Read this op-ed on CFPB’s proposed rule authorizing debt-collection harassment

In May, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed new Fair Debt Collection Practices Act rules. In this op-ed, Jennifer Wagner (of Mountain State Justice) and Linda Frame (of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy) explain why the CFPB's proposed rules, issued under a law meant to curb debt-collection harassment, actually authorize debt-collection harassment. "The most brazen breach of consumer protection [in the proposed rules] … is allowing consumers to be called up to seven times per week per debt. Someone with eight medical debts could hear the phone ringing 56 times a week." Ugh.