America’s Middle Class Is Addicted to a New Kind of Credit

The payday-loan business was in decline. Regulators were circling, storefronts were vanishing and investors were abandoning the industry’s biggest companies en masse.  And yet today, just a few years later, many of the same subprime lenders that specialized in the debt are promoting an almost equally onerous type of credit.   It’s called the online installment loan, a form of debt with much longer maturities but often the same sort of crippling, triple-digit interest rates. If the payday loan’s target audience is the nation’s poor, then the installment loan is geared to all those working-class Americans who have seen their wages stagnate and unpaid bills pile up in the years since the Great Recession.

Debt Consolidation Often Results in Higher Credit Scores and Better Credit Performance

Participation in the consumer lending market is at a record high, with more than 19.6 million consumers carrying an unsecured personal loan through the first half of 2019. Consumer adoption of personal loans for debt consolidation has driven much of this growth, as consumers with heavy credit card debt often receive offers to consolidate their debt via a personal loan. However, the increased prevalence of consolidation loans has led to the rising misconception that this practice may lead to a debt trap for consumers.

CFPB Symposium: Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) will hold a symposium on Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) on November 6, 2019 at 9:30 a.m.    The symposium is the third in a series announced earlier this year to explore consumer protections in today’s dynamic financial services marketplace. The series is aimed at stimulating a proactive and transparent dialogue to assist the Bureau in its policy development process, including possible future rulemakings. The first symposium on June 25 covered the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on abusive acts or practices. The second symposium on September 19 covered behavioral law and economics.

23 Senators Demand Investigation Into Mismanagement Of Student Loan Program

Twenty-three U.S. senators are calling on the nation's top consumer protection agency to investigate a loan servicer for its role in a troubled student loan forgiveness program. The program is designed to help public service workers like teachers and police officers. The loan servicer, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, better known as FedLoan and PHEAA, is one of the entities that handles the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

SHERMETA LAW GROUP, PLLC, CERTIFIED BY THE NATIONAL WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS CORPORATION, AND THE WOMEN’S BUSINESS ENTERPRISE NATIONAL COUNCIL

Shermeta Law Group, PLLC is proud to announce national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise, by the National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC), and the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).  These prestigious certifications will provide Shermeta Law Group, PLLC access to the NWBOC and the WBENC’s Corporate Members, and be listed as an approved and qualified organization.  

Participant Views on Retirement Plan Loans Can Inform Benefit Decisions

Retirement plan participant loans most occur among the financially vulnerable, according to a study by Custodia Financial. And the number one reason for taking plan loans cited by plan participants surveyed is simply to make ends meet. This is followed by paying off credit card bills and paying for medical expenses.

Despite reputation, CFPB not toothless under new leadership

“There may be a misimpression that the CFPB is lax when, in fact, it is not; it’s a very active Bureau,” says Anthony DiResta, a partner at Holland & Knight. “They’ve been looking at many players in the financial services industry—banks, lenders, credit-repair organizations, debt collectors.”   They’re also paying attention to a broad range of consumer protection issues—from unfair and deceptive practices to failing to honor consumer requests and much more.

FDIC Consumer News: Banking at the Speed of Technology

Millions of people today use mobile devices to manage their finances, and the number of users continues to grow. Why? Mobile banking technology and services provide so much convenience. You can access your account from just about anywhere using a smartphone or mobile computer device today. As demand grows, the banking industry strives to improve online services while keeping customers’ funds safe.

Google New Ad Policy Restricts Advertisement of Debt Settlement, Debt Management and Credit Repair

In November 2019, Google will update the Financial products and services policy to restrict the advertisement of debt settlement, debt management services and credit repair services.  Ads for credit repair services will no longer be allowed to serve.  Ads for debt settlement or debt management services will be allowed to serve only if the advertiser is certified by Google. Certification will be available only in certain countries.

FCRA filings rose sharply over past decade

Lex Machina released its first “Consumer Protection Litigation Report” on October 23, 2019, and it confirms what we already know: FCRA cases increased dramatically over the past decade. From a modest 1,299 cases in 2010, FCRA cases rose steadily to a peak of 3,665 cases in 2017.  We may be seeing a plateau.  The total number of cases in 2018 topped out at 3,582.

28% of millennials only paid off their student loans thanks to help from friends and family

To pay off student-loan debt, some millennials are turning to outside help. About 20% of millennial respondents to a recent survey from Insider and Morning Consult said they've successfully paid off a student loan. Of those respondents, 28% said they've paid off debt with financial help from friends and family. The survey polled 2,096 Americans about their financial health, debt, and earnings for a new series, "The State of Our Money." More than 670 respondents were millennials, defined as ages 23 to 38 in 2019.

Uber Money Wants To Be The Bank Account For Uber Drivers

During the Middle Ages, payday was a yearly event wherein the local landlords and their peasant workers settled up for the previous year’s work and drew up terms for the next year. As industrialization displaced feudalism, pay cycles evolved to monthly. The modern era ushered in the notion of a weekly or bi-weekly pay cycle, which remains the norm for most U.S. workers today. For about half of the workforce, that system works out fine, Uber’s Head of Payments Peter Hazlehurst told Karen Webster in a recent conversation. Those workers earn enough each pay period to cover their expenses until the next payday. In the event of an unexpected financial hiccup, most have savings or access to a low-cost means of credit.

