Supreme Court rules debt collection lawsuit statute of limitations starts when violation occurs

The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Tuesday that the one-year filing deadline for a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuit is determined from when the alleged violation occurs, not when it is discovered.   The petitioner in this case, Kevin Rotkiske, was originally sued by debt collectors who received a default judgment after Rotkiske failed to respond. Rotkiske was unaware of the suit against him until applying for a mortgage, as all notices were sent to a previous mailing address. Rotkiske then filed suit against the debt collectors under the FDCPA.

Operators of Phantom Debt Scheme Permanently Banned From Debt Collection under Settlement with FTC

The operators of a scheme that conned consumers into paying non-existent debts will be permanently banned from the debt collection business and from misleading consumers about debt in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.    The FTC filed a complaint against Global Asset Financial Services Group, LLC in February, alleging that the operators of the company falsely claimed to be attorneys or affiliated with attorneys to pressure consumers into making payments on debts they did not owe, and threatened to take legal action against consumers if they did not pay.

RMAI Comments on Proposed California Consumer Privacy Act Regulations

December 11, 2019 (Sacramento, CA) – The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) is the most anticipated privacy law of the decade. In an attempt to seemingly double down on the European Union’s 2016 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the hastily drafted, hotly contested CCPA, is considered one of the strictest privacy laws in the United States. It takes effect on January 1, 2020 and has wrapped businesses in a swathe of new terms, ambiguous requirements and hefty penalties.

Lending standards to slide for homeowners with spotty credit, Moody’s warns in 2020 outlook

Buying a pricey house, but have weak credit? Increasingly, that’s not a deal-breaker. Next year the process of obtaining a new home loan could get easier for borrowers with spotty credit, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The credit-ratings firm sees more lenders willing to finance buyers in the months ahead with less-than-pristine credit by lowering their standards to offset a housing market drained of affordable options. “Reduced home-purchase affordability will continue to drive lenders to loosen credit standards to maintain volumes,” wrote Moody’s analyst Donald Lee in the credit-ratings firm’s 2020 outlook. “With shrinking home affordability, the underwriting quality for non-prime mortgages will weaken as increased lender competition leads to lower standards.”

Small Businesses Financing: 3 Ways Fintech Tops Credit Cards

The small business credit card industry has erupted in the past few years. More banks and credit card companies than ever before are advertising their own plastic that promises things like zero-interest repayment periods, cashback rewards, access to special airport lounges, and myriad other attractive bonuses. Of course, the rate at which these cards are being introduced is matched by their adoption rate among small businesses. The most recent editions of Pepperdine University’s Private Capital Index shows that 65% of surveyed business owners had used a business credit card to meet their financing needs over the prior three months.

How does CFPB’s TRID affect CUs?

As the CFPB assesses its Truth in Lending Act (TILA)/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, NAFCU Regulatory Affairs Counsel Kaley Schafer provides insights into the rule and what feedback the agency is looking for in a new post on the Compliance Blog. 

CRS2020 – Highlighted Session – Where Are We Headed? – Expectations of the Future with Mike Ginsberg of Kaulkin Ginsberg

Mike Ginsberg of Kaulkin Ginsberg  presents "Expectations of the Future"- May 6th - 8th at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas.   The last few years have presented significant challenges to the accounts receivable management industry.  However, there are strong indications that things may be resurging in this industry from a multitude of angles, such as client grantor market sector growth, compliance optimism, and rebounded consumer sentiment. Mike will review major trends in the industry, key market sector movements and how they may impact the ARM industry, and what to expect going forward, include AI.

Don't miss it! May 6th - 8th at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas.  

Student Loans A Lot Like The Subprime Mortgage Debacle, Watchdog Says

Mike Calhoun is a man on a mission. He's flying around the country, warning state lawmakers and prosecutors, sounding the alarm at conferences and with members of Congress. He did the same thing back before the housing market crash, warning then about reckless subprime loans. "We projected over 2 million subprime mortgage foreclosures, and the response was we were ridiculed by the industry," he says.

