DCS2019 – More Rooms Added – Attendees Should Secure Today

More rooms were added at the Attendee Discounted rate for Debt Connection Symposium & Expo - DCS2019 will be held September 8th - 10th at the Red Rock in Las Vegas.  Discounted rooms are available now at $190 for registered attendees, while supplies last.  Do not delay if you are planning to reserve a room.  For conference information, 

https://debtconnectionsymposium.com/

Turning Point for Student Loans

The New York Fed this week presented an unsettling picture of how student loans stack up to other household debt.   Defaulted student loans have surpassed all other types of household debt classified as "severely derogatory," including mortgage and credit card debt, according to a report from New York Fed researchers.   Fed researchers defined severely derogatory debt as any kind of delinquent loan combined with a repossession, foreclosure, or charge off. The proportion of debt falling into that category in U.S. households has stayed fairly consistent for the past four years. But defaulted student loans now make up 35 percent of that debt.

Encore Sells Baycorp to Credit Corp Group

SAN DIEGO, August 15, 2019 — Encore Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECPG), an international specialty finance company, announced today that it has completed the sale of its Baycorp subsidiary to Credit Corp Group, a debt purchaser and debt collection company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Baycorp specializes in the management of non-performing loans in Australia and New Zealand and provides portfolio management services for non-performing debts.

Why You Should Never Borrow Someone Else’s Charging Cable

We've all been there. Your smartphone or tablet is low on power and you've left your charging cable at home. There's no harm in borrowing one from a fellow passenger in the airport departure lounge or from your hotel's front desk clerk, right?  In 2019, that would be a huge mistake, say cybersecurity experts.  “There are certain things in life that you just don't borrow,” says Charles Henderson, Global Managing Partner and Head of X-Force Red at IBM Security. “If you were on a trip and realized you forgot to pack underwear, you wouldn't ask all your co-travelers if you could borrow their underwear. You'd go to a store and buy new underwear.”

Barclays ends partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) is no longer providing banking services to major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, ending a relationship that started in March last year as the exchange expanded in Europe.  The rare deal between the San Francisco-based exchange and the British bank made it easier for Coinbase users to buy cryptocurrencies with pounds and withdraw their funds.

Court bans Arkansan from offering vets lump-sum deals

A man who owns three Little Rock corporations that broker high-interest loans to veterans in exchange for acquiring rights to the veterans' future pension payments has been permanently banned from offering such agreements. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Thursday that a final judgment had been entered against Andrew Gamber, who, according to court documents, co-founded and owned Voyager Financial Group, an Arkansas corporation; and founded and owned both BAIC Inc., a Texas corporation based in Little Rock, and SoBell Corp., a Mississippi corporation based in Little Rock.

Seventh Circuit FDCPA decision has implications for CFPB’s approach to validation notices in its proposed debt collection rules

In its proposed debt collection rules, the CFPB would allow a debt collector to satisfy the FDCPA requirement to provide the validation notice by sending the debtor an email or text message that includes a hyperlink to a secure website on which the notice is accessible, subject to a series of specific conditions set forth in the proposed rules.  The permissibility of that approach under the FDCPA was called into question by the decision issued last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Lavallee v. Med-1 Solutions, LLC.  In the decision, the Seventh Circuit ruled that the emails sent by a debt collector to the plaintiff containing hyperlinks to a server operated by the debt collector’s sister company on which the plaintiff could access and download the validation notices did not satisfy the FDCPA validation notice requirement.

CFPB, Arkansas State AG Settle with Brokers of High-Interest Credit Offers

Washington, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) and the Office of the Arkansas Attorney General yesterday filed a proposed settlement with Andrew Gamber; Voyager Financial Group, LLC; BAIC, Inc.; and SoBell Corp. The companies, owned and operated by Gamber, were brokers of contracts offering high-interest credit to veterans, many of whom are disabled, and to other consumers. Under the proposed settlement, Gamber and the companies will be banned from the industry and a judgment requiring redress, a civil money penalty, and a payment to the State of Arkansas will be entered against them.

Navient named “Top 10” Military Friendly Employer

WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navient has earned the 2020 “Top 10” Military Friendly Employer designation from VIQTORY, publisher of G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse Magazine. It is the sixth consecutive year Navient has earned the Military Friendly designation.  “At Navient, we value the service-oriented experience military veterans bring to our company and that translates into a focus on our customers,” said Paul Hartwick, vice president and U.S. Army veteran. “We’re honored to be recognized for our commitment to providing opportunities for military veterans to build meaningful careers here.”

FTC Obtains Telemarketing Injunctions against Recidivist Do Not Call Violators Jasjit “Jay” Gotra and His Company, Alliance Security Inc.

