The Mortgage Bankers Association (“MBA”) filed a Petition for Exemption with the FCC regarding the ability to make “mortgage servicing” calls to wireless phone numbers without prior consent.[1] Currently, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) prohibits the use of autodialed or prerecorded calls to wireless phone numbers without prior consent. The MBA is seeking an exemption to the prior consent requirement, arguing that mortgage servicing calls are required by various federal and state requirements and are of critical importance to mortgage borrowers. While the TCPA prohibits such calls to wireless phone numbers without obtaining prior consent, the MBA offers that such exemption would only apply when the called party is not charged and the call does not contain an advertisement or constitute telemarketing. Similar TCPA exemptions have been provided by the FCC to healthcare providers and other financial institutions.
If your client would be interested in supporting the MBA in its Petition before the FCC, thus enabling the ability of mortgage banks to place these important calls to a borrower’s wireless number, please contact the Shulman Rogers Telecommunications Group and we can work with your client to submit simple but supportive comments for this issue.
[1] The MBA defines Mortgage Servicing as “all actions, including all communications, related to the receipt and application of payments pursuant to the terms of any loan or security agreement, execution of other rights and obligations owed under the loan or security agreement, the modification of any terms of the loan or security agreement, and any other loss mitigation options.”
Alan S. Tilles
301-231-0930
Georgina L.O. Feigen
301-945-9292
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