At a glanceFriday, March 11, 2022

Collection Industry News At A Glance - March 11, 2022
Friday March 11, 2022
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California Credit Union Launches $100,000 Challenge Match Campaign With Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions Supporting Ukrainian Credit Unions, Members & Communities

LOS ANGELES, March 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- California Credit Union has partnered with the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) to provide urgently needed aid for Ukrainians, offering a $100,000 donation match for the organization's Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund.

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Florida Data Privacy Legislation Fails (Again)

Florida will not pass a comprehensive data privacy law for the second year in a row. It will be easy for some to speculate that the bill died because the House insisted on a private right of action. That speculation would be wrong. The bill died because there were multiple differing views on the law’s scope, what activity the law should apply to, and how the law should be enforced. I am confident we will see another data privacy bill introduced next year. But I don’t know how vigorously the new incoming House Speaker will push it.

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Santander Consumer Expands its Digital Auto Finance Experience in Partnership with AutoFi

DALLAS and BOSTON, March 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Consumer USA Inc. ("SC"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, Inc. ("Santander US"), today announced the expansion of its partnership with AutoFi Inc. ("AutoFi"), a leading e-commerce platform for automotive sales and financing, to develop SC's end-to-end digital car buying experience. Santander US has also invested in the capital raise announced today by AutoFi, strengthening the Santander/AutoFi relationship and aligning our long-term interests.       

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First Community Bank and Trust Selects Lendsmart to Digitize and Automate its Lending and Home Buying Operations

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#bankingFirst Community Bank and Trust, a privately owned bank, serving individuals, families and businesses in Beecher and Peotone, IL, as well as across the state, has selected Lendsmart, an AI-driven digital lending platform, to enhance its digital lending operations.

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Leading FinTech Company Marlette Announces $225 Million Preferred Equity Raise

WILMINGTON, Del., March 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Egg, the machine learning powered, online credit and financial wellness platform that is owned and operated by Marlette Holdings, Inc, announced today that it has secured $225 million in committed preferred equity capital. The Series E capital round was led by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), which manages over $80 billion in assets, with participation from investment funds advised by Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, as well as a large international bank.

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Capital One Releases Two-Year COVID Retrospective on Americans’ Financial Health

MCLEAN, Va., March 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Timed to the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Capital One Insights Center has released new research that shows the gap between lower and higher earners continues to widen against new affordability pressures. As part of the Center's ongoing Marketplace Index survey, this latest release dives into the disproportionate impact of the pandemic across income groups against the backdrop of rising inflation.

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New effort focused on financial issues facing rural communities

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a new initiative to focus on financial issues facing rural America. Our effort will initially focus on rural banking deserts, discriminatory and predatory agricultural credit, and manufactured housing.

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RMAI Celebrates a Decade of Its National Certification Program

March 10, 2022 (Sacramento, CA) – The RMAI Certification Council announces the adoption of version 10.0 of the Receivables Management Certification Program (RMCP) after a seven-month development and review process. Several significant enhancements were added to the program in version 10.0, including requiring Certified Businesses to:

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Banks are offering bigger loans than ever to keep up with the housing crisis

As housing prices soared in 2021, lenders have had to adapt to keep pace. And that has resulted in the largest one-year increase in conforming loan limits in history. That jargon-y term, which generally represents the maximum amount consumers can borrow under a typical 30-year mortgage, jumped $100,000 in the past year to $647,200 in most of the nation’s counties.

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Education Department sends another sign that student loan payments may not restart in May

The U.S. Department of Education has directed the companies that service federal student loans not to send out notices about payments restarting in May, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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Utah Legislature Passes Consumer Privacy Law

Following the lead of California, Colorado, and Virginia, Utah is set to become the fourth state to pass a comprehensive privacy law. As of March 4, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (SB 227) cleared both houses of the Utah legislature. 

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CFPB Director Chopra Statement on President Biden’s Digital Assets Executive Order

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra released the following statement on President Biden’s Executive Order Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets: “Today’s Executive Order recognizes that the dramatic growth in digital asset markets has created profound implications for financial stability, consumer protection, national security, and energy demand. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is committed to working to promote competition and innovation, while also reducing the risks that digital assets could pose to our safety and security. We must make sure Americans in all financial markets are protected against errors, theft, or fraud.”

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Shining a Spotlight on Workers’ Financial Experiences

There are troubling signs that too many American workers face financial hardship, even as the economy recovers and unemployment remains relatively low. Larger firms dominate many markets while fewer workers are directly employed by the larger firms that exert significant influence over labor conditions within their markets and supply chains. In response to concerns from workers about financial risk or harm at the hands of the very employers from which they seek to earn a living, the CFPB is looking into the consumer financial products or services that workers face in the workplace.

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Public Service Loan Forgiveness: 100,000 borrowers are eligible so far under new rules

Washington (CNN)The Department of Education said Wednesday that it has so far identified 100,000 borrowers who are eligible for student debt cancellation due to the changes the agency made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in October.

