Can I Require a Dedicated Account according to the Telemarketing Sales Rule?
Under the new Rule, you may require your customers to set aside your fee and funds to pay debts in a dedicated account as long as:
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the account is held at an insured financial institution;
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the customer owns the funds (including any interest accrued), controls them, and can withdraw them at any time;
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you don’t own or control the company administering the account or have any affiliation with it;
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you don’t split fees with the company administering the account; and
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the customer can stop working with you at any time without penalty. If the customer decides to end the relationship with you, you must return the money in the account to the customer within seven business days (minus any fees you’ve earned from the account in compliance with the TSR).
The independent company that administers the account may charge the customer a reasonable fee, but it may not transfer any of the customer’s funds to you – directly or indirectly – until you have renegotiated, settled, reduced, or otherwise changed the terms of at least one of your customer’s debts and met all the related requirements in the Rule.
It’s illegal to provide “substantial assistance” to another company if you know they’re violating the Rule or if you remain deliberately ignorant of their actions. To avoid liability for facilitating violations of the new Rule, companies that administer dedicated accounts should review the policies, procedures, and operations of the debt relief providers to ensure they’re complying with the advance fee ban provision of the Rule, including the provision relating to dedicated accounts. As they continue to administer dedicated accounts, companies also should investigate consumer complaints and disputed payments. Some companies administering dedicated accounts may not be subject to the FTC’s jurisdiction, but laws enforced by other government agencies may apply to them.
For more information, see here: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business
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