As banks seek to contact customers with COVID-19-related information, ABA and the National Consumer Law Center on Thursday urged the Federal Communications Commission to act immediately on a petition filed by ABA and six financial trade groups seeking an expedited ruling on the exempt status of these calls.
The National Consumer Law Center offered its support for the FCC to confirm the exempt status of financial institutions’ COVID-19-related calls to offer forbearance, payment deferrals, fee waivers, extension or relaxation of repayment terms, or loan modifications on loans secured by homes or vehicles, with limits on the number of exempted calls that may be placed.
“Both the financial trade associations and the consumer representatives agree regarding the importance of some of the calls specified in the ABA’s petition, given the emergency conditions present during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the value of these calls will diminish if the FCC does not provide relief until after the comment period ends,” ABA and NCLC said in a communication to the FCC.
