Wells Fargo is paying the Navajo Nation $6.5 million to settle allegations of shady sales tactics

New York (CNN Business)Wells Fargo is paying the Navajo Nation $6.5 million to settle allegations the bank preyed on the Native American tribe by using shady sales tactics.   The agreement puts to rest a 2017 lawsuit brought by the Navajo Nation that accused scandal-ridden Wells Fargo (WFC) of "predatory" practices, including opening fake accounts and pressuring elderly citizens who did not speak English to enroll in services they didn't need.  "Wells Fargo's predatory actions defrauded and harmed the Nation," said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement on Thursday announcing the settlement. "This puts other companies on notice that harmful business practices against the Navajo people will not be tolerated."

Most Telemarketer Fees to Access the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry to Increase in FY 2020

The Federal Trade Commission has announced FY 2020 fees for telemarketers accessing phone numbers on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. Most of the annual fees will increase slightly from FY 2019, and are set forth in a Federal Register notice.   All telemarketers calling consumers in the United States are required to download the numbers on the National DNC Registry to ensure they do not call consumers who have registered their phone numbers. The first five area codes are free to download, and organizations that are exempt, such as some charitable organizations, may obtain the entire list for free. Telemarketers must subscribe each year for access to the Registry numbers.

Out of the Darkness Walks

In an effort to raise funding and awareness for suicide prevention, Mike Ginsberg and his wife Tammi are co-chairing the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP) Montgomery County Walk. If you are interested in making a financial contribution to this campaign please click on this link. Money raised through the campaign will allow the AFSP to invest in new research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss. To find a walk in your region, please click here. Please contact Mike at mike@kaulkin.com if you have any questions.

2019 CFPB Research Conference

On December 12–13, 2019, the CFPB will host its fourth research conference on consumer finance. The goal of the conference is to connect the core community of researchers and policymakers with the best research being conducted across a wide range of disciplines and approaches that can inform the topic of consumer finance. 

Attorney General Frosh Announces New Effort to Halt Illegal Robocalls

BALTIMORE, MD (August 22, 2019) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced that as a result of a bipartisan, public/private coalition of 51 attorneys general and 12 phone companies, the phone companies have agreed to adopt eight principles to fight illegal robocalls. This agreement will help protect phone users from illegal robocalls and make it easier for attorneys general to investigate and prosecute bad actors.

Minutes show divided FOMC; NAFCU’s Long predicts another rate cut

Members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) – the Federal Reserve's monetary policy-setting arm – were divided ahead of committee's recent rate cut, according to minutes from the committee's July meeting released Wednesday. In addition, the committee begins its annual retreat today in Jackson Hole, Wyo., with Chairman Jerome Powell expected to speak Friday.

United States: CFPB Proposes Settlement In Connection With High-Interest Credit Offers

The CFPB and the State of Arkansas proposed a settlement in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas, against brokers for violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The violations were related to misrepresentations of high-interest credit offers. According to the CFPB, Andrew Gamber, and several entities he operated, made high-interest offers on credit to consumers and, in particular, to disabled veterans. The CFPB found that Mr. Gamber falsely claimed that (i) the offered product was a sale of payments when it was actually a high-interest credit offer, and (ii) consumers would receive funds during a specified timeframe. In addition, the CFPB stated that Mr. Gamber did not inform consumers of the interest rate on the credit offer.

As U.S. watchdog retreats, mortgage firms reprise cozy marketing arrangements

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage firms are getting back into joint marketing and advertising arrangements, reviving a controversial practice that was effectively banned in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

Debt Collectors Keep Credit Market Flowing

Debt collecting is a profession that gets little love, but given the social good done by debt collectors who operate ethically and follow the rules, maybe it’s time that we show them some affection. If not that, we should at least give them reasonable rules to play by—rules that would also benefit consumers and entrepreneurs who participate in the credit market.  This is the message my former colleague Daniel Press and I sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in our comments on its proposed debt collection rule.