The Federal Trade Commission obtained a stipulated final order that permanently bans Alliance Security Inc. from telemarketing. The FTC also obtained a preliminary injunction barring Alliance’s founder and CEO, Jasit “Jay” Gotra, from telemarketing until the final resolution of the case against him. Gotra is the sole remaining defendant in a 2018 FTC case against Alliance, Gotra, and their telemarketers for calling more than one million consumers whose numbers are on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry.

SEC Charges Former CFO of Cash Advance Company With Defrauding Thousands of Retail Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged 1 Global Capital LLC’s former chief financial officer, Alan G. Heide, with defrauding retail investors. The now bankrupt Florida-based cash advance company allegedly fraudulently raised more than $322 million from 3,600 investors between 2014 and last year. The SEC previously charged 1 Global and former CEO Carl Ruderman with fraud and charged Henry J. “Trae” Wieniewitz, III for his allegedly unlawful sales of 1 Global securities. Ruderman and Wieniewitz have consented to final judgments.   

NY Fed: Household debt exceeds peak reached in 2008

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York this week released second quarter data on household debt and credit that showed total household debt reached a new high of $13.86 trillion – $1.2 trillion (in nominal terms) more than the previous peak reached in the third quarter of 2008.

CFPB: Facts you can use about the Equifax settlement

In September 2017, Equifax announced a breach that exposed the personal data of approximately 147 million people. Last month, along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, we announced a global settlement that will provide up to $425 million in monetary relief to consumers. 

DCS2019 – Agencies and Debt Buyers Wanted

In addition to a concentration on collection effectiveness and compliance, Debt Connection Symposium & Expo will once again provide multiple opportunities for networking with peers and prospective clients.  Featured Company meetings will include three opportunities for prospective vendors to meet with potential creditors.   Meetings for prospective vendors planned by CRB Auto, Exeter Finance Corp. and Garnet Capital.

Nevada’s new privacy law is just the beginning

For many online businesses and publishers, the last 12 months have required a steep privacy learning curve: First, to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws in Europe, and soon, to uphold the nuanced differences of requirements in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) — not to mention a mounting number of new data protection legislations passed in other U.S. states.   Aside from data privacy and legal experts, not many employees at any given online business could easily define the difference between something like the GDPR and the CCPA. A lack of education on the subject could be a more pressing problem since those two laws aren't the only ones due for consideration. 

New Data Breach Has Exposed Millions Of Fingerprint And Facial Recognition Records: Report

It has been coming for some time, but now the major breach of a biometric database has actually been reported—facial recognition records, fingerprints, log data and personal information has all been found on "a publicly accessible database." The damage is not yet clear, but the report claims that actual fingerprints and facial recognition records for millions of people have been exposed.  The issue with biometric data being stored in this way is that, unlike usernames and passwords, it cannot be changed. Once it’s compromised, it’s compromised. And for that reason this breach report will sound all kinds of alarms.

Lender Protection Allows Auto Refinancing for More Credit Tiers

Denver, Colorado, Aug. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

iLendingDIRECT, a national leader in automotive refinancing, has expanded its partnership with Open Lending, which specializes in alternative risk modeling for loans." data-reactid="13" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: #26282a; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">iLendingDIRECT, a national leader in automotive refinancing, has expanded its partnership with Open Lending, which specializes in alternative risk modeling for loans. iLendingDIRECT can now refinance customers with credit scores as low as 560 using Lenders Protection powered by Open Lending. This program allows lenders to fund near or non-prime auto loans with default insurance coverage. “We are excited to grow our partnership with iLendingDIRECT and to support them and their credit union partners in saying ‘yes’ to more automotive loans. The ability to help more institutions serve the underserved means a great deal to us,” stated John Flynn, Open Lending’s President and CEO.

These four states have the highest bankruptcy rates in the US

Bankruptcies rose last month nationwide, hitting a total of 64,283. That was up 3% from July of last year. Bankruptcies are on a pace to reach nearly 800,000 in 2019. The highest rates by state were in four states in the South. The American Bankruptcy Institute posted the figures, based on data from the managed technology company Epiq Systems. The organizations separate consumer bankruptcies from commercial ones. Consumer bankruptcies rose 3% to 61,025, while commercial bankruptcies rose 4% to 3,258.

Warren calls for probe into whether FTC ‘misled’ Americans into thinking they’d receive $125 from Equifax settlement

Not everyone is going to receive the $125 they might have expected out of a settlement between Equifax and government regulators over its 2017 security breach — and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is asking why. For the Democratic lawmaker and 2020 presidential candidate, the concern is that the Federal Trade Commission, one of the agencies that probed Equifax, initially offered “misleading public descriptions” about the relief available to the roughly 147 million Americans whose names, addresses and Social Security numbers had been compromised. In response, Warren is asking the agency’s inspector general to probe both the “terms of and FTC’s public description of the settlement."

