At a glanceWednesday, March 29, 2023

Collection Industry News At A Glance - March 29, 2023
Wednesday March 29, 2023
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Articles

 
RELEASE: Gottheimer Combats “Change of Address” Fraud and Identity Theft

PARAMUS, NJ — Today, March 27, 2023, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced new action to combat the shocking surge in “change of address” fraud, including calling for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to strengthen authentication processes and require two-step verification if you change your address, and for the USPS Inspector General and the Postal Inspection Service to fully investigate “change of address” fraud and identity theft and prevent it from happening to anyone else

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Attorney General James Secures $200,000 from Law Firm for Failing to Protect New Yorkers’ Personal Data

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James secured $200,000 from the law firm, Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach LLP (HPMB) for failing to protect New Yorkers’ personal and healthcare data. HPMB’s poor data security measures made it vulnerable to a 2021 data breach that compromised the private information of approximately 114,000 patients, including more than 60,000 New Yorkers.

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Pending home sales squeezed out a tiny gain in February, as mortgage rates jumped

Higher mortgage rates took some of the juice out of the housing recovery in February. After a sharp gain in January, pending home sales rose just 0.8% month to month, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 21.1% lower than February last year. Pending sales are based on signed contracts during the month.

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CFPB scrutinizes discharged private student loan billing and collection practices

On March 16, the CFPB released a compliance bulletin discussing student loan servicers’ practice of collecting on private student loans discharged in bankruptcy. The bulletin also notified regulated entities on how the Bureau intends to exercise its enforcement and supervisory authorities on this issue. Bulletin 2023-01: Unfair Billing and Collection Practices After Bankruptcy Discharges of Certain Student Loan Debts addressed the treatment of certain private student loans following bankruptcy discharge.

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Remarks by Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg on Recent Bank Failures and the Federal Regulatory Response before the Committee on Financial Services, United States House of Representatives

Chairman McHenry, Ranking Member Waters and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee today to address the federal regulators’ response to recent bank failures. On March 10, 2023, just over two weeks ago, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Santa Clara, California, with $209 billion in assets at year-end 2022, was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CADFPI), which appointed the FDIC as receiver. 

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Consumer Spending Seen +0.3% in February — Data Week Ahead

The following are median forecasts for this week's remaining U.S. data from a survey compiled by The Wall Street Journal. Forecasts were last updated Monday afternoon.

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Oportun Informed by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it has Concluded its Investigation of Oportun and Will Not Recommend any Enforcement Action

SAN CARLOS, Calif., March 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oportun (Nasdaq: OPRT), a mission-driven fintech and digital banking platform, today announced that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has informed Oportun, via letter, that the agency has completed its investigation of the Company

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Robocall relief? FTC announces lifetime ban for auto warranty telemarketers

Consumers across the United States might not be getting as many of those annoying “warranty services” robocalls now that a South Florida network of businesses agreed to a lifetime ban.

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US pending home sales rise for third straight month; loan demand increases

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes increased for a third straight month in February, raising cautious optimism that the housing market slump could be bottoming out.

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Members of U.S. Senate panel press financial regulators on massive bank failures

WASHINGTON — Financial regulators promised a full review of Silicon Valley Bank’s massive failure as members of a key U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday interrogated the officials about what led to the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history.

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Tax filing robocall scams have been on the rise this month

While there have been countless scams targeting taxpayers over the last few months, Transaction Network Services (TNS) has found that there has been no letup in tax-related robocalls. In fact, taxpayers have been subject to an increase in such calls throughout the month of March.

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Apartment Lending Slowed by Rising Interest Rates

A sharp drop in loans for apartments led a general pullback in commercial real estate lending. The U.S. multifamily sector saw a plunge in lending from a high quarterly growth rate of 5.4% in the second quarter of last year to 2.4% in the fourth quarter.

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Wyoming to regulate debt buyers as collection agencies

On February 27, the Wyoming governor signedHB 284, which requires debt buyers to be licensed as “collection agencies” beginning July 1. Under the act, a collection agency now includes any person who operates as a debt buyer, defined as “any person that is regularly engaged in the business of purchasing charged-off consumer debt for collection purposes, whether the person collects the debt, hires a third party for collection of the debt or hires an attorney for collection litigation[.]”

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CFPB Issues Determination that State Disclosure Laws on Business Lending are Consistent with the Truth in Lending Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it has determined that state disclosure laws covering lending to businesses in California, New York, Utah, and Virginia are not preempted by the federal Truth in Lending Act. The CFPB examined the state disclosure laws to determine if they were inconsistent with and preempted by the Truth in Lending Act. After analyzing public comments on its preliminary determination, the CFPB affirms there is no conflict because the state laws extend disclosure protections to businesses and entrepreneurs that seek commercial financing.

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FCC Advances Rulemaking on Mitigating Illegal Robocalls

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules on illegal robocall mitigation and to expand requirements for voice service providers to implement the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework.

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CFPB receives FCRA rulemaking petition on debt collection

On March 3, the CFPB received a rulemaking petition from the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in response to forthcoming FCRA rulemaking announced in the Bureau’s Fall 2022 regulatory agenda. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Bureau announced it is considering pre-rulemaking activity in November to amend Regulation V, which implements the FCRA.

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First–Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Raleigh, NC, to Assume All Deposits and Loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A., From the FDIC

WASHINGTON – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) entered into a purchase and assumption agreement for all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, by First–Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Raleigh, North Carolina.

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TitleMax fined for violating Military Lending Act

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Lawmakers in Washington are urging Federal regulators to take a closer look at a Savannah-based business. The move comes after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined TitleMax $15 million and placed the company under a consent order last month.

