CFPB releases Spanish-language model validation notice for debt collectors

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB Consumer Finance Debt Collection Regulation F Validation Notice Limited English Proficiency

Recently, the CFPB issued a Spanish-language translation of its Model Validation Notice. Debt collectors are permitted to send a consumer a completely and accurately translated validation notice if the consumer was either provided an English-language version in the same communication or in a prior communication. Debt collectors that meet these requirements and use the translated notice qualify for the Debt Collection Rule’s safe harbor that any translation be complete and accurate. The Bureau noted that the translated validation notice omits the disclosure informing consumers of their right to request the validation notice in Spanish, “because no translation of those disclosures is necessary,” but debt collectors who choose to include the optional Spanish-language disclosures in a Spanish-language validation notice are still eligible for the safe harbor.