FTC chief willing to break up Big Tech

The head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said he's prepared to break up big tech companies by undoing past mergers as the agency probes whether the firms are hurting competition. Joe Simons, the FTC chairman who is leading a wide-ranging review of Silicon Valley mainstays like Facebook, said Tuesday that breaking up a corporation can be challenging -- but it could be the right tool to rein in companies that have broken the rules of fair competition.

ITT Reaches $60 Million Settlement With Consumer Agency

ITT Education Services Inc., which owned and operated the defunct for-profit ITT Tech college chain, reached a $60 million legal settlement Monday with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In the lawsuit, CFPB alleged that ITT improperly steered students to take out private loans through the college that they did not understand and could not afford. According to the settlement, CFPB will not seek to collect the $60 million judgment, as there are limited funds available at the company after its 2016 bankruptcy. But ITT is barred from collecting on any of those loans from former students.

CHAIRMAN PAI FORMALLY RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF T-MOBILE/ SPRINT MERGER

WASHINGTON, August 14, 2019—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today shared with his colleagues a draft Order that would approve, subject to conditions, the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint.  “After one of the most exhaustive merger reviews in Commission history, the evidence conclusively demonstrates that this transaction will bring fast 5G wireless service to many more Americans and help close the digital divide in rural areas. Moreover, with the conditions included in this draft Order, the merger will promote robust competition in mobile broadband, put critical mid-band spectrum to use, and bring new competition to the fixed broadband market.” said Chairman Pai. “I thank our transaction team for the thorough and careful analysis reflected in this draft Order and hope that my colleagues will vote to approve it.”

Microsoft warns Windows 10 users to update immediately

New York (CNN Business)Microsoft is warning Windows 10 users to update their operating system immediately because of two "critical" vulnerabilities. The company said the vulnerabilities are potentially “wormable,” meaning affected computers could spread viruses and malware without any action on the user’s part.  There are “potentially hundreds of millions of vulnerable computers,” Simon Pope, Microsoft’s director of Incident Response, wrote in a blog post Tuesday.  “It is important that affected systems are patched as quickly as possible because of the elevated risks associated with wormable vulnerabilities like these, and downloads for these can be found in the Microsoft Security Update Guide,” he said.

masterQueue named Finalist for Two FinTech Awards at Finovate; adds former Fujitsu of America CEO

EL DORADO HILLS, Calif., Aug. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Intellaegis, DBA masterQueue, a leader in niche debt collection software, was named a finalist in Two FinTech award categories for the upcoming Finovate Fall conference in New York City this September.  Intellaegis is also one of 75 FinTech companies selected as a presenter to showcase the features that generated these nominations during the two days of demos of the newest FinTech products at the world's leading FinTech showcase. This will be a welcome back for Intellaegis as they launched masterQueue at Finovate in 2011.

OREGON JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT OFFICE OF THE STATE COURT ADMINISTRATOR ADVISES

Uniform Trial Court Rule (UTCR) 5.180 and UTCR 15.030 will go into effect on August 1, 2019.   UTCR 5.180(2) places requirements on debt buyers and debt collectors acting on behalf of debt buyers (collectively referred to in this memo as “Debt Buyers”). UTCR 5.180(3) places requirements on all other debt collection cases. UTCR 15.030 makes those requirements applicable to small claims debt collection cases. This memo outlines each requirement contained within the new UTCRs.

Data Privacy Exposure Hits the Public Sector: Lessons from the OPM Data Breach Class Action, Whistleblower Actions, and the GAO Cybersecurity Report

Data privacy litigation and enforcement actions continue to roil the private sector, most recently with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s announcement of a $425 million settlement with Equifax in the wake of the Equifax data breach. Less discussed is the fact that data privacy and security remains a real threat in the public sector. As we recently reported, the 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that 16% of confirmed data breaches were in the public sector. Three recent developments highlight the breadth and scope of the threat, reflecting that federal agencies and government contractors remain vulnerable to cyberattacks and may be subject to liability for cybersecurity failures.

Regulators and the Fed reportedly looking to roll back Volcker Rule, giving banks leeway on investments

Wall Street banks may be catching a break as regulators rework a rule that restricts their ability to invest their own money, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
Regulators are trying to make it easier for banks to trade securities using their own funds by reworking the so-called Volcker Rule, a centerpiece of legislation from the post-financial crisis bank crackdown, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Are CFOs Naive on Cyber Insurance Value?

