At a glanceFriday, October 12, 2018

Collection Industry News At A Glance - October 12, 2018
Friday October 12, 2018
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35 state attorney generals tell FCC to pull the plug on robocalls

A bipartisan group of 35 state attorneys general are tearing their hair out over robocallers. They’re telling the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement technology that will identify illegally spoofed calls and authenticate legitimate ones, the sooner the better. In a letter sent to the FCC on Tuesday, the AGs submitted comments in response to a public notice issued by the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau seeking to refresh the record on how the FCC can further empower service providers to block illegal calls.

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Mulvaney calls for unity at consumer bureau amid racial controversy

The acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a call for unity to agency employees Thursday amid a backlash over racially charged writings by a top official he appointed.   Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney urged agency staffers to treat each other with “professionalism, respect and civility,” in an internal Thursday email obtained by The Hill, asking the consumer watchdog agency to come together around its mission. 

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Pentagon, others baffled by CFPB plan to cease military lending exams

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to stop examining financial firms for compliance with the Military Lending Act has sparked pushback not only from lawmakers and consumer advocates but also from the Defense Department and every major group representing military service members.  Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney's claim that the Dodd-Frank Act does not give the bureau statutory authority to enforce the Military Lending Act is a major reversal from the Obama administration. As reported by several news outlets, Mulvaney has argued further legislation is needed to provide that authority.

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Flexing their muscles, debt collectors see opportunity to make more robocalls

Debt collectors want federal regulators to dial down recent anti-robocall rules that, they say, wrongly end up lumping them with spammers and scammers.
Ever since new regulations took effect last year, too many valid debt collection calls have been mislabeled as “spam,” “scam” or been blocked altogether. At least, that’s what members of the credit and collection industry are telling the Federal Communications Commission.

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RevSpring and Apex Revenue Technologies Complete Strategic Combination

LIVONIA, Mich. (October 11, 2018) – RevSpring, a leading provider of consumer communications, billing, and payments solutions, announced today that it has completed the strategic combination of RevSpring and Apex Revenue Technologies. The combination makes RevSpring a premier healthcare provider of patient revenue cycle engagement, billing, and payments solutions generating over one billion consumer financial communications and $4 billion in consumer payments volume annually. RevSpring will also continue to maintain its focus on the financial services industry, including the critical accounts receivable management (ARM) market.

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Protecting against data breach: 6 tips for small business owners

Large companies aren’t the only businesses that have an obligation to protect their client’s security and privacy. Smaller businesses are increasingly encountering the effects of a data breach. The results range from compromise of client or customer data to third-party control over the entire business operation.  Protecting your data not only shields you from financial liability, but also from substantial reputational harm. Thankfully, you can take reasonable precautions to help protect the security and privacy of your business and your customers.

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Plaza Services Announces Jason Rheaume as New VP of Legal and Agency Management

Plaza Services, LLC is pleased to welcome Jason Rheaume as the company’s Vice President of Legal and Agency Management. Mr. Rheaume will be responsible for developing and managing Plaza Services’ attorney network as well as supporting both agency and overall inventory management.   Andrew Simpson, Chief Operating Officer, commented, “We are very excited to add Jason to our Plaza Services executive team. He is the ideal industry professional to give our company the solid foundation we need to expand into new products that have different servicing needs. His strong data analytics skills and deep knowledge of legal collection operations provide the perfect blend of expertise needed to build our legal network.”

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Rate Hikes Hint At Credit-Card Debt Trap

Now, it seems, interest rates have garnered some, well, interest. It has been barely a week since the Federal Reserve boosted interest rates by a quarter point. It’s the latest move in a series of rate hikes that have been well-telegraphed and well-choreographed. The Fed has been gradually increasing its fed funds rate over a period of a few years. The latest move took that rate, which is what is charged to banks as they lend to one another, to 2.25 percent.

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Attorney General Underwood Files Amicus Brief In Support Of Students Defrauded By Corinthian Colleges

NEW YORK – Today, New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood – part of a coalition of 8 Attorneys General – filed an amicus brief in support of students defrauded by Corinthian Colleges (Corinthian). The brief, filed in Calvillo Manriquez v. DeVos in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, supports a district court’s order halting the U.S. Department of Education (Department) from its practice of giving only partial relief to defrauded students. The Department has been granting as little as 10 percent loan relief to students who attended the now-defunct, predatory, for-profit Corinthian. The Department has appealed the court’s decision.

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California Enacts New Laws Impacting Financial Institutions

Following a busy few months for the California legislature, financial institutions are now facing some new requirements.  Governor Jerry Brown signed several bills into law by the September 30 deadline, including amendments to the state’s debt collection law, the Student Loan Servicing Act, and the Military and Veterans Code as well as Senate Bill 1235, which imposes first-in-the-nation disclosure requirements for certain business purpose loans.

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Buffalo Man Sentenced For Running A Fraudulent Debt Collection Scheme

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Shawn Sylvia, 35, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was sentenced to serve 62 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The defendant was also ordered to pay $283,851.53 in restitution to victims. 

