Colorado Amends Collection Regulations

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed into law Colorado H.B. 1240, which makes significant changes to the Colorado collection regulations. The bill is effective July 1, 2008.

The new law imposes an additional state special text requirement. Under the new law, initial collection notices must include the statement, “A consumer has the right to request in writing that a debt collector or collection agency cease further communication with the consumer. A written request to cease communication will not prohibit the debt collector or collection agency from taking any other action authorized by law to collect the debt.” If the notice is placed on the back of the written communication, there must be a statement on the front of the letter notifying the consumer of the information on the back.

Existing law requires a collector include in its initial communication with the consumer the statement, “FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLORADO FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT, SEE WWW.AGO.STATE.CO.US/CADC/CADCMAIN.CFM.” The new legislation does not alter this language. However, the bill clarified that if the Web site address changes, the notification must be corrected to contain the updated Web address.

Additionally, the final version of the bill retains the Colorado resident office requirement and further requires a licensed agency to maintain a toll-free telephone number.

Prior to H.B.1240, a collection agency manager was required to pass a written examination. The legislation eliminates the manager examination requirement. However, collection agencies are still required to employ a collections manager.

Finally, the bill also amended the reapplication and notification requirements to add limited liability companies to the list of business structures that must notify the Colorado Collection Agency Board of changes in ownership.

This summary does not identify all of the changes provided by the recently passed bill. View the full text of H.B. 1240.

http://www.acainternational.org/collections.aspx?cid=12490

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Colorado Amends Collection Regulations