AG FERGUSON: CENTURYLINK WILL PAY $6.1 MILLION OVER HIDDEN FEES AFFECTING 650,000 WASHINGTONIANS

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today the first major action of his office’s Honest Fees Initiative. Global technology company CenturyLink will pay $6.1 million to the State of Washington according to a court order to resolve the Attorney General’s lawsuit regarding a range of unfair and deceptive conduct. CenturyLink added additional charges to customer bills without accurately disclosing those fees, impacting 650,000 Washingtonians. CenturyLink also failed to provide discounts that their sales agents had promised to about 16,000 Washingtonians.

Convoke Releases Upgrades in Latest Software Version

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Convoke, a leader in SaaS solutions for the debt collection market, marks the end of another successful year by releasing the most recent software update to its debt collections compliance and management hub.  The latest software release includes foundational changes to improve efficiency and platform enhancements to enable Convoke's customers to most efficiently meet their business needs, vendor oversight responsibilities, and regulatory compliance requirements.  The latest software release is Convoke's fourth and final release of 2019, and further builds upon the rich and diverse functionality present in the Convoke platform.

Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Public records, credit scores, and credit performanc

This is part of a series of quarterly reports of consumer credit trends produced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau using a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of approximately five million de-identified credit records maintained by one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies. This ninth report looks at the National Consumer Assistance Plan (NCAP) public records provision’s effects on the relationship between credit scores and consumers’ credit performance for consumers that had a civil judgment or tax lien removed from their credit report and those that did not.

FTC Obtains Record $191 Million Settlement from University of Phoenix to Resolve FTC Charges It Used Deceptive Advertising to Attract Prospective Students

The University of Phoenix (UOP) and its parent company, Apollo Education Group, will settle for a record $191 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges – that they used deceptive advertisements that falsely touted their relationships and job opportunities with companies such as AT&T, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Twitter, and The American Red Cross.   Under the settlement unanimously approved by the Commission, UOP will pay $50 million in cash as well as cancel $141 million in debts owed to the school by students who were harmed by the deceptive ads.

BUMP Collection Performance – Three Classes Planned for 2020

Three BUMP Collection Performance Classes Added to 2020 Schedule.
Registrations open for the March 12th class in Dallas.  Invest in your collectors - it's good for the consumer, it's good for your employees, and it's good for your business!   Find out more about this unique approach to the collection call, and collection training - from an expert in collections, Ken Evancic.

OCC Highlights Key Risks for Federal Banking System

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today reported operational, credit, and interest rate risks are among the key themes for the federal banking system in its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Fall 2019.   The report covers risks facing national banks and federal savings associations based on data as of June 30, 2019. The report presents information in five main areas: the operating environment, bank performance, special topics in emerging risk, trends in key risks, and supervisory actions. It focuses on issues that pose threats to those financial institutions regulated by the OCC and is intended as a resource to the industry, examiners, and the public.

Big tech banking plans may pose risk to financial stability: FSB

The efforts of big tech firms like Amazon and Google to get into banking poses risks to the financial system, according to a new report by the Financial Stability Board.  The international regulatory group, which monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system, acknowledged that tech companies' financial activities could bring benefits, like the potential for innovation, diversification and efficiency in the provision of financial services. Those included being able to help with financial inclusion to reduce the number of unbanked and underbanked populations.

Figure’s Mike Cagney On How Blockchain Is Reinventing Lending

Bitcoin and cryptos offer a prime example, where commerce transactions have yet to be among the use cases for digital coins. Blockchain technology — its genesis as a decentralized ledger, publicly visible but anonymous and once synonymous (but not limited) to cryptos — has fared better. Blockchain offers a real-time, immutable and permanent record of transactions (of data and value exchange), and has been embraced by all manner of firms — from banks to music companies, and retailers to governments. The goal is to reinvent the way things always have been done. In some cases, the results have fizzled. In other cases, blockchain has helped companies create efficiencies by shaving time off operations and saving on costs.

