On December 28, 2018, New York Governor Cuomo signed into law amendments to the state’s General Business Law (GBL) that address the collection of family member debts.  The amendments made by Senate Bill 3491A become effective March 29, 2019.

While the legislative history indicates that the amendments are intended to address the collection of a deceased family member’s debts, they are drafted more broadly to prohibit “principal creditors and debt collection agencies” from: (a) making any representation that a person is required to pay the debt of a family member in a way that contravenes the FDCPA; and (b) making any misrepresentation about the family member’s obligation to pay such debts.

The GBL defines a “principal creditor” as “any person, firm, corporation or organization to whom a consumer claim is owed, due or asserted to be due or owed, or any assignee for value of said person, firm, corporation or organization.”  The amendments define a “debt collection agency” as “a person, firm or corporation engaged in business, the principal purpose of which is to regularly collect or attempt to collect debts: (A) owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another; or (B) obtained by, or assigned to, such person, firm or corporation, that are in default when obtained or acquired by such person, firm or corporation.” 

In 2011, the FTC issued its final Statement of Policy Regarding Communications in Connection With the Collection of Decedents’ Debts to provide guidance on how it would enforce the FDCPA and Section 5 of the FTC Act in connection with the collection of debts of deceased debtors.  The policy statement provides that the FTC will not initiate an enforcement action under the FDCPA against a debt collector who (1) communicates for the purpose of collecting a decedent’s debts with a person who has authority to pay such debts from the assets of the decedent’s estate even if that person does not fall within the FDCPA’s definition of “consumer,” or (2) includes in location communications a statement that it is seeking to identify a person with authority to pay the decedent’s “outstanding bills” from the decedent’s estate.  It also contains a caution that, depending on the circumstances, contacting survivors about a debt too soon after the debtor’s death may violate the FDCPA prohibition against contacting consumers at an “unusual time” or at a time “inconvenient to the consumer.”