“ANONYMIZED” DATA IS NOT CONFIDENTIAL

Last summer, data researchers published an open-access paper on their “white hat” hacking—they were trying to see how easy it is to “de-anonymize” data that we think is anonymous. It was disturbingly easy, according to study co-author Carlo Ratti:  First, they combined two anonymized datasets of people in Singapore, one of mobile phone logs and the other of transit trips, each containing “location stamps” detailing just the time and place of each data point. Then they used an algorithm to match users whose data overlapped closely between each set–in other words, they had phone logs and transit logs with similar time and location stamps–and tracked how closely those stamps matched up over time, eliminating false positives as they went. In the end, it took a week to match up 17% of the users and 11 weeks to get to a 95% rate of accuracy. (With the added GPS data from smartphones, it took less than a week to hit that number.)  

When Disaster Strikes, Digital ID Is Front And Center

Hurricanes, wildfires, tornados, earthquakes and floods — disasters of all types tend to bring out the best and the worst in people. Generous donations. Ripped-off funds. Faulty grant applications and truckloads of supplies sent to the impacted areas. Whatever the angle — honest or fraudulent — the rise of the digital economy can amplify the actions of both good and bad actors in the aftermath of tragedy.  Dealing with the online aspect of disaster relief requires a new, tighter approach to ID verification and authentication. That was the main message from a fresh PYMNTS discussion with Zac Cohen, general manager at Trulioo. 

Visa Announces New Payment Security Services to Prevent Fraud

For merchants and banks, payment fraud can lead to heavy financial losses and a serious besmirching of reputation.   Business and financial institutions received a helping hand today when Visa announced a suite of new industry-first payment security services and capabilities to prevent and disrupt payment fraud. The new capabilities are available to Visa clients at no additional cost or signup.

Banking regulators move to loosen Volcker requirements

Yesterday, the FDIC and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved an interagency rule that would loosen Volcker rule requirements on big banks; three other banking regulators must still approve it. NAFCU had urged the agencies to withdraw their proposed rulemaking, arguing that relaxing the requirements could undermine financial stability.

Goldman CEO memo calls Apple Card ‘a beginning’ on launch day

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc officially became a credit-card lender on Tuesday by rolling out its first product with Apple Inc , but the bank has aspirations to grow much bigger in consumer lending, its chief executive said in an internal memo viewed by Reuters.  The virtual credit card, which officially launched to all U.S. customers, is Goldman's first, and it represents a big push by the Wall Street bank to build out its young consumer business.

CHECK INTO CASH® SELECTS TELROCK’S OPTIMUS ENTERPRISE CLASS COLLECTION & RECOVERY SOFTWARE PLATFORM TO HELP DRIVE GREATER COLLECTION EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS

Atlanta, GA. – August 20, 2019 Check Into Cash, a national industry leader in direct lending and short-term credit solutions with hundreds of retail locations across the country and an ever expanding online presence, has selected Telrock, a global technology provider of SaaS-based software solutions, to provide their enterprise-wide collections and recovery platform Optimus. 

Marks Adopted for the First Time in the Sixth Circuit—State of Michigan Now Split on Requirements for TCPA Claim

Well the Wolverine state is now at war with itself—and I’m not talking about college football.  As we’ve reported previously, the Eastern District of Michigan has repeatedly followed the statutory approach to interpreting the TCPA’s phrase “ATDS” and required random or sequential number generation to state a TCPA claim. A court in the Western District of Michigan weighed in on the fight over the proper interpretation of an ATDS this week, however, and sided with the Ninth Circuit’s expansive holding in Marks that all dialers that call from a list of numbers automatically qualify under the TCPA.  This is the first time that Marks has been adopted within the Sixth Circuit and represents a further expansion of the Ninth Circuit’s TCPA reach.

Bankruptcy – Proposed Amendments Published for Public Comment

T-Mobile and AT&T join Verizon in rolling out free anti-robocalling technology

Robocalling is a phenomenon that isn’t exclusive to the US, but it’s far less frequent elsewhere. According to statistics from YouMail, nearly 48 billion robocalls were made in 2018 just in the US, and over 37% of these calls were spam calls. Google’s screen calling lets you identify spam callers by making Google Assistant talk to them, and Verizon took steps to allow anybody to block robocalls for free. The free version of Verizon’s robocall blocking service helps detect spam and will allow you to report the phone number, while the paid version at $2.99 a month includes features like personal spam and block list, risk meter, and spam lookup. T-Mobile and AT&T are teaming up and joining Verizon in offering free anti-robocalling technology.

