ABA/Joint Trades Ex Parte Letter – Meeting with Chairman Carr’s Office

Dear Ms. Dortch,

On March 7, 2024, Jonathan Thessin of the American Bankers Association; James Akin of America's Credit Unions; Philip Bohi of the American Financial Services Association; Leah Dempsey and Michael Pryor of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, on behalf of ACA International; and Alisha Sears of the Mortgage Bankers Association (collectively, the Associations) met with Danielle Thumann, Senior Counsel to Chairman Brendan Carr.

In the Report and Order (Order) released by the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) on February 16, 2024, the Commission stated that, once a consumer revokes consent to receive autodialed or prerecorded voice calls or text messages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the caller may no longer send the consumer any calls or text messages that require consent. During the meeting, the Associations raised concerns that, under the Order, a consumer who replies "stop"to revoke consent to receive one type of message – for example, future autodialed past-due text messages – will stop all future communications from that financial institution by phone or text on unrelated matters, such as low-balance alerts or warnings about unusual credit card transactions – even if that was not the consumer's intent.

The Associations also stated that, to comply with the Order, an institution is required to process a revocation sent in response to one business unit's call or text so that all business units cease placing calls or texts to the consumer. This conversion involves substantial work, particularly for large institutions with many business units with separate calling systems. Moreover, callers often outsource to third parties responsibility to communicate with customers for specific issues, which requires coordination to ensure that all communications stop. Smaller providers face numerous challenges too, as modifications to their communications systems often require extensive manual work. The effective date for this provision in the Order – April 11, 2025 – was set on October 11, 2024, providing only a six-month period to implement the Order. The Associations stated that, for these reasons, the Commission has "good cause" under 47 C.F.R. §1.3 to waive the revocation rules established by the Order for a period of one year, to April 11, 2026.

Sincerely,
American Bankers Association
ACA International
American Financial Services Association
America's Credit Unions
Mortgage Bankers Association