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High interest rates hammer consumers seeking mortgage or car loans

The banking crisis that erupted earlier this month elicited some predictions of a halt in interest rate hikes, since previous borrowing cost increases garnered blame for the financial distress.

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Today’s Mortgage Rates & Trends – March 27, 2023: Rates Drop

After a major drop Thursday, 30-year loan rates subtracted more on Friday, for a cumulative decline of more than a third of a point over two days. Almost every other mortgage average was notably down as well.

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Attorney General James Secures $200,000 from Law Firm for Failing to Protect New Yorkers’ Personal Data

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James secured $200,000 from the law firm, Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach LLP (HPMB) for failing to protect New Yorkers’ personal and healthcare data.

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Robocalls not dropping off despite efforts

INDIANAPOLIS — Despite ongoing efforts to block robocalls from blowing up our phones, data from websites that track the annoying automated calls reveal the volume of calls is holding steady.

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Feds may throw struggling First Republic Bank a lifeline by expanding emergency lending program

Federal banking regulators are reportedly weighing a potential expansion of an emergency lending program that would allow banks to access more funding to meet their liquidity needs which could buy struggling First Republic Bank more time to regain stability.

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Fed’s Powell warns banking crisis could tighten lending, slow US economy

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that recent turmoil in the banking sector will further tighten credit for U.S. households and businesses, taking a toll on economic growth.

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FTC Action Leads to Lifetime Industry Ban for Operators of ‘Extended Vehicle Warranty’ Scam

As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, the operators of a telemarketing scam that called hundreds of thousands of consumers nationwide to pitch them expensive “extended automobile warranties” will face a lifetime ban from the extended automobile warranty industry and from all outbound telemarketing.

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Brown Applauds Second Circuit Ruling on CFPB

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement after the Second Circuit ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) funding structure is constitutional.

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CFPB Orders Repeat Offender Portfolio Recovery Associates to Pay More Than $24 Million for Continued Illegal Debt Collection Practices and Consumer Reporting Violations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action today against Portfolio Recovery Associates, one of the largest debt collectors in the nation, for violating a 2015 CFPB order and engaging in other violations of law.

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Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC Settles CFPB Matter

NORFOLK, Va., March 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PRA Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRAA), a global leader in acquiring and servicing nonperforming loans, announced today that its subsidiary, Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (PRA), has reached an agreement with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

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CFPB has allocated $11 million for consumers harmed by illegal student loan debt relief operation

If you were one of the 2,600 people charged illegal upfront fees for student-loan debt-relief services provided by Amanda Johnson, David Mize, Jacob Slaughter, or Daniel Ruggiero, working with GST Factoring, you may receive a check in the mail.

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What the banking crisis means for mortgage rates

Washington CNN—Mortgage rates have taken would-be buyers on a ride this year — and it’s only March. Generally, home buyers can anticipate mortgage rates to move down through the rest of this year as the banking crisis drags on, which could cool down inflation.

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How will the property downturn impact P2P lending?

Investing in property-backed peer-to-peer lending can be a brilliant way to access the housing market without actually having to buy your own property. P2P property lending platforms offer competitive returns to investors who are willing to fund a range of housing projects, from property developments and refurbishments, to buy-to-let portfolios and commercial lettings.

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Black Knight’s First Look: Prepayments Rebound from All-Time Low; Overall Mortgage Delinquencies Inch Up As 30-Days Late Payments Rise

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI) reports the following "first look" at February 2023 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market.

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Tell us your experiences with data brokers

We often don’t get to choose the companies that control our most personal and sensitive information. Data brokers is a term to describe those companies that collect, aggregate, sell, resell, license, or share our personal information with others.

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U.S. Banks are sitting on $1.7 trillion in unrealized losses, research says. That’s not a problem—until it is

After the rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier this month, along with Credit Suisse’s untimely demise last week, regulators and business leaders have made it a point to publicly assure consumers that banks are safe.

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Website CALFCB.COM is Fraudulently Posing as California-based, FDIC-regulated “First Credit Bank”

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received information that the website CALFCB.COM claims to be associated with the bank “First Credit Bank”.

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Consumer spending continues to shift in favor of services

The trend: Shoppers may be pulling back on discretionary purchases like electronics and furniture, but they’re spending enthusiastically on restaurant meals and fitness memberships, underscoring the spending shift from goods to services.

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What Was The DFPI’s Role In Failure Of Silicon Valley Bank?

Silicon Valley Bank was chartered by the State of California and was subject to the supervision of the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation.  The DFPI was not the bank's regulator.

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Executive Summit 2023

RMAI’s Executive Summit delivers a perfect blend of networking and education, in a beautiful new location every year.

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Federal Trade Commission Proposes Rule Provision Making it Easier for Consumers to “Click to Cancel” Recurring Subscriptions and Memberships

The Federal Trade Commission today proposed a “click to cancel” provision requiring sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up. That is just one of several significant updates the Commission is proposing to its rules regarding subscriptions and recurring payments.

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Industry Events

 
Collection and Recovery Solutions 2023

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


Four Seasons Las Vegas ,
May 10 - 12 , 2023

Mark Naiman - Mark@collectionrecoverysolutions.com

RMAi 2023 Executive Summit

RMAi

Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa
Monterey , California
August 01 - 03 , 2023

916 482 2462

CA Credit Union Collectors Council – 36th Annual Conference

CCUCC

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino
Las Vegas ,
October 19 - 21 , 2023

https://web.cvent.com/event/e4afce8a-def3-4d6d-98ed-e6c4e2dfa344/summary