Commission Extends Public Comment Period For Proposed Debt Relief Rulemaking

The Federal Trade Commission today announced an extension of the public comment period for proposed Debt Relief Amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The Commission posted the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the FTC’s Web site on July 30, 2009, and set a deadline for comments of October 9, 2009. In response to requests to extend the comment period, the Commission is extending it until October 26, 2009.

The Federal Register notice, which is available on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release, provides information on how, and in what form, comments should be submitted.

The FTC also is holding a public forum on November 4, 2009, to discuss the comments received on the proposed rule and allow members of the public to express views about the proposed rule. A press release dated August 20, 2009, which can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/08/tsrforum.shtm, provides more information on the public forum.

The Commission vote approving the issuance of a Federal Register notice announcing the extension of the public comment period was 4-0. (FTC File No. R411001; the staff contact for the rulemaking is Allison Brown, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3224).

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.