At a glanceWednesday, March 31, 2021

Collection Industry News At A Glance - March 31, 2021
Wednesday March 31, 2021
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Biden administration expanding pause on student loan interest and collections

(CNN)The Biden administration is expanding the pause on student loan interest and collections to the more than a million borrowers who are in default on loans made by private lenders, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

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Pandemic ushers in a new era of digital lending

Amid this global pandemic, mortgage rates have been at historically low levels, borrower demand has increased, refis have broken records and lenders have had to shift in many instances to a remote workforce. In addition to moving to a remote workforce, most face-to-face interaction with borrowers has either not been allowed to occur, or the borrower’s willingness to meet has declined dramatically. That has caused a remarkable shift to a digital lending model that has significantly impacted a lender’s ability to do business during these challenging times.  

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Lawmakers announce plan to offer zero-cost, zero-penalty bank account to all Californians

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A coalition of lawmakers and financial services advocates joined together to announce landmark legislation that would offer zero-cost, zero-penalty bank accounts to all Californians, it was announced in a statement Tuesday.

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Biden is canceling another $1.3B in student loan debt. Who qualifies?

The Biden administration has announced plans for another wave of student debt forgiveness, this time involving more than $1.3 billion in federal student loan debt held by more than 230,000 people.

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RMAI Adopts Latest Version of National Certification Program

March 31, 2021 (Sacramento, CA) – The RMAI Certification Council announces the adoption of version 9.0 of the Receivables Management Certification Program (RMCP) after an eight-month development and review process. Several significant enhancements were added to the program in version 9.0, including requiring Certified Businesses to:

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West Virginia Data Privacy Bill Is CCPA+

West Virginia has gotten into the data privacy bill game with House Bill (HB) 3159 on Consumer Data Privacy.

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Agencies Seek Wide Range of Views on Financial Institutions’ Use of Artificial Intelligence

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Five federal financial regulatory agencies are gathering insight on financial institutions’ use of artificial intelligence (AI). The agencies seek information from the public on how financial institutions use AI in their activities, including fraud prevention, personalization of customer services, credit underwriting, and other operations.

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Katabat and Bridgeforce Announce Strategic PartnershipEnhancing Support to Clients with “White-Glove” Implementation Services

Chadds Ford PA, March 2021 – Katabat, a leading global provider of debt management software solutions and Bridgeforce LLC, an international financial services consultancy, today announced a formal partnership aimed at delivering new levels of implementation support for Katabat’s managed service debt collection software products.

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U.S. Consumer Debt Share During the Pandemic

Americans currently find themselves in greater debt than at any other time in history, including prior to the great financial crisis of 2008. That debt burden stands at approximately $14.56 trillion1 and includes all types of consumer secured and unsecured loans totals using the latest available data for the full year of 2020. 

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Education Dept. Restores Debt Cancellation For Some Borrowers With Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education says it will erase the federal student loan debts of tens of thousands of borrowers who can no longer work because they have significant disabilities. It's a small but important step toward improving a shambolic, bureaucratic process for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable borrowers who are legally entitled to debt relief, but haven't received it.

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Joint Statement by FTC Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and CFPB Acting Director Dave Uejio

Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Dave Uejio issued the following statement today regarding the national moratorium on evictions during the pandemic:

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Bank lending to fossil fuel industry down 9% in COVID-hit year

LONDON (Reuters) - The world’s biggest banks cut lending to fossil fuel firms by 9% in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, although funding has still risen over the past five years, a report showed on Wednesday. The 60 largest banks lent more than $750 billion to 2,300 fossil fuel companies in 2020, down from $824 billion in 2019, according to a report by Rainforest Action Network, Reclaim Finance, Oil Change International and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

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PPP loans extended for small businesses until May 31

The Senate voted this week to extend the Paycheck Protection Program for two months amid concerns that the March 31 expiration of the small-business rescue fund could leave struggling employers without a key economic lifeline.

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Remote workers admit to playing a significant part in increasing their company’s cybersecurity risks

The COVID-19 generation of remote workers are admitting to playing a significant part in increasing the cybersecurity risks facing their companies. An Opinium research shows 54% are regularly using their work device for personal purposes, including sharing work equipment with family members.

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ACA Letter to Capitol Hill: ARM Industry is Helping Consumers Through Financial Challenges

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs met Thursday for a hearing, “American Rescue Plan: Shots in Arms and Money in Pockets .”

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Why Banks Should Maintain Their Digital Initiatives After The Pandemic

The pandemic has served as the biggest financial industry crisis since the 2008 recession, with social distancing guidelines, stay-at-home orders and the economic fallout, forming a triple threat that has rocked the sector. Thousands of bank branches across the U.S. have closed temporarily or permanently while others have limited their hours or switched to appointment-only models to reduce the risk of infection.

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Exclusive: U.S. Democratic lawmakers will introduce resolution to undo OCC’s true lender rule

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic Senators will introduce a resolution on Thursday aimed at undoing a Trump-era rule that defines when a bank is a “true lender,” a staffer inside Senator Chris Van Hollen’s office told Reuters on Thursday. The Congressional Review Act resolution to undo the measure comes after a coalition of liberal advocates called on lawmakers to do so before a fast-approaching deadline to repeal rules introduced by regulators under the previous administration that Democrats, lawyers and advocates said could encourage predatory lending.

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FTC sends out nearly $50 million to former University of Phoenix students from 2019 settlement

(KAKE/FTC) - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is sending payments totaling nearly $50 million to more than 147,000 University of Phoenix (UOP) students who may have been lured by allegedly deceptive advertisements. The refunds stem from a lawsuit the FTC filed against UOP alleging that it used deceptive advertisements that falsely touted its relationships and job opportunities with companies such as AT&T, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Twitter, and the American Red Cross. The FTC also alleged that UOP’s advertising gave the false impression that the online school worked with those companies to create job opportunities for its students and tailor its curriculum for such jobs.

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CFPB & FTC recap debt-collection enforcement in annual report to Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In collaboration with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) this week released the 2020 annual report to Congress on the administration of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Officials said the report highlights efforts by the CFPB and the FTC to protect consumers, particularly those who have suffered profound financial impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They added the CFPB and the FTC — along with state and federal partners — accomplished much toward stopping unlawful debt collection practices and continuing their vigorous law enforcement, consumer education and public outreach and policy initiatives.

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CFPB Files Lawsuit Using Operation Chokepoint-Style Theory: Five Key Questions Answered Here

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) or other agencies are faced with a choice: either pursue alleged violators one-by-one on the basis of their own acts, or impact hundreds or thousands of entities in a single action by pursuing the payment processor (or other service provider) upon which those other companies rely. The latter is the concept behind a chokepoint-style investigation.

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VA extends debt relief for Veterans

VA is extending debt relief for Veterans through September 30, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. VA will suspend collection of all Veteran benefit overpayments incurred between April 6, 2020, and September 30, 2021. No adverse actions or collection attempts will occur during this suspension period. Additionally, all copayments for medical care and pharmacy services incurred from April 6, 2020, through September 30, 2021, will be cancelled, along with any fees or interest. Any payments for this time period will be refunded.

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Unemployment claims dip below 700,000 for first time since pandemic

Initial unemployment claims for the week ending March 20 fell below 700,000, the first time below that number in a year, coming in at a seasonally adjusted 684,000.

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FLOCK Specialty Finance Champions RMAI 2021 Annual Conference with Gold Sponsorship

March 26, 2021 (Sacramento, CA) – A little over a year ago, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, more than 1,300 attendees enjoyed meeting, greeting, and making and building connections at the Receivables Management Association International (RMAI) 2020 Annual Conference. RMAI is back with its 2021 Annual Conference due in large part to the generous gold sponsorship of FLOCK Specialty Finance.

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VeriFacts Donates to YWCA’s Domestic Violence Program

VeriFacts supports YWCA Sauk Valley’s efforts to provide transitional housing facilities and support services to local victims of domestic violence. Our team has already collected and delivered two truckloads of kitchen supplies, bedding, and various household items to our local YWCA and will continue to accept donations throughout the month. These donations will help fill the immediate needs of families making the transition from a shelter to safe, affordable housing in our community.

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Acting FTC Chairwoman Releases 2020 Annual Highlights

Acting Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter released the Commission’s 2020 Annual Highlightstoday, emphasizing the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect consumers and promote competition.

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DebtTrader Drives RMAI 2021 Annual Conference with Gold Sponsorship

March 25, 2021 (Sacramento, CA) – Behind every successful event are supporters who make things happen—even in a pandemic. DebtTrader is driving the return of the Receivables Management Association International (RMAI) Annual Conference through its gold sponsorship.

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Pandemic, Credit Reporting Issues Send CFPB Complaints Up 54 Pct

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found in its Consumer Response Annual Report for 2020 that there were about 542,300 complaints last year, according to a press release. That’s an almost 54 percent increase from 2019 when there were 352,400 complaints, the release stated. The uptick in complaints was directly related to the pandemic, CFPB Acting Director Dave Uejio said in the release

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Remote work makes cybersecurity a top worry for CEOs

UK CEOs have revealed their top concerns after a year that saw remote work become the norm, with accelerated digital transformation and highly visible cyberattacks. PwC's global CEO survey, carried out in January and February 2021 with 5,050 CEOs, makes for an interesting snapshot and comparison to the 2020 survey. Not surprisingly, 94% of UK CEOs nominated pandemics and health crises as the top concern, followed by cyber threats for 91% of UK CEOs, while 86% said uncertain economic growth was a top concern

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Stepping up the fight against fraud in mortgage lending

Wherever there is commerce, there will be fraud, and the mortgage industry is no exception. In recent years, we have seen a significant uptick in fraudulent activity ranging from the high tech — intercepted wire transfers and electronic title phishing scams — to low-tech, such as applicants submitting falsified or doctored bank statements. The transition to a largely remote workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic only gave criminals more of an incentive to attempt to deceive lenders or misrepresent qualifications.

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Industry Events

 
RMAI 2021 Annual Conference – In Person and Virtual

Receivables Management Association International (RMAi)


Las Vegas, Nevada
April 12 - 15 , 2021

https://rmaintl.org/events/2021-annual-conference/

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2021 (CRS2021)

Resource Management Services, Inc.

Produced by: Resource Management Services, Inc. 10440 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 2 Santa Fe Springs, CA. 90670-8235
Las Vegas , Nevada
May 12 - 14 , 2021

562-906-1101 - This event has been tentatively postponed - to be held either later this year, or next year.