Placing Collection Calls to Cell Phones
A NorthLegal Webinar presented August 6, 2013
Approximate Duration: 1:32 hrs:min
Cost/Registration | How to Attend a Prerecorded Webinar
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Handout Materials
After enrolling, click here to obtain the handout materials in PDF. Then contact NorthLegal (623.537.7150) to obtain the password you will need to open those materials.
It's a law many financial institutions don't know about (or don't think applies to them) but an important provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act is leading to successful class action lawsuits across the country.
This law prohibits financial institutions and others from calling cell phones with "automatic telephone dialing systems" except in limited circumstances. It also provides that a financial institution will be held liable if its collection agency violates this rule. So it doesn't matter if your financial institution uses an automatic telephone dialing system—there's a very good chance your collection agency does.
Potential penalties are enormous, and can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Additionally, a financial institution may be liable to its collection agency if the collection agency violates the rule!
Misunderstandings about the law abound. Among the popular myths are these: If we don't use an automatic dialer we don't have a problem. If the consumer gave us the cell phone number we don't have a problem. If we got the number from a credit application we don't have a problem. If we didn't know the number was a cell phone we don't have a problem. None of those is true.
Does your financial institution understand this rule? What practical steps do you take to avoid violating it? Do you even know which telephone numbers in your files go to cell phones?
During this program, attorney Eric North talks with participants about:
| • | Exactly what the law says and how it affects you. |
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| • | What important terms in the law mean. | ||
| • | Common misunderstandings about the law. | ||
| • | How courts have interpreted the law. | ||
| • | How an interpretation of the law by a federal regulatory agency helps you—and how it places you at serious risk. | ||
| • | The potential damages for violating the law—even accidentally. | ||
| • | Practical and technological steps your financial institution can take to minimize your risk. | ||
| • | Things you must discuss with every collection agency that you use. | ||
| • | Sample contract language you may consider using. | ||
Protect your financial institution from litigation and significant liability by learning to understand and comply with this increasingly important law!
NOTE: This program is intended for employees of consumer lending
institutions. Please contact NorthLegal Training and Publications to obtain approval
before registering if you are not an employee of a consumer lending institution.
Cost/Registration
The fee to attend this archived program is $145.00 if paid by credit card or
$155.00 if paid by check. For that fee, you or someone from your financial
institution may view this program as often as you like for a period of 30 days.
How to Attend a Prerecorded Webinar
To attend this NorthLegal Webinar, please do the following:
| • | Register. To register online using a credit card, visit the "Enroll Now" link shown above. To register by mail, call NorthLegal at 623.537.7150. |
| • | Check your email. Within moments after you complete the registration process you should receive two emails. One will be a receipt for the transaction and the other will contain a link and detailed instructions explaining how to use that link to attend the program. |
| • | Download the handout materials by clicking the "Handout" link shown above. |
| • | Call NorthLegal to obtain the password to open the handout materials. |
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Speaker: Eric North
Eric North, the primary speaker at the programs listed on this site, has represented the interests of credit unions and other financial institutions as an attorney with respect to litigation, compliance, governance, bankruptcy and collections matters since 1984. Eric has appeared in state and federal courts throughout the State of California, and has argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.
Eric is also a nationally recognized speaker on legal issues relating to consumer
lending institutions, and has presented hundreds of programs on behalf of national,
state and local leagues and associations from around the country.
Webinar scheduling conflict? No problem. Registration for a NorthLegal Webinar allows you to watch it live AND allows you or others from your financial institution to watch it as often as you like for 30 days! If you can't make the live program, you still have plenty of time to watch at a time that is more convenient for you!