At a glanceFriday, September 02, 2022

Collection Industry News At A Glance - September 2, 2022
Friday September 2, 2022
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Articles

 
If you used U.S. Equity Advantage’s auto loan Payment Accelerator Program, a check may be on the way

Obtaining consumer redress is a top priority in any enforcement action, and when the CFPB enforces the law, we or a court may require the person or company to compensate its victims for this harm by providing consumer redress out of its own funds. In certain circumstances, when the person or company doesn’t have sufficient funds, however, the CFPB uses a victims relief fund (also known as the Civil Penalty Fund) to compensate victims who haven’t received full compensation for their harm through redress paid by the defendant in their case. Learn more about the victims relief fund and other distributions.

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Beware of scammers pretending to be from the CFPB

This week we confirmed that scammers are using CFPB employee’s names and imagery to try and steal your money. We’ve heard from people, specifically older adults, who were defrauded thousands of dollars from scammers pretending to be with the CFPB. If someone contacts you and says you’ve won a class-action lawsuit in a foreign country, or can receive other large, unexpected amounts of money, but must use the CFPB’s assistance to claim the funds, they are lying.

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CFPB Finds UDAAP Violations on Garnishment Practices

In early May 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered into a consent order with Bank of America, N.A. (BoA) regarding BoA’s garnishment practices. While BoA did not admit or deny the facts or conclusions of law presented in the consent order, it agreed to refund or cancel at least $592,000 in garnishment-related fees paid by affected customers, to pay a civil money penalty of $10,000,000, to review and reform its garnishment-related practices, and to cease including language in consumer-facing contracts that attempted to limit consumers’ right to challenge garnishment.

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NCUA Grants Will Allow Low-Income Credit Unions to Expand Service, Build Capacity

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Sept. 1, 2022) – The National Credit Union Administration has awarded more than $1.5 million in Community Development Revolving Loan Fund grants to help 90 low-income credit unions expand outreach to underserved communities, participate in mentoring relationships, receive training, and improve digital services and security.

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Apple Pay Later raises concerns over lack of BNPL regulations, CFPB says

Apple's plan to expand its fintech footprint into buy now, pay later (BNPL) with its Apple Pay Later product has the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) concerned over what impact big tech’s entrance will have on the space. 

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$3 million FTC settlement disapproves of Credit Karma’s deceptive “pre-approved” claims

In the annals of marketing, “pre-approved” ranks right up there with “free” and “low-calorie” as a term guaranteed to attract people’s attention. The FTC just announced a $3 million proposed settlement with Credit Karma for allegedly luring consumers in with deceptive promises they had been “pre-approved” for financial products, including major credit cards. The truth? For many of these offers, almost a third of the people who received a “pre-approved” offer from Credit Karma and went to the time and trouble to apply for it were denied.

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KeyBank Announces Third-Party Data Breach Following Incident at Third-Party Vendor, Overby-Seawell Company

On August 26, 2022, KeyBank reported a data breach with the Attorney General of Montana and several other government entities stemming from what appears to have been an incident at a third-party vendor. According to KeyBank, the breach resulted in the names, mortgage information, phone numbers, property information, home insurance information and partial Social Security numbers of certain borrowers being compromised.

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CFPB Report Offers Cautionary Take on FinTech Platforms That Consumers Value

In case it’s unclear to anyone at this point, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is on edge about new payment types taking the markets by storm, concerns over which are spelled out in an August report that reads like part overview and part consumer warning.

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CFPB Report Details Family Finances and Debt in Rural Appalachia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued the first in a series of reports focusing on the finances of consumers living in rural areas. Today’s report focuses on rural Appalachians, who tend to earn less than consumers in other rural areas and have higher rates of subprime credit. In particular, medical debt collections are a much more prevalent issue among rural Appalachians, and consumers with medical debt collections often experience difficulties making ends meet on other financial obligations.

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California Attorney General Issues Second Year CCPA Enforcement Report: Key Takeaways

Yes, your privacy notice does need to be “that good.” If it isn’t, the California Attorney General’s Office might come knocking. Here are some key points from the AG’s second year enforcement report:

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VA extends debt collection relief until the end of 2022

Veterans Affairs officials are once again extending the suspension of benefit debts for veterans facing financial difficulties, this time through the end of 2022.

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Third Circuit Adopts New “Reasonable Reader” Standard and Holds Reporting Consumers’ Pay Status as Past Due with $0 Balance after Transfer Did Not Violate the FCRA

In Bibbs v. TransUnion LLC, 2022 WL 3149216 (3d Circ. Aug. 8, 2022), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (“Third Circuit”) affirmed the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania’s (“District Court”) orders granting TransUnion’s motions for judgment on the pleadings and dismissing the Complaints in three separate actions by Appellants Marissa Bibbs, Michael Parke, and Fatoumata Samoura (collectively, “Appellants”) for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”).

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Walmart Says FTC Lawsuit Over Money Transfers Is ‘Overreach’

Walmart on Monday (Aug. 29) asked a federal court to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against the retailer, calling the case “an egregious instance of agency overreach.” “The FTC is trying to hold Walmart liable for the criminal actions of completely unrelated third-party fraudsters, in spite of Walmart’s extensive efforts to prevent those very fraudsters from defrauding our customers, and despite the FTC’s lack of constitutional or statutory authority to bring the lawsuit,” the retailer said in a news release.

