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increasing, outdated federal laws need to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.
Number of Industry Advancement Fund Supported Cases: By Court
Number of Industry Advancement Fund Supported Cases:
By Subject Matter