Think about the last time an alert pinged on your smartphone for a new voicemail. There’s a small spike of curiosity as you look to see who left the message and what they had to say. The rise of financial scams have made people more hesitant to answer phone calls, leaning on voicemail as a makeshift call screening tool. The result is that consumers these days may be more likely to engage with a voicemail from a business than a direct call.
Since the notification of a new voicemail grabs the attention of consumers, more debt collectors are using ringless voicemail drops in their strategies. Like many other regulations in the industry, voicemail compliance rules have to be followed by businesses looking to leverage this channel. Let’s take a look at the compliance considerations and best practices for debt collection voicemail drops.
A Debt Collection Voicemail May Fall Under “Limited-Content Message” Rules
Under Regulation F, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) debt collection rule, a voicemail drop can be classified as a “limited-content message” if certain requirements are met. Limited-content messages are not considered a communication by Regulation F’s interpretation of the FDCPA, and avoid the risk of third party disclosures due to the limited amount of information present in the message. To meet these requirements, the voicemail must include the following:
- A business name that doesn’t indicate the business is a debt collector.
- Ask the consumer to reply to the voicemail message.
- The name of one or more natural person(s) whom the consumer can contact to reply.
- A working telephone number the consumer can use to contact the business.
Outside of these four essential elements, limited-content voicemails can also include a few pieces of optional information. These include a greeting (like “hello”), the date and time of when the voicemail was sent, suggested dates and times for the consumer to reply and informing the consumer they can speak to business representatives if they reply. To be considered a limited-content message, the voicemail cannot include any other information.
Unlike digital channels of communication (like email and text messaging), voicemail drops fall under the Regulation F contact cap rules, which prohibit a debt collector from calling a consumer more than seven times in a rolling seven day period prior to a right party contact, or once per a rolling seven day period after a right party contact is made.
Since Regulation F treats voicemail drops as calls, they also have to be sent in a time that is convenient for the consumer, which the FDCPA presumes as a timing window between 8am and 9pm at the consumer’s location. Some states have stricter inconvenient time rules, so it’s important to have tailored compliance accounted for in your strategy.
Debt Collection Voicemail Compliance & TCPA Consent Rules
Another important set of debt collection voicemail compliance requirements can be found under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The TCPA requires prior written consent from a consumer before a debt collector uses prerecorded messages and artificial voices. This applies to ringless voicemails because they are typically pre-recorded (and potentially use artificial voice).
Debt Collection Voicemail Drop Best Practices to Help Your Business Stay Compliant
While sending compliant debt collection voicemails might seem challenging, there are best practices that can help make managing them more streamlined:
- Double Check State Laws: State laws around debt collection are subject to change at a faster pace compared to the federal level. It’s important to regularly check voicemail drop compliance rules for every state your business operates in. The rules and consequences for non-compliance are often stricter at the state level.
- Keep Detailed Records: When your business is sending voicemail drops for debt collection, it’s important to keep detailed records. This includes delivery metrics, opt out requests and the frequency sent to consumers.
To use ringless voicemails or traditional voicemails in debt collection is a tactical business decision that every business needs to weigh based on their own collections strategy. If your business wants to follow best practices, the right partner can help. TrueAccord is an industry-leading recovery and collections platform that has proven experience in sending compliant digital debt collection messages.
TrueAccord Helps You Collect More from Happier People
TrueAccord is a debt collection platform that can handle all of your delinquency needs from one day past due to charge-off. Our patented machine-learning engine, Heartbeat, optimizes and improves digital debt collection efforts over time. Learn more about how digital communications can improve your collection efforts by contacting our team!
*The blog post above is meant for informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice.