Washington State WSR 20-21-004 EMERGENCY RULES DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING

Purpose: The department of licensing (DOL) is refiling this emergency rule allowing employees of collection agencies the option to work remotely, and does not alter any requirements of the Collection Agency Act in regards to collection activity while permanent rule making is currently being done. DOL will file the CR-102 to propose the permanent adoption of these rules after final language has been drafted. Anticipated date is November 16, 2020. Once the CR-102 is filed, the comment period will begin. The department originally filed notice of permanent rule making within the emergency rule-making order under WSR 20-14-020.  The State’s Collection Agency Act and expires February 17, 2021.

The average millennial has $27,251 in non-mortgage consumer debt—here’s how they compare to other generations

Millennials are the generation with the fastest growing debt load, which isn’t surprising when you consider this cohort is increasingly having children, buying homes and continuing to pay off their student loans. According to the Experian 2020 State of Credit report, the average millennial consumer has about $27,251 in non-mortgage debt, and millennial homeowners have an average mortgage balance of $232,372.

OCC payments charter proposal raises questions about what is a bank

Recent moves by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are forcing Congress to ask a deceptively complex question: What is a bank? Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks previewed plans over the summer to grant bank charters for national money transmitters. The federal charter would allow some payment servicers to get a single, federal operating license, supplanting the need for state licenses wherever they operate and allowing them access to the Federal Reserve’s payments clearing system.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues No Action Letter to Facilitate Consumer Access to Small-Dollar Loans

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) granted a no-action letter (NAL) to Bank of America, N.A. regarding certain small-dollar credit products. Issued under the updated NAL   Policy from last year, NALs provide increased regulatory certainty that the Bureau will not bring a supervisory or enforcement action against a company for providing a product or service under certain facts and circumstances. 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Takes Action Against Debt-Relief Business and Its Owner for Taking Illegal Advance Fees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today filed a complaint against Performance SLC, LLC (PSLC), a California debt-relief business focused on federal student loan debt; Performance Settlement, LLC (PSettlement), a California debt-settlement company; and Daniel Crenshaw, the owner and CEO of the two companies.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Files Lawsuit Against Driver Loan, LLC And Its CEO

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today filed a lawsuit against Driver Loan, LLC, and its Chief Executive Officer, Angelo Jose Sarjeant, for allegedly engaging in deceptive acts or practices in taking deposits from and offering credit to consumers. Driver Loan, based in Doral, Florida, offers short-term, high-interest loans to consumers funded by deposits made by other consumers.

Debt Collection Strategies and Cutting Edge Practices – LEND360

Henderson, NV –  An industry leader and founder of DebtTrader, Matthew Wratten, will be speaking at LEND360 on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. He and a panel of experts will discuss the topic of debt collection strategies and cutting edge practices.

Attorney General James and Governor Cuomo Renew Suspension of State Debt Collection for Eighth Time as Coronavirus Continues to Impact New Yorkers’ Wallets

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the state has renewed, for the eighth time, an order to halt the collection of medical and student debt owed to the state of New York that has been specifically referred to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for collection — with limited exceptions — through December 31, 2020.

Why fewer borrowers are repaying student loans during coronavirus

Just 11% of borrowers are currently repaying federal student loans during coronavirus, according to an analysis by Mark Kantrowitz, a student loan expert, and publisher of Saving For College. Borrowers have paused payments for many reasons and, in some cases, it's the right course of action. But not every type of student loan is eligible for automatic forbearance, and there are both pros and cons to consider before discontinuing student loan payments.

States with the most and least student debt

Once the cost of books, room and board, and other fees are added in, paying for college with a part-time or summer job is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Today’s students are instead turning to loans, leading to a widespread debt crisis. Americans currently owe a collective $1.56 trillion in student loans, changing the shape and trajectory of the U.S. economy. Instead of buying a car or a house, millenials are focused on finding a job that will allow them to make loan payments without defaulting.

No Open And Shut Path For Open Banking As CFPB Mulls Rules

If data is the oil that brings change to financial services, the pipelines are increasingly under scrutiny. Late last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said it will look to issue advance notice of proposed rulemaking on “open banking” by the end of this year. In other words, there may be a range of potential new rules coming into play in the U.S. And that means the path toward open banking, where, in Europe for example, banks share account data with authorized parties in standardized formats, may be anything but smooth.

eSkimming Is Back, And Fraud Fighters Are Onto It

The classics never get old, and that includes cybertheft oldies like eSkimming. Warnings of ATM card skimming were commonplace until fairly recently, when multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other fraud defeaters slowly pushed it out of the picture. Now it’s back, riding an odious COVID-era whirlwind of fraud types new and old. “Even eTailers that carefully monitor their platforms for suspicious activity may struggle to detect eSkimming, as fraudsters can conduct these attacks without compromising merchants’ back-end systems,” noted the Next-Gen Debit Tracker®, done in collaboration with PULSE, a Discover company. “Cybercriminals might instead infiltrate the third-party software that merchants’ websites use, such as shopping cart widgets.”

JPMorgan warns of another potential regulatory fine tied to weak ‘internal controls’ at bank

JPMorgan Chase said that just weeks after paying a record penalty it is facing another potential fine, this time over internal controls in wealth management and other areas. The bank disclosed the impending action late Monday in a filing, saying that one of its regulators told the New York-based company that it faced action “related to historical deficiencies in internal controls and internal audit over certain advisory and other activities.”

What delayed election outcome means for banks

WASHINGTON — Banks have spent the past year preparing for the impact of either Donald Trump’s reelection or a victory by Joe Biden. But with the presidential race still undecided as of early Wednesday morning, the industry can ponder a third scenario: continued uncertainty.

Nebraska Initiative 428, Payday Lender Interest Rate Cap Initiative (2020)

Initiative 428 amended state statute by removing the existing limit that prohibits payday lenders from charging fees in excess of $15 per $100 loaned and replacing it with a 36% annual limit on payday lending transactions. It also prohibited payday lenders from collecting fees, interest, or the principal of the transaction if the rate charged is greater than 36%. Payday lenders are prohibited from marketing, offering, or guaranteeing loans with interest rates exceeding 36% in the state regardless of the lender having a physical office in the state.^[1]

Conviction and 10-year sentence upheld in payday loan scam

NEW YORK -- An appeals court on Tuesday upheld the conviction and 10-year sentence for a man who ran a $220 million predatory payday lending operation that cheated over a half-million people nationwide.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Settles with SMART Payment Plan, LLC for Deceptive Sales Practices

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) issued a consent order against SMART Payment Plan, LLC (SMART), finding that the company’s disclosures of its loan payment program contained misleading statements in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010’s prohibition against deceptive acts or practices. SMART is a limited liability company with its principal place of business in Austin, Texas. 

ACI Worldwide Launches Fraud Management in the Cloud to Protect Against Threat of UPI Payments Fraud

NAPLES, Fla. & MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time digital payment software and solutions, today announced ACI Fraud Management in the cloud enables Indian banks to protect the rapidly growing number of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions across the region.

Mortgages in forbearance fall across all loan types

The U.S. forbearance rate measuring the share of mortgages with suspended payments fell seven basis points to 5.83% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. “With more borrowers exiting forbearance in the prior week, the share of loans in forbearance declined across all loan types. Almost half of forbearance exits to date have been from borrowers who remained current while in forbearance, or who were reinstated by paying back past-due amounts,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist.

Baby Boomers and high earners now carry the most student loan debt: Fidelity study

New Money Study: How the Pandemic Is Changing Americans’ Credit Card Habits, From Spending to Paying Down Debt

Americans are using their credit cards regularly despite the coronavirus pandemic that has engulfed the country this year, according to a recent survey by Money and Morning Consult. But they’re paying down debt and using their cards differently.

Cyber Security as Competitive Advantage

Cyber security may initially come to mind as a defensive position, but having strong cyber resilience can actually be a competitive advantage, especially when it’s at the forefront of your operations and embodies a commitment to customers. Now more than ever, customers are attuned to the impact of security threats to their own data. 

Fed lowers minimum loan level for small business lending program

The Federal Reserve has lowered the barriers on its lending program for smaller businesses as part of an effort to broaden the appeal of the sparsely used facility. In another pair of tweaks to its Main Street Lending Program, the Fed on Friday said it is reducing the minimum loan size to $100,000 from $250,000 and will ease restrictions on debt for companies already participating in the Paycheck Protection Program.

SBA presses big businesses to justify aid, sparking uproar

The Small Business Administration is quietly rolling out an effort to scrutinize the largest businesses that took payroll support loans during the pandemic, demanding new details about their operations to justify the aid.

Payday lending regulation is on the ballot in Nebraska amid sky-high interest rates

In Nebraska, payday lending has been legal in Nebraska since 1994. The law didn’t put a cap on rates and fees at that point. Payday lenders can charge more than 400% in interest. In 2019, according to the state’s Banking and Finance Department, about 50,000 Nebraskans took out 500,000 payday loans. The average loan was $362. The average interest rate was 405%.

Discharging student loans in bankruptcy—could it soon get easier?

Student loan borrowers who seek to have their debt canceled in bankruptcy — what’s known as discharge — typically find it an expensive process with standards that can be difficult to meet. But recent bankruptcy court rulings and lawmakers’ support of relief for overburdened borrowers may signal a change is coming. In January, a New York court discharged over $200,000 of student loan debt for one borrower. Then, in August, a federal appeals court ruling eliminated $200,000 for a Colorado couple who held 11 private student loan accounts. And in September, a New York judge ruled to enforce a prior bankruptcy discharge of a borrower’s $400,000 of federal student loans that a servicer had failed to carry out.

Supreme Court ruling could make robocalls ‘virtually unstoppable’

Facebook (FB) is fighting a case in the Supreme Court. It’s not about fake news, foreign influence, censorship, or antitrust issues – it’s about robocalls. This is the second time in 2020 that the Supreme Court has heard a case involving robocalls. Efforts to fight robocalls through new legislation foundered this year as the divided Congress left out key provisions that defined exactly what a robocall really is.

What debt collectors can and can’t do under CFPB rule – American Banker

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a final debt collection rule on Friday that restricts how often collectors can call borrowers to seven calls per week but for the first time allows communications by voice mail, email and text messages.  The CFPB established rules to allow the use of technologies developed after the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act passed in 1977. Consumers can opt out of such modern communications.  “With the vast changes in communications since the FDCPA was passed more than four decades ago, it is important to provide clear rules of the road,” CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger said in a press release. “Our debt collection rulemaking provides limits on debt collectors and provides clear rights for consumers. With this modernized debt collection rule, consumers will have greater control when communicating with debt collectors.”

$19,500,000 Medical

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$3,800,000 Retail

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$102,000 Auto Deficiencies

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$9,500,000 Retail

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

$5,800,000 Payday Loans

Capital Debt Solutions, LLC

(866) 305-5102

Runci Group

(877) 452-6466

LEND360 Virtual Event – November 9-13, 2020

LEND360

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2021 (CRS2021)

Resource Management Services, Inc.

Digital Banking 2020 – December 7 – 9

American Banker