Most senior finance executives at large companies believe that cyber insurance would cover most or all of the losses their company would incur in a cyberattack, a new study says. But they are wrong, according to commercial property insurer FM Global.   In a study of 105 CFOs and other senior financial executives at companies with revenue of at least $1 billion, commissioned by FM Global and performed by CFO Research, 45% said they expected their insurer will cover “most” related losses from a cybersecurity event, and 26% said they expected the carrier to cover “all” related losses.

WebRecon Stats for July 2019: Forget Doldrums… Summer Pops!

Quick analysis: Everything litigation-related moved up in July for the first time since January. FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA were all up between 11%-16% over the previous month. YTD, all three either increased their percentages over 2018 (FCRA from from +2% to +6.5%) or decreased their negative percentages (FDCPA from -7.5% to -7% and TCPA from -12.7% to -12.4%). Even CFPB complaints, which did decrease from June (-8.6% at the moment, but those numbers are not settled yet) decreased their YTD percentage from -18.1% in June to -16.7% in July.

Finra To Review Rules Protecting Senior Citizens From Financial Abuse

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said it is conducting a review of recently adopted rules partly designed to help protect senior investors from financial exploitation. The rules, adopted last year, are designed to protect investors, with particular emphasis on protecting vulnerable investors like seniors, many of whom are living on fixed incomes and budgets without the ability to offset significant losses over time or through other means.

NY Department of Financial Services Issues Proposed Student Loan Servicer Regulations

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has issued proposed regulations to implement the legislation enacted in April 2019 that requires servicers of student loans to be licensed, imposes servicing standards, and prohibits certain practices.  On July 31, the NYDFS published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the State Register, triggering a 60-day comment period.

Bill Introduced to Require Data Brokers to Register With FTC

On July 30, 2019, Sens. Peters and McSally introduced S.2342, a bill to provide for requirements for data brokers with respect to the acquisition, use and protection of brokered personal information, and to require that data brokers annually register with the Federal Trade Commission.   Congress should bring more transparency to data broker practices through the FTC, Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich. and Martha McSally, R-Ariz. have stated.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Settles Lawsuit Against ITT Educational Services

Washington, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today announced a proposed settlement with ITT Educational Services, Inc. to resolve the Bureau’s lawsuit, which alleges that ITT engaged in unfair and abusive practices in connection with its private loan program in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.

U.S. regulator settles lawsuit against ITT Educational, will not collect $60 million

(Reuters) - The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said on Monday it had reached a settlement with ITT Educational Services Inc over predatory lending practices, but does not plan to collect any of a $60 million judgment from the bankrupt for-profit college.   The proposed settlement stipulates that the bureau will not seek any funds through bankruptcy proceedings from ITT, citing the limited amount available to be distributed to former students. The settlement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana also bars ITT, which filed for bankruptcy in September 2016, from providing student loans in the future.

Bankruptcy filings rising across the country and it could get worse

Bankruptcies are back — flashing warnings that more Americans are knee-deep in debt in big cities like New York.   While total bankruptcy petitions nationwide by consumers and businesses are still well below Great Recession levels, analysts say there is an unmistakable trend upward.

CFPB study shows alternative credit models lead to more loans, cheaper loans

Over the last several years, there’s been a serious push to get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use newer credit scoring models that consider factors such as a person’s bank account history, work history, or utility payments as part of the formula to determine a borrower’s creditworthiness. That movement grinded to a halt last year, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that it will not be authorizing the use of any new credit scoring model for several years, but a newly released study from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows that using alternative credit models will not only lead to more borrowers getting loans, the loans they get will be cheaper too.

America’s debt-burdened Millennials are delaying homeownership by 7 years

America’s young adults are sitting on at least $1.5 trillion worth of student loan debt. With such an outstanding balance, it’s no surprise that many are struggling to become first-time home buyers. A recent survey from Clever, an online real estate marketplace, indicates that although 84% of Millennials believe homeownership is part of the “American Dream,” a whopping 48% of undergraduates are putting off buying a home because of their loans.

‘Flabbergasted’: Chase Bank forgives all credit card debt for Canadian customers

Canadians who had credit cards with Chase Bank can breathe a sigh of relief as the company says it will "forgive" all outstanding debt. Chase Bank, part of the New York based JPMorgan Chase & Co., closed all credit card accounts in the country in March 2018, the company said. Originally, customers were told to continue paying their debt, Reuters reported, but the company confirmed Friday to USA TODAY the debt was now cancelled.

Looking for answers at Black Hat 2019: 5 important cybersecurity issues

Judging by last week’s Capital One breach and Equifax settlement, cybersecurity remains a topical, if not ugly, subject. The timing couldn’t be better for these unfortunate events. Why? Because the cybersecurity community gets together this week in Las Vegas for Black Hat and DEF CON to discuss how to better deal with security vulnerabilities and improve threat prevention, detection, and response. 

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