Collector - May 2015

Because effective advocacy is no longer limited to simply wearing out shoe leather in the halls of Congress, ACA International’s robust Industry Advancement Program not only helps the association’s efforts to shape regulation and state legislation that affects the collection industry, it also represents the association’s interests in the courts.

Since its inception, ACA’s Industry Advancement Program has supported 20 member cases across the U.S., tackling important issues involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, among several others.

When politicians pass vague or unconstitutional laws, regulators exceed their authority and consumer trial lawyers push their luck, ACA’s Industry Advancement Program is there to fight for its members from the halls of Congress to the halls of justice.

Creating the Program

In 2012, ACA’s Board of Directors convened an Industry Defense Task Force with two purposes: to examine credit and collection industry litigation trends and to review ACA’s role in supporting member efforts to respond to and defend against claims.

The task force confirmed that complaints and litigation against the industry continue to rise at an alarming rate and with great financial impact to ACA members. Federal regulatory oversight of debt collection is also increasing, outdated federal laws need to be modernized, and the growing tide of negative state legislative and regulatory actions are impeding ACA members’ ability to survive.

Based on the Industry Defense Task Force’s recommendations, ACA’s Board of Directors chose to aggressively pursue a proactive approach to combatting encroachments against the industry in legal, regulatory and state legislative arenas on behalf of ACA members.

In July 2013, ACA launched the Industry Advancement Program, which is funded by a three-year Industry Advancement Fund assessment. In doing so, ACA better positioned itself to forcefully and strategically take on important legal battles that threaten collection agencies’ ability to compete and succeed.

Influencing the Courts

Laws and regulations are
continually being added or changed by
legislatures and regulatory agencies.
Part of the core mission of ACA’s
Industry Advancement Program is to
ensure these new or revised laws and
regulations are not detrimental to the
credit and collection industry. It is the
courts, however, that interpret what
mean and where the true impact can be
determined.

Through its Industry Advancement Program, ACA works tirelessly to try to ensure that court cases, especially at the appellate level, result in judicial decisions that are governed by common sense, are clear and consistent, and do not unfairly impede legitimate industry business and activity. Sometimes disappointing outcomes in the legislature or the regulatory arena give way to a victory in the judicial environment.

Because it is important to positively influence legal precedent across the nation, ACA’s judicial advocacy, which is an essential component of its Industry Advancement Program, is a valuable ACA membership benefit and service designed to assist members with ongoing cases.