PRIVACY AND SECURITY THREATS LURK IN THESE EVERYDAY CHOICES

Individuals and businesses unknowingly expose themselves to security and privacy threats, as experts explain here. “WE CAN OPT OUT OF PROVIDING OUR INFORMATION TO CONTENT, APP, AND SOCIAL MEDIA PROVIDERS.” Ari Trachtenberg, Gianluca Stringhini, and Ran Canetti of Boston University offer some best-practices for protecting yourself and those around you.

New interactive feature shows there’s no generation gap for scams

When it comes to fraud, there’s no such thing as a generation gap. According to reports in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, fraud affects every generation. But that’s only half the story. What else the reports tell us is that fraud affects every generation differently. The FTC has a new interactive tool that demonstrates those differences graphically, giving users exactly the data they ask for.

The FTC fosters fake reviews, its own commissioners say

Like much of the Internet, online reviews are often fake. No matter the platform—Amazon, TripAdvisor, Yelp, or another—no matter the subject, where user reviews are public, fakery usually follows. The practice has surged in popularity in recent years as retailers scramble to capitalize on consumers’ love of ecommerce. Saoud Khalifah, CEO of the fraudulent-review tracking company FakeSpot, says the number of companies padding their online ratings using reviews generated by bots, ghostwriters, or other schemes has increased dramatically over the past four years.

Supreme Court Review Could Undercut CFPB Enforcement

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could lose leverage in enforcement negotiations as the Supreme Court considers whether its leadership structure is unconstitutional. The CFPB has said it will be business as usual as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge to the independent agency’s single-director, whom the president can only fire for cause, rather than at will. But federal judges have already put stays on the bureau’s enforcement litigation or closed cases altogether pending a Supreme Court decision in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau— which hasn’t been scheduled for oral arguments yet.

WebRecon Stats for Sept 2019: 3rd Quarter Results, FDCPA Ekes One Out

The 3rd quarter has officially wrapped, and for the most part the years’ trends have solidified. CFPB complaints and FDCPA/TCPA lawsuits are down by significant margins while FCRA lawsuits are up.

SCOTUS decision in Seila Law holding CFPB structure unconstitutional would not impact OCC or HUD

The constitutional question that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide in Seila Law is whether the CFPB’s single-director-removable-only-for-cause structure violates separation of powers.  A ruling by the Supreme Court that separation of powers requires the President to be able to remove the CFPB Director without cause would not impact either the OCC or HUD. 

CDIA and Metro 2 approve new special comment code for extinguished debts

Recently, the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) and the Metro 2 Taskforce approved a new Special Comment Code in FAQ 69.  According to CDIA’s press release , the new code, “DE = Debt Extinguished Under State Law,” applies—as the code suggests—to debts that have become extinguished under applicable law.

Supreme Court Appoints Former Solicitor General to Defend CFPB

The U.S. Supreme Court has appointed former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement to argue in support of the CFPB’s structure in the case of Seila Law LLC V. Consumer Protection Bureau. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of the California law firm that argues the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutionally structured, positioning the justices to settle longstanding questions surrounding the legitimacy of the independent agency.

Lawmakers discuss need for federal data security laws

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., emphasized the need for a federal law that addresses data breach, data privacy and ownership issues during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday. Ahead of the hearing on data privacy rights and data valuation, NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler urged the committee to consider a national standard for institutions that collect and store consumer information.

Fintech’s fast pass to traditional banking is now cut off

Tech start-ups trying to become banks will now have to take a slower, more traditional route.   Fintech companies had welcomed a special bank charter that cleared a quicker path for them to become a bank. But that was dealt a blow this week as a federal district court in New York decided that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator issuing the charters, didn’t have the authority to do so.

Zelle Transaction Volumes Hit $49B, Spike 73 Pct YOY

Zelle’s third-quarter results show that its year-over-year payment values increased by 58 percent, while transaction volume rose by 73 percent. In addition, Early Warning Services, the network operator behind Zelle, announced that $49 billion was sent through the Zelle Network on 196 million transactions during Q3 2019. More than 600 financial institutions are currently contracted to participate on the Zelle Network, including 254 that are processing transactions, as well as the 5,516 banks represented by their customers using the Zelle app.

AGs From 28 States Send Letter to CFPB to Stop Proposal Allowing Debt Collectors to Use Social Media

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing changes to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (commonly referred to as “Dodd-Frank”). State attorneys general from 28 states have banded together to comment on the changes, which may impact an estimated 49 million American consumers who are contacted each year by debt collectors.

Massachusetts AG Sues DeVos Over Debt Relief

Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Education Department seeking debt cancellation for 7,200 former Corinthian Colleges students.

$1,700,000 Payday Loans

GLI Investments

(909) 203-0648

$573,000 Payday Loans

GLI Investments

(909) 203-0648

$880,000 Payday Loans

GLI Investments

(909) 203-0648

$1,000,000 Retail

GLI Investments

(909) 203-0648

$9,900,000 Credit Cards

GLI Investments

(909) 203-0648

$1,700,000 Payday Loans

GLI Investments

(909) 203-0648

$150,000 Payday Loans

GLI Investments

(909) 203-0648

Pacific Retrieval LLC

(888) 244-4929

VeriCred Solutions LLC

(800) 250-7430

H Financial, LLC

(305) 445-1100

U.P. Solutions

(346) 336-1486

FTC and CFPB to Host December Workshop on Accuracy in Consumer Reporting

FTC and CFPB

2019 CFPB Research Conference

CFPB

RMAi Annual Conference

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020

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

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2020

Resource Management Services, Inc.