Supervisory Highlights Consumer Reporting Special Edition, Issue No. 20 (Fall 2019)

In this special issue of Supervisory Highlights, we report examination findings in the areas of consumer reporting and furnishing of information to consumer reporting companies, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Regulation V. The report does not impose any new or different legal requirements, and all violations described in the report are based only on those specific facts and circumstances noted during those examinations. 

DeVos orders partial loan relief for many duped student borrowers

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is pushing ahead on her plans to cancel only a portion of loans taken out by defrauded college students, even amid legal setbacks and as House Democrats prepare to grill her during a hearing next week.

New York Governor Signs Sweeping Reverse Mortgage Bill Into Law

A reverse mortgage bill aiming to change the way industry professionals do business in the state of New York was signed into law on Friday by Governor Andrew Cuomo, RMD has learned. This has codified the bill into New York state law, and Governor Cuomo’s office confirmed to RMD that he had signed it.

Lenders differ on 84-month loans

Doomsayers are bemoaning a spike in seven-year car loans, predicting dire consequences for lenders and the national economy from trapping consumers in auto debt for so long. A recent Wall Street Journal article gave added prominence to those fears.

Four big questions as CRA proposal nears official release

WASHINGTON — After nearly two years of internal discussions, regulators are finally ready to propose reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act on Dec. 12. Expect the reaction from within the industry and outside it to be swift and loud. When the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency asked the public to weigh in on CRA reform in 2018, it received more than 1,500 comments.

Global financial watchdogs take aim at Big Tech’s data dominance

LONDON (Reuters) - Google, Alibaba and other “Big Tech” companies could be forced to share data on financial services customers with banks and financial technology firms to prevent unfair competition. As Facebook’s plan for its Libra “stablecoin” faces scrutiny, a global body of regulators from the world’s main financial centers said that Big Tech’s growing tentacles raised questions for financial stability, competition and data privacy.

NAFCU on CCPA: Law shouldn’t apply to CUs as it creates confusion, compliance burdens

In a letter to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, NAFCU's Mahlet Makonnen outlined a number of concerns the association and its member credit unions have related to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2020. NAFCU is an advocate for a uniform federal standard – not a patchwork of state privacy laws – and this week unveiled principles for a national data privacy standard.   Makonnen, NAFCU's regulatory compliance counsel, reiterated NAFCU's position that the CCPA should not apply to credit unions and recommended California lawmakers implement regulations to clarify:

CRS2020 – Session Highlight – Credit Union Peer Group & Post Charge-Off Strategies

The Credit Union Peer Group meets again at Collection and Recovery Solutions (CRS2020), Wednesday, May 6th, from 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm. Chris Straiter will facilitate this member discussion session.  A survey of credit unions and their “hot topic” issues will be conducted prior to the event, and form the basis of the discussion.  In addition, there is time to discuss additional topics of interest to the group members in attendance. The Credit Union Peer Group is a working group of the Recovery Management Network group. Both are creditor-only groups for professionals in the collection and recovery side of the business.

More student loan collection bids seen despite court order

The Education Department revealed in a court filing this week that it identified an additional 29,000 former Corinthian Colleges students who were pursued for federal student loan payments despite a court order barring collection.   A federal judge held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt and fined the department $100,000 in October after the agency said it attempted to collect payments from 16,000 former students of the defunct for-profit college in violation of the order.

Cordray: CFPB Functioning Many Ways As It Was Intended

Richard Cordray, first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said today the agency is functioning many ways as it was intended even though it has been under apparent retreat from regulation and enforcement since President Donald Trump took office.

New Study Ranks Nevada 2nd In Identity Thefts

LAS VEGAS, NV (KXNT) - Identity theft is a well known problem across the country, and the state of Nevada is among the top states where it's most likely to happen.    A recent report issued from the Motley Fool website shows that Nevada is second among the US states in identity theft with over fifty-eight-hundred reports.     Nevada trails only the state of Georgia, which has a staggering twenty-three-thousand reports of identity theft. Residents of Vermont, Iowa, and maine have reported the fewest identity thefts.