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OCC’s Hsu: Climate Risk Exams for Community, Midsize Banks ‘Number of Years’ Away

During an industry event today, OCC Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu said his agency is “laser-focused on the safety and soundness aspects” of climate change risks. Specifically, the OCC is concentrating on large banks’ climate risk management capabilities: identifying, measuring, monitoring and mitigating climate-related exposures. “Weaknesses in risk management could adversely affect a bank’s safety and soundness, as well as the overall financial system,” he said.

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Latest US Consumer Debt Data May Show Some Warning Signs Ahead

At first glance, the read-across from the latest data from the U.S. Federal Reserve should be encouraging. Consumers are feeling more confident — so they are borrowing more. But the warnings signs are there if you look at other data points. The consumer may indeed be more confident at this moment in time, with the labor market strong, with stimulus having been used to pay down a key form of borrowing (that would be credit card debt). It’s worth noting, too, that the Fed’s data are a bit backward-looking and don’t necessarily account for the turbulence, on a world stage, that confronts us all now.

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USM forgives about $2 million in student loan debt

PORTLAND (WGME) – The University of Southern Maine says it has forgiven about $2 million in student debt accrued during the pandemic.

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Lawsuit over Iowa Judicial Branch’s debt collection sparks new accusations

A law firm sued for alleged illegal acts while working on behalf of the Iowa Judicial Branch says the opposing lawyers in the case have “padded” their legal bills and may have initiated the case for their own financial gain.

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Attorney General Bonta: Ashford University Must Pay $22 Million in Penalties for Defrauding California Students

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement after the San Diego Superior Court found in the state’s favor in its lawsuit against Ashford University, an online, for-profit school, and its parent company Zovio, Inc. (formerly Bridgepoint Education). In today’s decision, the San Diego Superior Court found that Ashford University and Zovio violated the law by giving students false or misleading information about career outcomes, cost and financial aid, pace of degree programs, and transfer credits, in order to persuade them to enroll at Ashford. As part of the decision, the court ordered Ashford University and Zovio to pay more than $22.37 million in penalties. 

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Legislature passes AG Ferguson, Rep. Simmons bill that significantly expands financial assistance for hospital bills

OLYMPIA  The Washington Legislature has passed Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s bill to increase access to affordable health care for millions of Washingtonians. The measure now heads to the governor for his signature. Ferguson worked with prime sponsor Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, and Reps. Eileen Cody, D-Seattle, and Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, on HB 1616 to strengthen Washington’s charity care law. Ferguson’s Attorney General Request legislation will expand charity care eligibility to more than 1 million Washingtonians, and guarantee free hospital care to an additional million Washingtonians who are currently eligible for discounted care.

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Court Finds Text Messages Do Not Qualify As Artificial or Prerecorded Voice Messages Under the TCPA

In Eggleston v. Reward Zone USA LLC, No. 2:20-cv-01027-SVW-KS (C.D. Cal. Jan. 28, 2022), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected the argument that text messages are “artificial or prerecorded voice messages” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the TCPA).

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Santander Consumer Expands its Digital Auto Finance Experience in Partnership with AutoFi

DALLAS and BOSTON, March 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Consumer USA Inc. ("SC"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, Inc. ("Santander US"), today announced the expansion of its partnership with AutoFi Inc. ("AutoFi"), a leading e-commerce platform for automotive sales and financing, to develop SC's end-to-end digital car buying experience. Santander US has also invested in the capital raise announced today by AutoFi, strengthening the Santander/AutoFi relationship and aligning our long-term interests.     

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Attorney General James Releases Top 10 Consumer Complaints of 2021

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James kicked off National Consumer Protection Week by releasing a list of the top 10 consumer fraud complaints received by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in 2021. Attorney General James also provides a variety of tips on how consumers can avoid common scams.

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Empire Financial Federal Credit Union Closes; Jovia Federal Credit Union Assumes Loans, Assets, and Shares

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (March 4, 2022) – The National Credit Union Administration today liquidated Empire Financial Federal Credit Union of New York, New York. Jovia Federal Credit Union of Westbury, New York, immediately assumed Empire Financial Federal Credit Union’s assets, member shares, and loans. Jovia FCU is a federally insured credit union with 206,572 members and assets of $3.96 billion, according to the credit union’s most recent Call Report.

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FTC Kicks Off National Consumer Protection Week this Sunday, March 6

The Federal Trade Commission will launch the annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) this Sunday, March 6. 

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TD to Expand in the Southeastern U.S. with Acquisition of First Horizon

TORONTO, CHERRY HILL and MEMPHIS – February 28, 2022 -- TD Bank Group ("TD" or "the Bank") (TSX and NYSE: TD) and First Horizon Corporation ("First Horizon") (NYSE: FHN) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for TD to acquire First Horizon in an all-cash transaction valued at US$13.4 billion, or US$25.00 for each common share of First Horizon. Through this financially compelling transaction, TD accelerates its long-term growth strategy in the United States by acquiring a premier regional bank with an aligned culture and risk-management framework.

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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