It looks like there still has not been a decision regarding whether a debt collection agency can contact debtors through use of some of the most current technology methods including auto dialers and social media, according to the American Financial Services Association.

A recent article written by AFSA staff members spoke about a workshop that just took place, hosted by the Federal Trade Commission. This workshop was created to start a dialogue related to all aspects of consumer protection, specifically crucial issues related to debt collection and new technologies. With innovate tools constantly being introduced into the technology industry, AFSA noted that debt collectors are relying more on pre-recorded messages delivered by auto dialers to contact consumers and are even in some cases expanding communication to third parties, such as relatives, employers and neighbors inquiring about the primary borrower, the article stated.

“Most of the new methods for debt collectors to communicate with consumers — e-mail, cell phones, and social media — are either not regulated or lack clarity in current regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,” the association said in a statement. “Several panelists said that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should take over governance of consumer protection regarding new technologies that debt collectors are using to approach consumers and gather loan data.”

Some of the most important information that was talked about during the conference related to consumer protection in general.

“Sometimes when a collection agency calls a consumer, the agency’s phone number is truncated and omits information such as the agent or debtor's name. This poses a problem for a consumer that was erroneously contacted and is not the debtor because of in an automated message they cannot get a hold of the agency,” association officials acknowledged in the article. “One of the panelists stated that an average debt collector makes 183 calls a day to consumers to collect a $200 debt!”

AFSA also pointed out results of a 2010 Pew (News - Alert) Research Center’s 2010 study that determined cell phones have become the device auto dialers most frequently used to contact debtors over the past 10 years. The study stated that presently eight out of 10 U.S. adults use cell phones.

“It was suggested that the first call made to a consumer should be done by a real person to verify they have reached the right person and that the FTC (News - Alert) should clarify how many calls a debt collector can make to a consumer,” representatives from the association stated. “However, industry panelists argued that it is impossible to contact a debtor directly because loan volume and technology have changed.”

Another important point highlighted in the workshop spoke about a recent case in Colorado, in which multiple consumers complained to the attorney general that the amount they owe should have been fully investigated before they were contacted.

“Many of the consumer complaints to the Colorado attorney general deal with verification of a debt,” officials noted. “The industry explained that attaching all debt-related information when communicating with a consumer is not economically feasible, but issuers are taking it more seriously.”

AFSA stated that the frustrations consumers are facing in Colorado may have something to do with skip-tracing and auto dialer software.

“If a consumer who is not the debtor corrects this information, and it is removed from the dialer, in many cases, the skip-tracing software will continue to populate the same erroneous information which will be again used by the dialer to contact the same consumer,” association officials concluded.

Although auto dialers can help debt collectors to notify debtors who may be unaware or have forgotten about previous debt, these advanced technological tools need to be used in the correct manner at all times.