The CMS Suite - 5 Key Policy Templates

New from insideARM and Research Assistant: the CMS Suite - 5 Key Policy and Procedure Templates

The following four policies are the foundation of any strong, auditor-friendly Compliance Management System (CMS):

• The Compliance Management System Overview Document
• The Complaint Policy and Procedure 
• The Disaster Preparedness  / Work from-Home Policy and Procedure
• The Privacy and Confidentiality Policy and Procedure
• The Litigation Handling Policy and Procedure

You can't go without them. You can't risk leaving them incomplete or out-of-date. With this new set of policy and procedure templates, you can ensure your existing policies are current or draft a strong set of policies from scratch quickly. 

See a PDF excerpt from the CMS Overview Document right here.

Who should use these templates?

• Anyone who hasn't looked at their CMS in over a year. If it has been a year plus since you've looked at your CMS, elements of it may already be out-of-date
• Anyone from a company in growth mode that hasn't needed these policies in place in the past, but might now.
• Anyone worried about new regulatory scrutiny.
• Anyone concerned about staying current with new IT, UDAAP, and Reg F guidance from the CFPB.

What you'll get:

The CMS Suite has you covered. It includes editable, complete templates for current, auditor-friendly policies plus introductory instruction on formatting, suggestions for best practices, and advice on how to use the templates effectively. Each template makes it clear where your company-specific information needs to be included so you can draft up a new policy - or vet an existing one - quickly. (See a pdf excerpt right here.) Each template was drafted in-house by our team of licensed collections attorneys and compliance experts. 

Use these comprehensive templates to update your CMS quickly, compare your existing CMS to these completely up-to-date policy templates, or ensure you keep your existing CMS current with the CFPB’s most recent IT, UDAAP, and Reg F guidance.

About the 5 key templates:

The Compliance Management System (CMS) Overview Template - In today's regulatory landscape, a thorough CMS is part of every successful organization and every CMS should start with an overview document. The overview should serve as a roadmap describing the key points of your CMS. Use the policy / overview template to benchmark your current CMS overview or draft one for the first time.

The Privacy and Confidentiality Policy and Procedure Template - Every Compliance Management System should have a procedure that details how it keeps consumers' confidential information private. If you don't have one, you can count on failing your CMS review.

The Disaster Preparedness Work from-Home Policy and Procedure Template - Don't overlook your Disaster Preparedness / Work-from-Home policy and procedure. Auditors will want to see that you have a good one. This is especially true for smaller firms. An effective Compliance Management System should address what your organization will do in the event there is a natural disaster or pandemic. The more organized your organization is, the more plans you have, the easier it will be to transition to a work-from-home environment. 

The Complaint Policy and Procedure Template - The CFPB and any other regulator you can expect at your front door will ask to see that your CMS includes a thorough, clear complaint handling policy and procedure. Every organization receives complaints, but how do you handle them? Does your staff know who is responsible for which piece of the investigation? Do you have a way to track root causes?  This policy and procedure template can help you benchmark your organization's policy and procedure or serve as a basis if you're just getting started.

The Litigation Handling Policy and Procedure Template - Litigation is, to some extent, unavoidable if your company is a creditor or debt buyer. The biggest risk with most litigation is not handling it in a timely manner. Therefore, it is very important to have a policy and procedure that efficiently and effectively monitors the accounts for complaints and litigation, forwards these accounts to the correct parties for handling, and retains local counsel to protect your client’s and your own interests.