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Course description

Many bankers never bothered to study the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act because they knew it was not directly applicable to a creditor collecting debts owed to it in its own name.

However, that doesn't mean such creditors have a license to abuse. All financial services providers are legally required to refrain from committing unfair, deceptive acts or practices. The CFPB has made it clear that it is putting companies on notice about harmful debt collection practices.

In this webinar, we will provide a framework for:

  • What you can do
  • How you can do it
  • When you can do it

on the debt collection front.

We will summarize recent enforcement actions and litigation, the CFPB's guidance and activities, and insight from the consumer complaint database regarding debt collection matters. We will explore unique issues posed by new modes of communication -- cell phone, email, text messages and social media. We will help you understand where the line is between permissible action taken in an attempt to achieve repayment of a debt on the one side, and harassment and abuse on the other. The goal is to equip you with the information you need to conform your patterns and practices in the debt collection arena to what is acceptable and won't get you into trouble.

Subjects discussed will include:


  • Why good records of collections related activities are essential.
  • What the CFPB considers an "unfair" practice by a debt collector.
  • What should be done when a debt is disputed
  • What the debt verification requirements are
  • When to back off
  • And much more.



Instructor(s)

Mary Beth Guard Andy Zavoina and John Burnett

Mary Beth Guard currently serves as Executive Editor of BankersOnline.com, CEO of Glia Group, Inc. and Executive Editor of BankingQuestions.com. Since graduating from law school in 1980, Mary Beth has focused her work almost exclusively on the banking industry. Previously, Mary Beth served as EVP/General Counsel and COO for the Oklahoma Bankers Association, EVP of Specialized Services for Thomson Financial Publishing, and General Counsel for the Oklahoma State Banking Department. Mary Beth is on the advisory board for Bankers' Hotline. She has presented training programs for virtually every major national financial industry association, as well as more than a dozen state bankers associations and a host of other organizations. In addition, Mary Beth has written more than a thousand banking-related articles and is a BOL Guru.Mr. Andy Zavoina, CRCM, is an Executive Vice President with the Glia Group, Inc., best known for its involvement with BankersOnline.com. He joined Glia and BOL in 2003.Mr. Zavoina has been in finance and banking for 35 years. Over 20 years were with a two-bank holding company that had $534 million in assets, 89 branches spanning Texas and nearly 500 ATMs. He has done loan workouts, has been a consumer, commercial and real estate lender and managed those departments, as well as being his banks first Webmaster. He was responsible for compliance -management, -auditing, and -training for both banks.Mr. Zavoina is a recipient of the American Bankers Association’s Distinguished Service Award for his involvement and accomplishments in the field of regulatory compliance management. He is a past Chairman of the ABA’s Compliance Executive Committee, the Editorial Advisory Board for the ABA Compliance Magazine and served as a member of the ABA’s Compliance School Board. He is a BankersOnline Guru. He also served on the Texas Bankers Association's Compliance Committee. He is a graduate of the ABA National Commercial Lending School, National Compliance and National Graduate Compliance School and is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager with the Institute of Certified Bankers. He has written articles and lectured on compliance, the use of the internet and technology as a tool, as well as compliance in cyberspace to local, state and national associations across the U.S. and teaches basic compliance and compliance management. John Burnett is a 1979 alumnus of the ABA National Compliance School, and served on its faculty for several years. He graduated with honors with the Class of 1990 from ABA's Stonier Graduate School of Banking, and is also a graduate of the BAIs and the Massachusetts Banker Associations Schools of Banking.John began his banking career in high school when he started as a teller at a $15 million bank that didn't have account numbers for its checking accounts (he says they actually filed by signature!) He joined Cape Cod Bank and Trust Company in 1971 and assumed the position of Compliance Officer in 1976. He also served as corporate secretary and secretary of CCBT's Board of Directors, as well as Clerk of the bank's holding company. John joined Glia Group, Inc. and the BankersOnline.com team in June, 2004. He is a frequent presenter of BOL Learning Connect webinars, and at BOL Conferences events.He was a member of the Massachusetts Bankers Association Legal and Regulatory Compliance Committee, and a former member of the American Bankers Association Compliance Executive Committee and NCS/NGCS Advisory Board. He served on ABA's Truth in Savings Task Force as Regulation DD was being written, and has served on several ABA and Massachusetts Bankers seminar panels.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Video

    • Debt Collection Practices - what's permissible and what's

  • 2

    Materials

    • Slides

    • Questions and Answers