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Grassley asks FTC to review hospitals’ contracts with health plans

Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) on Wednesday asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate major health systems' potentially anti-competitive contracts with insurers. The senator questioned whether these contracts are a driver of spiking healthcare costs.  Citing a September report from the Wall Street Journal, Grassley urged FTC Chair Joseph Simons to give the agency's perspective on whether secretive inter-industry ties are exacerbating rising healthcare costs. In 2016, healthcare accounted for nearly one-fifth of the U.S. gross domestic product, or about $3.3 trillion

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Attorney General Underwood Urges Federal Action To Stop Illegal Robocalls And Spoofing Plaguing Consumers In New York And Across The Country

NEW YORK – Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood – part of a bipartisan coalition of 34 Attorneys General – today called on the Federal Communications Commission to create new rules to allow telephone service providers to block more illegal robocalls being made to unsuspecting consumers in New York and across the country.

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The Impact of BCFP on Mortgage Lending

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection(BCFP) was formed as part of the Dodd-Frank Act and began operations in July 2011 with the mandate to protect consumer finances and a broad authority over banks and nonbanks. How has the oversight of the bureau affected banks since it began seven years ago? A new research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York aimed to measure the effects on banks of BCFP's supervision and enforcement activities to answer this question.

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Local employer announces job fair on Oct. 16

MUNCIE, Ind., Oct. 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navient, a leading asset management and business processing services company, today announced it plans to hire full-time collections specialists at its site in Muncie.   The hiring event is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The event will be held at the company’s office in Muncie, located at 4501 North Superior Dr.   Candidates will interview on site and meet with management. Job seekers should apply online  at jobs.navient.com for the collector roles and bring their resumes to the event.

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The tech-enabled lending revolution

It is no secret that FinTech companies are giving banks a run for their money when it comes to small business lending.  There is roughly $4.7 trillion at risk of disruption by  alternative lenders. According to the US Small Business Administration, 28 million small businesses provide 55% of the jobs in America— these businesses need capital in order to grow. It can be devastating for a business owner to turn to their credit union during times of need only to be shut out.  It can be equally devastating to get stuck in a cycle-of-debt.

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It’s all So Clear Now: When Asked a Second Time Court Makes Sure to Clarify that the TCPA Still Applies to Debt Collection Calls

There’s nothing wrong with pushing your luck, in theory. But once in a while luck pushes back.  A few weeks back Ocwen obtained an almost-great ruling in Wilfredo Gonzalez v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, Case No: 5:18-cv-340-Oc-30PRL, Doc. No. 11, (M.D. Fla. Sept. 5, 2018). There the Court held that the 2003 and 2008 Predictive Dialer rulings were overturned by ACA Int’l, but declined to dismiss the case at the pleadings stage because the complaint alleged the plaintiff encountered a pause before a live agent came on the line suggesting the use of a random or sequential number generator, apparently.

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How to make your business a big data leader: 5 steps

Effective use and management of data and analytics are necessary to keep companies alive through 2025, according to a Tuesday report from NTT Data and Oxford Economics. The overwhelming majority of the 500 executives surveyed agreed that data is critical to overall financial performance (90%), growth (88%), improving the customer experience (92%), and improving the employee experience (79%). Additionally, 83% agreed that data will be a competitive differentiator for their company moving forward.

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CallMiner and Medallia Announce Partnership to Empower Voice of the Customer Insights with Direct and Indirect Feedback

Waltham, MA, Oct. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CallMiner, the leading platform provider of award-winning speech and customer engagement analytics, announced today a partnership with Medallia, the leader in Customer Experience Management cloud technology. The new partnership pairs CallMiner’s contact center engagement analytics with those of Medallia’s feedback solutions to provide comprehensive Voice of the Customer (VOC) insight within a cloud-based integrated offering.

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Phone dependency feeds robocall epidemic

Every day, all day, we are assaulted by phone calls from con artists trying to take our money or steal our identities. Even if you’re no chump and don’t fall for the scheme to repair your credit from an Aberdeen, Md., number, or accept the very last chance to avoid appearing before a grand jury by speaking to a federal agent and obtaining your case number from an Oxford, Ohio, number, or receive a free medical alert system and the peace of mind that comes with it from a Los Angeles number, an annoying disembodied voice has intruded into your personal space and cluttered your phone.

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Consumer credit grows $20.1 billion in August, fastest pace in three months

The numbers: Consumer borrowing picked up in August, according to the Federal Reserve on Friday. Total consumer credit increased $20.1 billion in August to a seasonally adjusted $3.94 trillion. That’s an annual growth rate of 6.2%. Economists had been expecting a $15 billion gain, according to Econoday.

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Five cyber security threats to be aware of

DURBAN – October is Cyber Security Month an initiative that was formed and being driven by the EU to promote cyber security as well as create awareness around cyber security threats.  Rian Schoeman, the head of Etion Secure, is sharing his five tips on cyber security.  Phishing emails look like they are from a recognised source and target you into giving them things like your banking details or login credentials to valuable data sources.

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Marketplace Lending News Roundup – October 6

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.  Delinquency/Loss Trends; Yield Curve One Hike from Inversion; Varo withdraws FDIC app from PeerIQ – This week the PeerIQ newsletter has the latest industry news and gives a preview of their MPL Loan Performance Monitor

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Auto Finance Summit 2018

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October 24 - 26 , 2018

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LendIt Fintech Europe 2018

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Business Design Centre 52 Upper Street
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Santa Fe Springs , CA
May 08 - 10 , 2019

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Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2019

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10440 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 2
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September 10 - 12 , 2019

(562) 906-1101

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