a third party for collection, or hires an attorney-at-law for collection litigation. This bill would require a debt collector to which delinquent debt, as defined and specified, has been assigned to provide to the debtor, upon the debtor's request, a written statement that includes certain information, including the date the debt became delinquent or the date of the last payment, within 30 calendar days of receipt of a debtor's written request for information regarding the debt or proof of the debt, as specified. The bill would require a debt collector to which delinquent debt has been assigned to include in its first written communication with the debtor a specified notice, and would require a debt collector to provide a debtor an active postal address to which a debtor may send a request for the information. The bill would provide that a debt buyer who complies with the written statement requirements under the Debt Collection Licensing Act is deemed to comply with this new requirement on a debt collector, to which a delinquent debt has been assigned, to provide a written statement to the debtor upon the debtor's request. The bill would prohibit a debt collector to which a delinquent debt has been assigned from making a written statement to a debtor in an attempt to collect a delinquent consumer debt, except if the debt collector has access to specified information, as provided. The bill would provide that these provisions become operative on July 1, 2022.