Debt Collection Activities Study

EXHIBIT A

Date
NAME
COMPANY
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
RE: CFPB Outreach Regarding Costs of Debt Collection Activities

[Dear ________][To whom it may concern]:
I am writing to solicit your interest in a voluntary research effort that the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau is undertaking as part of its potential rulemaking regarding debt collection.
We will be gathering information from a variety of debt collection firms, creditors, and service
providers to better understand operational costs and other factors associated with debt collection.
The Bureau will use the results of this effort to inform the Bureau’s analysis of the benefits and
costs of potential new rules related to debt collection.
We will be conducting a written survey of firms that participate in debt collection to better
understand their operational activities. The survey will ask questions about basic activities and
operational costs of collecting debt, including, for example, questions about vendors used for
activities such as dialers or print mailings, maintaining data about consumer accounts, and
furnishing information to credit bureaus. The survey includes approximately 60 questions about
your operations and we expect the survey will require approximately 60 minutes to complete.
After we have received the written surveys, we plan to reach out to a subset of respondents to ask
whether they would be willing to participate in follow-up phone interviews to help us understand
their operations in more detail.
I hope that you will agree to participate in this effort. Below is a further description of the
planned research effort, including why we are collecting this information and how we would use
the information you provide. If you have any questions, please contact XXXXX
([email protected]; 202-435-XXXX).

Why we are collecting this information:
A team in the Bureau’s Division of Research, Markets, and Regulations is considering whether
the Bureau should issue a proposed rule governing debt collection and, if so, what policies it
should propose. In considering proposed rules, the Bureau is attempting to better understand the
benefits and costs of various policy proposals.

To help inform the Bureau’s thinking, we would like to include your institution as one
respondent to answer questions about the operational costs of collecting consumer debt and
factors that affect those costs, including vendors used and the capabilities of different products
used in the debt collection market. The OMB control number for this collection is 3170-0032.

What this can mean for your institution:
Participating entities will have the opportunity, together with other sources of input, to help
shape any future evolution of this important new potential regulation. As part of this survey we
are seeking input from a wide range of companies that collect debts on behalf of themselves or
others or provide goods or services used in debt collection.
Participation in this study is voluntary. The results of the study may be used to develop a
proposed rulemaking or other documents, but your institution will not be identified and we
will not disclose information in a manner allowing attribution to specific institutions or
individuals except to the extent required by law. The information collected will not be used for
supervisory or enforcement purposes. Some personally identifiable information will be
collected, but responses will not be attributed to specific institutions or individuals.
More generally, the Bureau’s confidentiality rules protect confidential commercial information
provided to the Bureau. Thus, the Bureau will not voluntarily disclose information in a manner
attributable to your institution unless it is required by law. If the responses you provide are
requested under the Freedom of Information Act, the Bureau will withhold such responses to the
extent that it determines that they constitute trade secrets or confidential commercial information
that you would not ordinarily make public. The Bureau will treat the responses consistent with
its confidentially rules, including 12 CFR § 1070.20.
Next steps:
[A copy of the survey is enclosed.] If you [are interested in participating or][would like an
electronic copy or] have any questions about the study, please let us know by email at ________
or by phone at __________. [We will then send you a copy of the survey questions by email.]
[If we do not hear from you, our team will reach out to you by phone in the next [ ] days to
answer any questions and discuss whether you are willing to participate.]
Thank you for your consideration; we hope you are able to participate in this effort.
Sincerely,

[ ]
Division of Research Markets & Regulations