At a glanceFriday, March 04, 2022

Collection Industry News At A Glance - March 4, 2022
Friday March 4, 2022
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau allows direct petition submission for more transparency

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now allows petitions to be submitted directly to the agency which gives the option to request the agency to consider a new rule on a financial issue, amend an existing rule, or repeal one.

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Home lending activity drops at fastest pace in 3 years

The residential mortgage industry is entering a new era with mortgage origination rates dropping 11% from the third quarter of 2021 and 13% from the fourth quarter of 2020, according to ATTOM's report.  The report released Thursday found the annual decrease marked the largest since late 2018. The overall drop-off resulted from across-the-board quarterly declines in all three categories of conventional loans - purchase, refinance and home-equity. Only purchases lending remained up from a year earlier.

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CONSUMER ALERT: Attorney General James Warns Consumers Impacted by T-Mobile Data Breach of Potential Identity Theft

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today provided guidance to consumers who may have been impacted by a 2021 T-Mobile data breach, following reports that the stolen information was put for sale on the dark web. Alongside a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general, Attorney General James advised all New York residents who believe they were impacted by the data breach to take appropriate steps to protect their information from identity theft. This comes after several individuals received alerts that their information was circulating online following the August 2021 data breach.

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CFPB Finalizes Policy Guidance for Student Loan Servicers

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s compliance bulletin and policy guidance detailing student loan servicers’ obligation to halt unlawful conduct regarding borrowers’ eligibility and benefits under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver is now in effect.

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Credit union restrictions, lending cap are barriers to financial access

Credit unions’ field of membership restrictions and the member business lending cap shut out those that need access to mainstream financial services, CUNA wrote to Congressional committees this week. CUNA wrote to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and House Financial Services Committee this week for their hearings on monetary policy and the state of the economy.

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Mayor Adams Delivers $20 Million in Debt Relief to Former Berkeley College Students

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced an agreement with Berkeley College that will deliver $20 million in debt relief to former students of one of the largest for-profit colleges in New York state. The agreement stems from a 2018 lawsuit filed by the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), which asserted that, to generate revenue, Berkeley engaged in aggressive recruiting tactics designed to prey on the hopes and dreams of consumers seeking improved career prospects and greater financial security.

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Study: 58% Of Workers ‘Check In’ During Off Hours

These days, the phrase “on the clock” doesn’t mean what it once did. The connected world allows people to be available whenever and wherever they need to be. PYMNTS research shows 58% of people check in on work from outside the office or beyond the confines or normal working hours, while 44% work remotely from places other than their homes.

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Navient Student Loan Settlement Leaves Many With a Bill To Pay

Student loan giant Navient grabbed headlines last month when it agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt and pay $95 million in restitution for predatory lending practices, but not all of its borrowers will benefit from the settlement.

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Millions of student-loan borrowers are being driven toward ‘dangerous’ debt for a for-profit education, investigation finds

The for-profit education sphere has been under scrutiny for decades over accusations of bad behavior and misleading students into taking on debt — and a new investigation highlighted the major risks with the loans many of those schools offer.

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Ed Dept reminds colleges ISAs are private loans, subject to disclosure requirements

The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday reminded colleges of their legal obligation to inform students of the costs and conditions of taking out private loans, including income-share agreements.

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CFPB Announces New Process to Submit Petitions for Rulemaking

On February 16, 2022, the CFPB announced that members of the public are now able to submit petitions for rulemaking directly to the agency and request regulatory changes, such as requests for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a CFPB rule.  All petitions, including attachments and other supporting materials, will be posted publicly for review and comment. 

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CFPB Increases Scrutiny on Student Loan Servicers

On February 18, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Compliance Bulletin and Policy Guidance (Bulletin) regarding the servicing of Federal student loans for borrowers who may be eligible under the recently-issued Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Waiver.  The CFPB announced that it will be closely reviewing student loan servicer conduct for potential unfair, deceptive or abusive acts and practices in connection with student loan forgiveness as certain program deadlines near.

