The Stars of Compliance reveal the best compliance advice they have ever received. Simply put: the fruits of years of experience from numerous professional are summarized in the following responses. One would do well to heed these words carefully.

Barbara Nilsen
Partner/CCO
Blitt and Gaines, P.C.

Take a proactive approach when possible because change takes time.

David J. Kaminski, Esq.
Partner and Chair of the Financial Services and Class Action Group
Carlson & Messer LLP

The best advice I received with regard to compliance with any regulation, is to know the language of the regulation, and build a system designed to comply with it. Also, don’t be too “clever” with regard to setting up a compliance protocol that is designed as a regulation work around, as you may find yourself defending that decision in very costly litigation.

Debra J. Ciskey, IFCCE, CCCO
Chief Compliance Officer
Wakefield and Associates Inc.

Think broadly about the potential applicability of the statute or rule to what you do, inclusively rather than exclusively, and think like a regulator.

Dennis J. Barton III

Managing Attorney
The Barton Law Group, LLC

Ever since I started in legal collections and consumer law defense, I’ve sought the advice of John Bedard, lawyer extraordinaire. One of his early lessons was that the statutory notice requirement of my firm’s validation notices should come straight from Section 1692g [of the FDCPA]. When the statute tells you what to say, don’t get cute and don’t get creative. I’ve kept that lesson in mind when clients seek advice about a plan to avoid regulation. In general, creativity is a good thing. When a statute or well-developed case law gives clear direction, though, be very cautious in trying to circumvent obligations with a new and untested idea.

John H. Bedard, Jr.
Managing Attorney
Bedard Law Group, P.C.

Don’t tell me no, tell me how!

John McNamara
Assistant Director, Consumer Lending, Reporting, and Collections Markets Division of Research, Markets & Regulations
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection

The best advice I ever got on compliance was from one of my collection managers, Nate DeVine. Seeing that I was a bit despondent about a series of failures, he said, “Boss, compliance is just like aircraft maintenance. Some things you have to check continuously, some things frequently, and others infrequently, but you always have to be checking, or the plane is going down.” Nate was retired Air Force, so the reference did not surprise. I don’t know what it was about the comment, but it made me feel better. I suppose it was that it provided a framework to think about the big job of compliance management. Policies and procedures were like the airframe of a plane. They did not have to be checked continuously or even frequently, but you had to make sure they were sound and revisit them on an annual basis or if your business changed substantially. Collector training and testing needed a maintenance schedule to make sure everyone was regularly trained and checked. Training and testing were like checking the landing gear and flight surfaces where you look after every flight. Call monitoring and dialer stats were like watching the gauges on a plane in flight. They had to be watched continuously for signs of trouble. In any case, Nate’s advice was both calming and helpful. To this day, I think about compliance that way. What are the components of a compliance management system? How should they be checked for soundness? How often should they be monitored?

Kelly Knepper-Stephens
VP Legal & Compliance
TrueAccord

Jennifer Lyman, my former clinic professor, taught me to always go read the regulation itself and, when an issue comes up, the first thing to do is go back and read it again. For example, I cannot tell you how many times I have had to return to the NYDFS rules or their FAQs. Also, don’t try to create things from scratch use the materials that are available to help you like the CFPB audit manual or the RMA Certification Standards to make sure that you are implementing best practices.

LaDonna Bohling
VP Special Operations
Contract Callers, Inc.

A few years ago we received three demand letters in a row from an attorney who alleged that we were in violation of the FDCPA and FCRA for not responding and taking appropriate actions on written disputes. Our investigation revealed we had not received any information from the consumer or his attorney regarding the dispute. The attorney of course alleged he had sent the disputes to us via FAX. Again, no record. I spoke with industry attorney John Bedard who asked, “Why do you have a fax machine?” I had no reasonable answer other than we had been using this technology for years. Publishing it on our website, including it in our letters as communication avenues for consumers. He said to get rid of the fax number and if we use fax as communication don’t publish it and only share with your clients. Sage advice.

Leslie C. Bender
Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel
BCA Financial Services, Inc.

