Only 27% of Americans Have Enough Savings to Cover More Than 6 Months of Living Expenses

Saving is an important financial goal, but many people put off their savings goals because they lack enough extra income. Do you have enough savings to be prepared for potential job loss or other life changes that may occur? A recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau study found that only about 1 in 4 Americans could cover more than six months of living expenses if they lost their main source of income. This isn't good news.

The CFPB Joins the FTC on Negative Option Marketing and Dark Patterns in New Circular

When it comes to negative options, the CFPB has strong opinions. As demonstrated in its new circular, these opinions generally align with those of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has repeatedly targeted trial offers, subscription sales, and other programs involving recurring charges for enforcement.

CFPB Proposes Rule to Rein in Excessive Credit Card Late Fees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a rule to curb excessive credit card late fees that cost American families about $12 billion each year. Major credit card issuers continue to profit off late fees that are protected by an expansive immunity provision. Credit card companies have also relied on this provision to hike fees with inflation, even if they face no additional collection costs. The proposed rule would help ensure that over the top late fee amounts are illegal. Based on the CFPB’s estimates, the proposal could reduce late fees by as much as $9 billion per year.

Some borrowers may qualify for a student loan interest deduction, despite payment pause

Fewer borrowers will be able to claim the student loan interest deduction for 2022, with federal loan payments on hold for the duration of the year. But some people may still qualify. Before the Covid pandemic, nearly 13 million taxpayers took advantage of the break, which allows borrowers to deduct up to $2,500 a year in interest payments they’ve made on their private or federal student loans.

Director Chopra’s Remarks on Press Call for Credit Card Late Fees NPRM

Good afternoon. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a rule that we project will reduce credit card late fees paid by Americans by $9 billion each year. Our goal is to ensure that the credit card market is fair and competitive and that the credit card industry is properly following a 2009 law passed by Congress.

How many in your state were approved for Biden’s student loan forgiveness?

(NEXSTAR) – A month before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on two cases challenging President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, the White House released state-by-state data of the roughly 26 million Americans who applied for debt relief before the application closed late last year.

Reg F Question of the Week: Are Debt Collectors Required to Use Their Legal or Registered DBA Name in a Limited-Content Message?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published Debt Collection Rule FAQs for Regulation F, containing questions and answers that pertain to compliance with the rule. The FAQs cover call frequency issues, electronic communications, limited-content messages and more.

Colorado AG Secures Latest Settlement over Unearned GAP Fees

On January 4, the Colorado Attorney General announced that his office entered into assurances of discontinuance (available here and here) with two credit unions that will result in $4 million being refunded to Colorado borrowers who were entitled to refunds of guaranteed automobile protection (“GAP”) fees.

DFPI Continues Crackdown on Debt Collection Scams

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced today that it has issued enforcement actions against multiple debt collectors for unlicensed activity under the Debt Collection Licensing Act (DCLA) and unlawful and deceptive acts or practices in violation of the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL).

CREDIT CONTROL, LLC – First Place Ranking – Best Places To Work In Collections

St. Louis, MO January 31^st – Credit Control, LLC (“Credit Control”) is proud to announce for the third year in a row, our employees have ranked us as winners in the Best Places to Work in Collections program. This is the company’s third time participating in the program with back-to-back #1 overall rankings in the large company category. The program includes a rigorous two-part blind survey process to determine the Best Places to Work in Collections. This included an evaluation of workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems, and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience with direct, unfiltered employee input, including all Credit Control locations across the country.

CFPB Report: ID Theft Among Servicemembers Increasing

n January 12, the CFPB released a report that identified an uptick in identity theft reported by servicemembers. The report found that military consumers (defined as active duty servicemembers, veterans, and military family members) reported almost 50,000 cases of identity theft to the FTC in 2021. Additionally, military consumer complaints to the CFPB for debts resulting from identity theft increased from about 200 in 2014 to more than 1,000 in 2022.

Industry Stakeholders Push for Call Authentication Improvements at FCC

ACA International and coalition partners continue to support updates to the Federal Communications Commission’s call authentication framework that ensure legitimate calls are getting through, as noted in supplemental comments (PDF) to the FCC on call authentication solutions.

CFPB Report Finds Credit Scores Improved During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Consumer credit scores improved during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that pandemic-era mortgage forbearances, the federal student loan repayment pauses, and federal cash transfers that improved some consumers’ financial wellbeing drove the overall credit score increases, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Office of Research.

Small Banks Urge CFPB to Phase in Open Banking Tech Requirements

Smaller banks are urging the CFPB to consider a more gradual technological shift and weigh their cost burdens, as the regulator crafts a new “open banking” rule to ease consumers’ sharing of financial information. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s open banking proposal aims to allow consumers to seamlessly switch between financial service providers by requiring banks and credit card companies to develop technology that consumers can use to share their financial data with fintechs and other upstart competitors. Public comments on the CFPB outline for its plans were due on Jan. 25.