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SKINNER ANNOUNCES SB 1200, HELPING RELIEVE FAMILY DEBT

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today announced the introduction of SB 1200, which would reduce excessively high interest rates that California courts levy when issuing legal judgments on consumer and personal debt. It would also limit the amount of time that Californians can be burdened with long-term debt.

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau signals attention to auto loans

The Buyer Economical Protection Bureau will retain an eye on underwater car financial loans and analyze subprime automobile lending competitors, the company stated final week. The company mentioned it was “concerned” about bank loan-to-value ratios, which assess the total owed on a car or truck with its true really worth.

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Consumer Spending Behavior Shifts as Two in Three Americans Say They are Extremely or Very Concerned About Inflation

Two in three Americans (64%) report being extremely or very concerned about inflation, according to TransUnion’s (NYSE: TRU) latest Consumer Pulse study. Nine in 10 (93%) expressed that they are at least slightly concerned. The results from the Feb. 7-15 survey of 2,949 adults were released today, just weeks after the Consumer Price Index – a measure of inflation – experienced its largest 12-month increase in 40 years at the end January.

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Bill Payment Survey Reveals U.S. Consumers Are Struggling to Pay Bills on Time

PayNearMe, the modern and reliable payments platform known for making payments easy for both businesses and customers, today released bill payment survey findings that reveal why some U.S. adults are struggling to pay personal loans, auto loans, mortgages and utilities on time. The online survey of 2,676 U.S. consumers, age 18 and older, also highlights U.S. adults of all ages want to use mobile payments to pay their bills, and that having the ability to store bills in an Apple or Google Wallet and pay via a smartphone makes it easier for them to make on-time payments.

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U.S. Bank Profits Jump in 2021 as Firms Shed Credit Loss Reserves, FDIC Says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. banks saw their profits jump nearly 90% in 2021 as firms shrank how much money they were setting aside to protect against credit losses, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said on Tuesday.

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ACA International Responds to CFPB Report on Medical Debt

Washington, D.C. – March 1, 2022 – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released a report about medical debt. The members of ACA International (ACA), the association of credit and collection professionals, work tirelessly to provide solutions and advocate on behalf of patients and medical providers to get insurance companies to pay the benefits that patients have paid for and are entitled to receive.

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NCUA Returns Control of Southern Pine Credit Union to Members

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (March 1, 2022) – The National Credit Union Administration today announced that Southern Pine Credit Union of Valdosta, Georgia, will once again be under the control and direction of its members, effective March 17, 2022.

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Utah One Step Closer to a Consumer Privacy Bill

SB 227 is an omnibus privacy bill that shares similarities with the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act and the Colorado Privacy Act.  For instance, the bill imposes different obligations on a covered business depending on whether the business is acting as a controller (one who determines the purposes for processing data, alone or in coordination with others) or processor (one who processes data on behalf of a controller).

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TCN Unveils Definitive Guide to Regulation F Rules for Collections Agency Call Centers

ST. GEORGE, UTAH (PRWEB) — Mar. 01 2022 — TCN, Inc., a global provider of a comprehensive cloud-based call center platform for enterprises, contact centers, BPOs, and collection agencies, today released a new eBook, titled “The Ultimate Guide to Reg F: Everything Your Collections Agency Call Center Needs To Know.” The latest eBook outlines what Regulation F means for collection agencies, details its potential impact, and provides guidance on how to navigate the new changes efficiently. 

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CFPB to Monitor Lenders During Expected Increase in Auto Loan Debt

On February 24, the CFPB posted a blog citing that the recent increase in car prices will result in both the total amount of debt and the average loan size to continue to increase, which will put increased pressure on some consumers’ budgets for much of the next decade. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for used cars and trucks increased 40% percent since January 2021 while the CPI for new cars increased 12 percent. In the face of such challenges, the CFPB plans to focus on:

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Prepared Remarks of Director Rohit Chopra on New CFPB Medical Debt Report

Good morning. Today, the CFPB released a report on medical billing and collection practices in our country. Medical bills are the most common debt in collections reported on our credit reports. Our own review suggests that roughly 43 million people had medical bills on their credit report, in June 2021, with the total outstanding amount around $88 billion.