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WEBRECON STATS FOR JULY: FROM A SLOG TO A SLUMP

Last month we talked about the “June Litigation Slog” – and now we are extending it to the “Dog Days Slump”. Consumer litigation is down across the board again from last month (TCPA -3.8%, FDCPA -18.7%, FCRA -5.1%), and YTD too (TCPA -26.1%, FDCPA -23.6%) with the exception of FCRA filings – which only ticked up a meager +1.6%.

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Napa Valley College Files Report of Recent Data Breach Following Ransomware Attack

On August 25, 2022, Napa Valley College confirmed that the company experienced a data breach after an unauthorized party gained access to sensitive consumer data contained on NVC’s network. According to NVC, the breach resulted in the names and Social Security numbers belonging to certain individuals being compromised. Recently, NVC sent out data breach letters to all affected parties, informing them of the incident and what they can do to protect themselves from identity theft and other frauds.

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Education Department Approves $1.5 billion in Debt Relief for 79,000 Borrowers Who Attended Westwood College

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced that it will discharge all remaining federal student loans for borrowers who enrolled in any location of Westwood College (including enrollment in Westwood's online program) between January 1, 2002 through November 17, 2015 when it stopped enrolling new borrowers in advance of its 2016 closure. The Department has analyzed the evidence related to Westwood and concluded that the school engaged in widespread misrepresentations about the value of its credentials for attendees' and graduates' employment prospects such that all borrowers who attended during the period described above are entitled to a full loan discharge. This finding is based on extensive internal records, evidence from Westwood employees and administrators, and testimony recounting borrowers' first-hand experiences.

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Next CFPB Virtual Field Hearing Focuses on Nursing Home Debt Collection Practices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is continuing its focus on medical debt collections for its next event, a virtual field hearing specifically tailored to a discussion on “nursing home debt collections practices and the impact they can have on the financial well-being of caregivers, their families and friends.”

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NY Legislature Bans Some Types of Medical Debt Collection

The New York State Legislature passed two bills aimed at easing medical debt back in May, and a new report indicates they're much needed. The first bill bans medical liens and wage garnishment; the second regulates the billing of so-called "facility fees," and requires that patients be informed about those fees up front.

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NCUA to Distribute $395 Million Under Corporate System Resolution Program

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (August 29, 2022) – The National Credit Union Administration, in its role as liquidating agent, announced a $313 million distribution to more than 400 membership and paid in capital shareholders of the former Members United, Constitution, and U.S. Central corporate credit unions. NCUA will also distribute $82 million in dividends to more than 1,100 shareholders of Southwest Corporate. NCUA completed capital distributions to Southwest Corporate capital holders last year.

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Attorney General Bonta Urges Department of Education to Strengthen Proposal to Prevent Sham Conversion of For-Profit Schools to Non-Profits

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as part of a multistate coalition, filed comments in support of the Department of Education’s (ED) proposal to issue regulations clarifying the recent closure of a loophole that had incentivized predatory for-profit schools to target student-veterans for enrollment. The Higher Education Act’s so-called “90/10 Rule” caps the amount of revenue for-profit schools can receive from federal funding at 90% with the goal of preventing fraud, waste, and abuse in the for-profit education sector. However, until recently, benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Armed Forces were excluded from the calculation of federal funding, creating a loophole that made servicemembers an attractive revenue source for schools to secure the final 10% of funding.

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Service Delayed: Military members and veterans lodge thousands of complaints over credit report mistakes

InvestigateTV - Tiffany Ellett has lived her adult life dedicated to service. After four years in the Army as an intelligence analyst, with tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, she took a new role with The American Legion, a veteran service organization. In her position as Deputy Director for Health Policy, Ellett said she’s able to help veterans navigate the same challenges she faced while transitioning back to civilian life after living in a system where many things were handled by the military.

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Are HOA Debts Subject to the FDCPA?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) is a federal law that establishes protection for consumers from abusive debt collection practices. The FDCPA covers debt used for “personal, family, or household purposes” incurred by a consumer.   Generally, when people think of the FDCPA, they are considering credit card debt, third party-debt buyers, medical bills, student loans and auto loans. However, the FDCPA covers a broad range of debts.

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Black Knight: Mortgage Delinquency Rate Edged Up in July

The national mortgage delinquency rate edged up to 2.89% in July – driven by a 4% increase in early-stage delinquencies, according to Black Knight’s First Look report.

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FTC Sues Kochava for Selling Data that Tracks People at Reproductive Health Clinics, Places of Worship, and Other Sensitive Locations

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against data broker Kochava Inc. for selling geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that can be used to trace the movements of individuals to and from sensitive locations. Kochava’s data can reveal people’s visits to reproductive health clinics, places of worship, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and addiction recovery facilities. 

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Industry Events

 
DCS2022 – Debt Connection Symposium and Expo 2022

New sessions. New speakers. DCS is geared for Financial Services, Fintech, Recovery, Collections, Debt Sales and Technology professionals.


Red Rock Casino Resort Spa, 11011 W Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas , Nevada
September 07 - 09 , 2022

Mark Naiman at 619-363-2993

2022 Washington DC Regional Event

RMAI once again combines advocacy, education, and baseball to hit a networking home run – this time in Washington, D.C. RMAI regional events have changed from year to year, but they always sell out, so reserve your sponsorship and register early.


Washington DC ,
September 26 - 27 , 2022

916 482 2462

Fall Forum 2022

ACA International

Radisson Blu Aqua
Chicago , IL
November 02 - 04 , 2022

800 269 1607

RMAi 2023 Annual Conference

Join us in Las Vegas, February 6-9, for the 2023 RMAI Annual Conference. Registration opens October 3, 2022.


Las Vegas , Nevada
February 06 - 09 , 2023

916 462 2462