Compliance Blog tackles payday rule during delay

Yesterday would have been the compliance deadline for the CFPB's payday lending rule, but litigation surrounding the rule and the bureau's decision to delay the ability-to-repay provisions until Nov. 19, 2020, has it in some limbo. In light of this, NAFCU's Reginald Watson details the implications of the rule on certain covered loans in a new Compliance Blog post.

CFPB offers financial relief to harmed veterans

In a proposed settlement with several lenders allegedly offering high-interest credit to veterans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offered redress to harmed veterans and consumers. The CFPB and the Office of the Arkansas Attorney General filed a proposed settlement with Andrew Gamber, Voyager Financial and SoBell. The lenders are accused of brokering contracts offering high-interest credit to veterans, many of whom are disabled, and other consumers.

Biometric Data Regulations: Do Your Insurance Policies Cover This Emerging Risk?

Over the past several years, commercial use of biometric data has become increasingly prevalent. In response, several states have adopted biometric data privacy legislation. Consequently, companies that rely on biometric data face new regulatory risks, in addition to increased legal exposure to individual and class action lawsuits. In fact, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed certification of a class action alleging Facebook’s face-scanning practices violate Illinois’ biometric privacy law, finding that the class alleged sufficiently concrete injuries based on Facebook’s alleged use of facial recognition technology without users’ consent to establish standing. Insurance policies currently available on the market, including cyber insurance policies, may not adequately cover these risks.

LA Financial Credit Union to Merge with Ventura County Credit Union

Pasadena-based L.A. Financial Credit Union has agreed to merge into the Ventura County Credit Union, creating an institution with $1.3 billion in assets and serving 120,000 members in California and Arizona.   The merger is expected to be completed in early 2020, according to a statement issued jointly by the two credit unions.

HUD proposes rule setting higher bar for housing discrimination claims

The Department of Housing and Urban Development released a proposed rule Friday that would make it more difficult to bring discrimination claims under the Fair Housing Act, a move that is drawing protests from civil rights groups. The proposed rewrite of a 2013 HUD rule would require plaintiffs to clear a higher bar to prove unintentional discrimination — known as disparate impact — and give defendants more leeway to rebut a claim. It was published on Friday following a 15-day congressional review period.

CFPB Appoints Private Education Loan Ombudsman

Washington, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) announced the appointment of Robert G. Cameron to serve as the Bureau’s private education loan ombudsman. Mr. Cameron is a Colonel and Staff Judge Advocate for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He has served in the United States Army for 29 years. Mr. Cameron also joins the Bureau from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency where he was a high-ranking official responsible for litigation, compliance, and risk mitigation efforts.  

DFS SUPERINTENDENT LINDA A. LACEWELL ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH NATIONAL STUDENT LOAN SERVICER OF FOR-PROFIT SCHOOLS

New York − Financial Services Superintendent Linda A. Lacewell today announced that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) entered into a $236,309 settlement with student loan servicer Tuition Options LLC and its parent company, EDvantage LLC, under which the companies will pay a $203,000 civil penalty and $33,309 in disgorgement to the State of New York. The settlement stems from DFS’s investigation of whether Tuition Options engaged in the business of a sales finance company without a license.

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.

$5,474,967 Checks

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$156,073,180 Payday Loans

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$32,463,257 Commercial

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$11,574,871 Medical

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$16,060,127 Medical

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$3,100,575.52 Medical

Sea Side Management, LLC

(800) 917-7183

$371,793.25 Credit Cards

Sea Side Management, LLC

(800) 917-7183

$1,091.4115 Consumer Loans

Sea Side Management, LLC

(800) 917-7183

$26.7 MIL Credit Cards

Sea Side Management, LLC

(800) 917-7183

CCI

(904) 679-3852

Client Services, Incorporated

(610) 608-3779

GC Services

(713) 202-7097

Crown Asset Management

(614) 583-0979

Amvive LLC

(805) 626-8483

2019 CFPB Research Conference

CFPB

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2019

Resource Management Services, Inc.

National Creditors Bar Association 2019 Fall Conference

National Creditors Bar Association

RMAi Annual Conference

Third Party Vendor Auditing Workshop

HOW, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY - from Resource Management Services, Inc.

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020

Collection & Recovery Solutions - produced by Resource Management Services, Inc.