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Virginia AG Miyares secures student debt relief from defunct for-profit college

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WRIC) — Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, along with attorneys general from 9 other states, has finalized an agreement to forgive the debt of students who attended a fraudulent for-profit university that filed for bankruptcy in 2019.

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California and Georgia Reach Settlement with Rent-to-Own Companies

In two unrelated settlements, the California DFPI and Georgia attorney general each recently settled with rent-to-own companies. In the California settlement that was announced on January 10, the DFPI settled with a Los Angeles-based rent-to-own furniture provider for overcharging consumers late payment fees and failure to provide consumer disclosures required under the California rent-to-own law, the Karnette Rental-Purchase Act, in violation of the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). Among other things, the company failed to:

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CFPB Estimates $88 Billion in Medical Bills on Credit Reports

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today released a report highlighting the complicated and burdensome nature of the medical billing system in the United States. The report reveals that the U.S. healthcare system is supported by a billing, payments, collections, and credit reporting infrastructure where mistakes are common, and where patients often have difficulty getting these errors corrected or resolved. 

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Operators of Credit Card Interest Rate Reduction Scam Permanently Banned from Debt Relief Business Under Settlement with the FTC and Florida Attorney General

The operators of an alleged credit card interest rate reduction scam will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry as part of court orders resolving charges by the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida Office of the Attorney General.

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Carr: Georgia Joins Multistate Agreement to Secure Private Debt Relief for Former Argosy University Students

ATLANTA, GA — Attorney General Chris Carr today announced the State of Georgia has joined a multistate settlement agreement with the entities controlling Argosy University student debt. Specifically, the entities have agreed to cancel the outstanding principal and interest for students who attended Argosy University in the years preceding its abrupt closure in 2019. This multistate deal also includes the cancellation of more than $150,000 in debt for students who attended Argosy’s Atlanta campus.

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CFPB Moves to Thwart Illegal Auto Repossessions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is moving to thwart illegal repossessions in the heated auto market. A compliance bulletin issued today reveals conduct observed during CFPB examinations and enforcement actions, including the illegal seizure of cars, sloppy record keeping, unreliable balance statements, and ransom for personal property.

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FTC Staff Provides Annual Letter to CFPB On 2021 Equal Credit Opportunity Act Activities

The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has provided the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) an annual summary of its activities enforcing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

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93% of student loan borrowers aren’t prepared to restart payments, survey finds

It’s been almost two years since most borrowers have had to pay their monthly student loan bill. And yet, 93% of them are not prepared to resume payments on May 1, according to a survey of more than 23,000 student loan borrowers by the Student Debt Crisis Center.

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At Least 22 States Have Consumer Privacy Legislation Pending – Will 2022 Be the Year for More State Privacy Laws?

California is the gold standard for state privacy laws, having recently enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). Virginia and Colorado also have enacted comprehensive privacy laws, which will take effect in 2023. Recently, the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) released its state privacy legislation tracker. The IAPP offers a map of the states that shows all the states and the status of any privacy legislation. The map shows the various stages of any privacy legislation, from bills introduced all the way through bills signed.

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FTC Extends Public Comment Deadline on Supply Chain Disruptions to March 14

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will extend the deadline to submit comments as part of its inquiry into supply chain disruptions, a press release says. The FTC said in November that it planned to take comments on how supply chain issues have affected competition in consumer good markets.

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2 in 3 Credit Union Members Want to See More Innovation Around Business Loans

Credit unions have long been known for personalized services and high levels of member satisfaction. But new evidence also suggests they’re also uniquely suited to serving businesses’ financial needs, as they can often offer businesses better service and better terms than larger financial institutions. 

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Industry Events

 
AFCC 2022 Spring Conference

American Fair Credit Council

Four Seasons Hotel
New Orleans , LA
March 27 - 29 , 2022

(888) 657-8272

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2022

Resource Management Services, Inc.

Our live Collection and Recovery Solutions event will be held May 25 – 27 at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas. We hope you can join us! More details will be provided soon. Our team can always be reached at crs@resourcemanagement.com

May 25 - 27 , 2022

562-906-1101