The best advice I ever received regarding compliance to a particular regulation came, not surprisingly, from a CEO I had the privilege of working for who explained that it is always good business to understand the practical effects of a regulation on operations and find a way given the goals and objectives of particular operational activities to stay within a regulation’s guardrails. Early interdisciplinary conversation about a regulation within an organization was, in his view, the most effective path to compliance. That same CEO explained that spending time in a vacuum exploring the integration of a regulation on operations without having a meaningful conversation early on with operations folks would ultimately prove to be a lot more costly and a lot more frustrating. I am always grateful for the top-down support from the C suite for early and meaningful conversations about compliance.

Mavis Kohn, CCCO
Vise President of Compliance
Diversified Consultants, Inc.

Working with other compliance professionals in the industry, weekly meetings with our legal representation, state updates, utilizing additional resources such as Collector Advisor, ACA International and other sites provides the latest information related to regulations and allows review, research and dissemination of the information to our compliance team and the rest of the company. The best advice is always follow all regulations. I receive advice on regulations so frequently; it is difficult to choose one specific regulation. Some helpful recent advice I received was related to North Carolina’s NCGS § 58-2-46 and ensuring compliance with UDAAP. In order to ensure that consumers who have established payment arrangements are not adversely affected, it is best to attempt contact and give them the option to defer or keep the existing arrangement(s). Simply mailing a letter may not be sufficient. (The consumer may be displaced from their residence or not have access to their phone.) Attempting to contact by phone and if not successful, then following up with a letter, is the best method to show efforts of compliance for both UDAAP and North Carolina’s regulation. This specific course of action came to fruition through a memo from North Carolina advising us of the State of Emergency. Working with our legal counsel and communicating with operations and administration, we developed a plan to have a member of compliance attempt phone contact, while a letter was prepared and reviewed to send to consumers who we were not able to reach. This provided the best resolution for the consumer and allowed DCI to ensure compliance with the regulations.

Mike Bevel
Director of Education
insideARM LLC

First, I'll share the most surprising thing I've heard on a webinar I moderated: a large creditor client told its collection agency partners that they couldn’t skip trace any longer. The creditor’s worry was TCPAish in flavor; the worry being that skip tracing could introduce phone numbers not previously consented. Hearing the dramatic effect this had on both contact rates and collection numbers was eye-opening – and all because of an overabundance of caution. So the best advice I've heard is connected to this anecdote, and that’s to not make rash and encompassing business decisions based on regulatory anxiety. Compliance has the reputation of not making business easier, but a well-educated compliance team can help operations think through challenges in a way that can ultimately benefit the bottom line.

Mike Frost
Chief Compliance, Sales Officer & General Counsel

CBE Companies

Regulations = Opportunity. Opportunity is finding compliant solutions to problems that are created by regulation.

Nick Jarman
Owner
The RightAway

Great question. I would have to say as it pertains to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and trying to change the language to help benefit debt collectors. Many if not all debt collectors would like to see the FDCPA updated but with every action there comes an equal or larger reaction. If we were successful in opening up the FDCPA for updating, there is a significant chance that debt collectors would not like the outcome. The reason being is that consumer groups who have the ears of legislators and regulators more than debt collectors would tighten up and stiffen penalties. While on the surface it sounds good to update, the unfortunate part is we are more than likely better keeping it as is. This response does not pertain to regulators implementing new rules on debt collection, just as it pertains to the FDCPA itself.

Rick Perr

Partner Chair, Financial Services Practices Group
Fineman Krekstein & Harris, P.C.

Money spent in prevention will be far less than money spent trying to remedy the violation. It is so easy to choose not to spend the money hiring a lawyer or changing a practice in the hope one doesn’t get caught. But, the price paid when the violation is the subject of regulatory oversight or a class action lawsuit will vastly outweigh what would have been spent on the front end.

Tim Koskovics
CEO
USA Meridian Int’l Inc.

The best advice I received to was fully understand the new law or compliance request, which is critical in my line of work. Thus, being able to fully comply and set in place the necessary procedures that keep my company in compliance and to have checks and balance. Knowing when you are in breach of peace can the difference between recovering the asset for the client or causing more problems and time.