[Update: February 18th] Somebody kindly pointed out that all new credit card agreements have to be posted to the CFPB by law. You can view the latest agreement for the Capital One Best Buy card here. We’ve highlighted the key section below:
We may contact you from time to time regarding your Account. We
may contact you in any manner we choose unless the law says that we
cannot. For example, we may:
-
contact you by mail, telephone, email, fax, recorded message, text message or personal visit;
-
contact you using an automated dialing or similar device (“Autodialer”);
-
contact you at your home and at your place of employment;
-
contact you on your mobile telephone;
-
contact you at any time, including weekends and holidays;
-
contact you with any frequency;
-
leave prerecorded and other messages on your answering machine/
-
service and with others; and
-
identify ourselves, your relationship with us and our purpose for
-
contacting you even if others might hear or read it.
Our contacts with you about your Account are not unsolicited and
might result from information we obtain from you or others. We may
monitor or record any conversation or other communication with you.
Unless the law says we cannot, we may modify or suppress caller ID and
similar services and identify ourselves on these services in any manner we
choose. When you give us or we obtain your mobile telephone number,
we may contact you at this number using an Autodialer and can also
leave prerecorded and other messages. We may do these things whether
we contact you or you contact us.
If you ask us to discuss your Account with someone else, you must provide
us with documents that we ask for and that are acceptable to us
The LA times broke a story yesterday (February 17th) about Capital One changing their terms of service for all credit card holders. They claim that the update to the terms of service states the following:
- we may contact you in any manner we choose, including calls, emails, texts, faxes or a “personal visit.”
- “personal visits” can be at any of the following locations: “your home or employment location”
Unfortunately the FDCPA doesn’t include protections for first party debt collectors, which is what Capital One would be if they were chasing their own debt. This is one of the many reasons why consumer activitists such as myself have been pushing for greater protections in recent years. Although it would protect consumers if Capital One was to do the following:
We may modify or suppress caller ID and similar services and identify ourselves on these services in any manner we choose.
As FDCPA does apply to first party debt collectors if they represent themselves as somebody they aren’t.
Personally we believe that LA times has some incorrect information, there are only a few consumers that have come forward and claimed a change to their terms of service. Whilst it is early days, the number of Capital One credit cards out there is staggering and you would expect a great outcry in the various credit card forums. This may still be to come. [Our original assumptions were wrong, this was indeed an update to their credit card terms]
What we believe is more likely is that this is actually an update to Capital One’s financial lending programs for vehicles. In which case this type of update isn’t surprising, as most auto loans come with provisions for repossession, including going to your home or place of business. We’ve asked Capital One for comment and they are yet to get back to us.
If it is indeed a change to their credit card terms of service, we urge customers to vote with their wallets and cancel their capital one cards – making sure to cite the change of terms as their reasoning for doing so. This potential issue also highlights why it’s so important for the federal government to stop relying on individual states passing consumer protection laws and update the FDCPA to include first party’s.
If you’ve received the new terms of service, can you please send us a full copy of the terms and indicate if it’s for a credit card or other loan through Capital One in the comments.
