# Examination — definition

> An examination is a supervisory review conducted by a prudential regulator or the CFPB to assess compliance with federal consumer financial law, obtain information about an entity's activities and compliance systems, and detect risks to consumers and markets.

- Source: https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/examination/
- Publisher: Otto — https://ottoforfirms.com
- Updated: 2026-09-01

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**Examination** — An examination is a supervisory review conducted by a prudential regulator or the CFPB to assess compliance with federal consumer financial law, obtain information about an entity's activities and compliance systems, and detect risks to consumers and markets.

For nondepository covered persons — including larger participants in the consumer debt collection market — the authority and purposes are set at 12 U.S.C. § 5514(b)(1). The CFPB's March 2022 debt collection examination procedures organize the work into modules covering the entity's business model; communications; information sharing, privacy, and interactions with consumer reporting agencies; validation notices, disputes, complaints, and ceasing communication; payment processing and account maintenance; ECOA; and litigation practices, administrative wage garnishment, repossession, and time-barred debt. Most collections firms never see a CFPB examiner directly; they experience examination second-hand, as bank clients pass through requests generated by their own supervisory cycle.

## Primary sources

1. [12 U.S.C. § 5514(b)(1); CFPB Debt Collection Examination Procedures (Mar. 2022)](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/compliance/supervision-examinations/debt-collection-examination-procedures/)

## See also

- [Sampling](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/sampling/)
- [TPRM](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/tprm/)
- [Consent order](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/consent-order/)
- [Attestation](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/attestation/)

## Where this appears

- [How to respond to a debt validation request](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/responding-to-a-validation-request/)
- [Regulation F's 7-in-7 rule in practice](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/call-frequency-in-practice/)
- [Call recording and retention for collections firms](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/call-recording-retention/)
- [What a collections firm's audit file should contain](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/the-audit-file/)
- [Bank Third-Party Risk Management: What Do the Interagency Expectations Mean for a Law Firm Being Supervised?](https://ottoforfirms.com/compliance/vendor-oversight-tprm/)

Last reviewed 2026-07-29

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This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. Limitations periods turn on facts this page cannot know — which state's law governs, the contract type, when the claim accrued, and whether anything tolled or revived it. Confirm against the primary source and your own counsel before acting.