| Date:
Tue, Mar 28, 2000 12:32 PM
Secretary Re: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Privacy Rule, 16 CFR Part 313 Comment I urge the Federal Trade Commission to revise the Proposed Rule referenced above to expressly exclude professional debt collectors from the definition of "financial institution." Such a revision is essential to avoid the flood of litigation that is otherwise certain to occur.The Proposed Rule allows an interpretation of the Act that defines third party debt collectors as "financial institutions" whose interactions with consumers constitute "customer relationships," thereby triggering enormous notice requirements. The proposed definition of a "financial institution" appears to INCLUDE debt collectors and the broad definitionof "customer relationship" lends itself to being applied to debt collectors. It is also important that consideration be given to the effect of the Proposed Rule on attorneys whose practice includes debt collection. Attorneys as debt collectors certainly must be excepted from the Proposed Rule's expansive definition of a financial institution. Law firms are NOT financial institutions and no stretch of the imagination can interpret them as being so. Thank you for the opportunity to comment ... Sincerely, Donald B. Kramer, Esq. |