Court Halts Operations of VoIP Service Provider after the FTC and Ohio Alleged that it Helped Promote Credit Card Interest Reduction Scheme

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Ohio, a federal court has halted the operations of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider Globex Telecom Inc., which allegedly played a key role in robocalling consumers to promote a credit card interest reduction scheme that bilked consumers out of millions of dollars.   The federal court in El Paso, Texas issued a temporary restraining order against Globex and its Canadian counterpart, 9506276 Canada, Inc., that appoints a temporary receiver and freezes the defendants’ assets.

CFPB Ombudsman’s Office 2019 Annual Report

Today, the Ombudsman’s Office’s annual report is available on our webpage. Each year our annual report, which I deliver to the Director, outlines our work process and summarizes our activities from the last fiscal year. The Ombudsman’s Office is an independent, impartial, and confidential resource that assists consumers, financial entities, consumer or trade groups, and others in informally resolving process issues with the CFPB. 

NAFCU wants CUs protected as House passes bill targeting robocalls

Lawmakers in the House Wednesday, in a 417-3 vote, passed legislation that would expand the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) enforcement authority over violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and require voice services providers to authenticate and block illegal robocalls.

More Fed Officials Weighing Liquidity Requirements After Repo Market Crunch

The Federal Reserve is reviewing parts of its supervisory framework, particularly around bank liquidity requirements, in the aftermath of unusual overnight lending market volatility earlier this year, according to a growing chorus of Fed officials. The Fed might have contributed to the repo market turmoil in September and will review if the policies could have exacerbated the problem, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles said at a House Financial Services Committee hearing. And in the lead-up to the hearing, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and New York Fed President John Williams sent a letter to committee ranking member Pat McHenry (R-N.C.), saying that the Fed will “continue to analyze” the dynamics that contributed to the turmoil. 

CFPB Proposal On Remittances Offers Exemptions For Banks, CUs

In the years ahead, might there be a greater number of smaller financial institutions (FIs) offering remittance services? As Bloomberg Law reported Tuesday (Dec. 3), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed to boost the number of smaller banks and credit unions (CUs) that would not be governed by rules tied to international money transfers. In a move that some advocates say would ease regulatory and compliance costs, the proposal would extend an exemption that allows these FIs to estimate the fees and costs associated with such international fund flows as providing exact figures might prove an expensive task.

11 questions on deck for upcoming credit reporting workshop hosted by CFPB & FTC

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will host a public workshop on Tuesday to discuss issues affecting the accuracy of both traditional credit reports and employment and tenant background screening reports. The regulators shared 11 different questions they might be tackling in light of marketplace changes during the past five years.

Attorney General Becerra Seeks Public Comment at Four Public Hearings on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Proposed Regulations

SACRAMENTO — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued an advisory reminding the public that the California Department of Justice will hold four public hearings on the proposed regulations issued under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The CCPA was introduced as Assembly Bill 375 and signed into law on June 28, 2018. The law provides consumers with groundbreaking new rights related to the use of their personal information. The law mandates that on or before July 1, 2020, the Office of the Attorney General promulgate and adopt implementing regulations for the CCPA. The proposed regulations were released to the public on Oct. 10, 2019. The comment period regarding these proposed regulations is underway and ends next week. Any interested party or their duly authorized representative may submit comments regarding the proposed CCPA regulations in person at the public hearings, or in writing by mail or email.

$935,406,423.90 Auto Deficiencies

BAL Financial LLC

(617) 595-5794

$35,634,988.24 Credit Cards

BAL Financial LLC

(617) 595-5794

2019 CFPB Research Conference

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

RMAi Annual Conference

The Payments Summit 2020

The Payments Summit

2020 Annual Utilities Credit & Collections Symposium

Conferences By Monticello

ACA International 2020 Spring Forum & Expo

ACA International

Commercial Payments International

EuroFinance

AFCC Spring Conference – 2020

NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference: P-Card, Travel Card, ePayables

NAPCP

NCUCA – National Credit Union Collection Alliance 2020

NCUCA National Credit Union Collections Alliance

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020

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

National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees 2020

National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT)

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2020

Resource Management Services, Inc.

Auto finance Summit 2020

Royal Media