The CFPB outlined its plans Thursday to issue rules governing third-party debt collectors – regulations that credit union trade groups said will have little direct impact on credit unions.

However, the agency said it plans to address first-party debt collectors on a separate track soon.

"We estimate that about one in three consumers – more than 70 million people in all – were contacted by a creditor or collector seeking to collect a debt within the past year," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a written statement in advance of a field hearing on the issue in Sacramento, Calif. "It is not surprising, then, that for many years, the debt collection industry has drawn more complaints than any other, not only complaints to the consumer bureau but also to other agencies and officials in federal, state and local government."