T-Mobile Sued for Data Breach of 37 Million Records

On January 22, 2023, T-Mobile was sued in federal court in California alleging negligence, unjust enrichment, breach of express contract, breach of implied contract, and invasion of privacy over the recently-disclosed data breach of more than 37 million postpaid and prepaid customer records.

Washington Attorney General sues Providence hospitals over ‘unfair’ medical billing practices

EVERETT, Wash. — Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said a hearing is set for Friday, January 27 in a legal case alleging Providence hospitals used medical payment methods. unfair and deceptive” for low-income patients.

Education Department releases new data on 25M applications for Biden’s student debt relief

The Biden administration on Thursday released new, more complete data about the more than 25 million Americans who signed up to have their student debt canceled before the program was blocked by the courts.

A Beneficial Change In Credit Scoring; Big Banks To Develop New Digital Wallet

Big banks are teaming up to launch a digital wallet that people can use to shop online. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and four other banks are working on a new product that will allow shoppers to pay at merchants’ online checkout with a wallet that will be linked to their debit and credit cards. The digital wallet will be managed by Early Warning Services, the bank-owned company that operates money-transfer service Zelle.

CFPB Report: ID Theft Among Servicemembers Increasing

On January 12, the CFPB released a report that identified an uptick in identity theft reported by servicemembers. The report found that military consumers (defined as active duty servicemembers, veterans, and military family members) reported almost 50,000 cases of identity theft to the FTC in 2021. Additionally, military consumer complaints to the CFPB for debts resulting from identity theft increased from about 200 in 2014 to more than 1,000 in 2022.

FCC Issues Triple Threat of Enforcement on Illegal Robocalls

The Federal Communications Commission came out with sweeping actions on reported illegal robocalls Wednesday. The three separate actions involve PhoneBurner Inc., MV Realty PBC LLC and Twilio for calls related to mortgage servicing for homeowners that were identified as potentially illegal robocalls.

Tenth Circuit dismisses FDCPA claim for lack of standing where third party mail vendor sent collection letters

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently joined the Eleventh Circuit (and a growing majority of courts) in rejecting the “Hunstein theory” of liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).  In Shields v. Professional Bureau of Collections of Maryland, Inc., the Tenth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of FDCPA claims for lack of standing, confirming that a debt collector’s use of an outside mail vendor does not constitute an actionable, concrete injury.

California Regulatory Agency Opens Applications for Debt Collection Advisory Committee

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) is seeking applicants to fill upcoming positions on the Debt Collection Advisory Committee for the 2023-2025 term.

Office of Research blog: Credit score transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Many households found that their financial fortunes changed during the pandemic, and these changes were often reflected in their credit scores. A recent CFPB analysis found that the distribution of credit scores shifted upward during the pandemic, suggesting that pandemic-era mortgage forbearances, the federal student loan repayment pauses, and federal cash transfers that improved some consumers’ financial wellbeing drove the overall increases in credit scores.

CFPB: Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2023-01

Unlawful negative option marketing practices

Question: Can persons that engage in negative option marketing practices violate the prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA)? Response, Background and Analysis provided in this CFPB Circular.

Collection Management Training Announced – May 8th – 9th | Four Seasons Las Vegas, NV

Teaching collection managers and supervisors techniques for maximizing performance of collectors - Compliance, Coaching and Accountability.

Taught by Ken Evancic, Coaching for Optimal Collections Performance teaches front-line collection supervisors and managers the fundamentals necessary for working with both experienced and inexperienced collectors - providing the knowledge and tools necessary to coach and develop the team to maximize collection performance. For more details, see: https://resourcemanagement.com/training_coaching.html

California Privacy Protection Agency Board Announces Public Meeting February 3

The California Privacy Protection Agency Board (“Board”) will hold a public meeting at the following date and time via Zoom video and telephone conference:
Date: Friday, February 3, 2023
Time: 10:00 am PST

For Meeting Info and Agenda, see Link. California Privacy Protection Agency Board - MEETING NOTICE & AGENDA - FEBRUARY 17, 2022

ARM Industry Claims Were a Mixed Bag in November

WebRecon’s latest report shows litigation was a mixed bag across the board in November in Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act cases.

New TransUnion Study Finds Millions of New-to-Credit Consumers Across the Globe Prove to be Similar, if Not Better, Risks Than Established Credit Use

New-to-credit consumers – those early in their credit journeys – generally perform as well or better than borrowers with established credit and similar risk scores. 

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RMAi 2023 Annual Conference

Join us in Las Vegas, February 6-9, for the 2023 RMAI Annual Conference.

Optimal Collection Performance – Training for Collection Managers & Supervisors

Teaching collection managers and supervisors techniques for maximizing performance of collectors - Compliance, Coaching and Accountability. Instructor: Ken Evancic

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2023

An invitation-only event for senior level Collection and Recovery Professionals