September, 2016

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CFPB Monthly Report Shows Spike in Debt Collection Complaints in August

Consumer Financial Services Law

The CFPB issued its monthly report on consumer complaints this week. The report is a high level snapshot of trends in consumer complaints. Here are the big stories in this month’s report: The three products which continue to yield the highest volume of complaints on a three-month average are debt collection, credit reporting and mortgage. While the number of debt collection complaints remains almost flat when compared to the same three-month time period for 2015, it’s worth noting that debt coll

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Money Issues We Don’t Talk About; But Really Should

Ks Law

We don’t talk about things that make us feel uncomfortable, and many people are very uncomfortable talking about their financial problems. Often, people with such problems will hide all evidence of financial distress. Some people do this with a misguided sense of protecting their loved ones. If I don’t tell my spouse about the problems my business is having, or our income and expense problems, he or she won’t worry.

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Sep 16, Business Credit Cards For Bad Credit

Debt Collection Answers

There are some very good reasons to use business credit cards to pay for purchases you make for your business. Using personal credit cards can put your credit scores at risk and can make tax time a lot more complicated. But what if you have bad credit? Yes you may have options. Here's more about business credit cards for bad credit.

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Summit AR

Recoverity

A Proven Process for Debt Recovery. With Summit AR’s “P.H.D. Philosophy” (Preserve Human Dignity), you’ll find no automated “robo-dialers” that leave multiple, irritating messages for debtors and do nothing to resolve the account. In a sea of large, faceless consumer and commercial collection agencies, ours specializes in treating people right and following all the rules—and we selectively choose clients who share these same values.

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Solve Your Firms Automation Complexities Once and For All

Speaker: Mark Stovel

When it comes to automating, many firms focus on finding the latest tech, believing that efficiency is something achieved through new tools. Yet true efficiency is achieved by delivering real value to clients, not merely by upgraded systems. Without a clear approach, no level of automation can overcome the complexities of serving every client’s needs.

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Waiting Too Long To Collect Debt Can Hurt Your Business

The McHughes Law Firm

Waiting to collect debt not only delays any potential payment, it also adds additional hurdles to your debt collection process. As a business ages and grows, managing accounts receivables with detailed debt collection practices becomes essential to its success. Uncollected debt can pile up before you know it, putting a serious financial strain on your business’s ability to operate.

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Bankruptcy Court Shuts the Door on Trustee's Settlement of TCPA Claim

Consumer Financial Services Law

By: Caren Enloe and Parker Dozier September 26, 2016 A bankruptcy court has dealt a blow to a TCPA defendant’s attempt to moot a class action lawsuit by entering into a settlement with the class representative’s bankruptcy trustee. In re Presswood , Case No. 12-60237 (Bankr. S.D. Ill. 2016). In Presswood , the Chapter 7 debtor, a sole proprietor, received two prepetition faxes which he alleged violated the TCPA.

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Indiana Consumer Sues Sottile & Barile, LLC for FDCPA Violations

Indiana Consumer Law Group

PRESS RELEASE. Indiana Consumer Law Group/The Law Office of Robert E. Duff announces the recent filing of a lawsuit against the Ohio law firm Sottile & Barile, LLC. The lawsuit, which has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, alleges that Sottile & Barile, LLC sent the plaintiff a collection letter on November 6, 2015 that inaccurately advised the consumer of his rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).

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Sep 16, Best rated cash advance cards for 2016

Debt Collection Answers

When you’re looking to pay down debt, one of the best things you can do is transfer your balance from a high-interest credit card to one that offers a temporary (the longer, the better) 0 percent introductory offer. This allows you to pay down your debt without tacking on additional interest fees. Additionally, you can look for cards that have no balance transfer fees or that offer 0 percent on purchases for a period of time.

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Wells Fargo is Not the End of the Incentive Compensation Discussion

Consumer Financial Services Law

Prepared remarks and testimony of Thomas J. Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs make it imminently clear that cross-selling, sales practices and related incentive compensation will be a focal point for examinations of banks of all sizes and that the OCC continues to review the Wells Fargo matter for "individual misconduct and culpability.

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Top 3 Banking Secrets to Stay Relevant with Gen Z Consumers

Speaker: Brian Muse-McKenney, Chief Revenue Officer & Matt Simester, Cards and Payments Expert

In today’s world of social media, dating apps, and remote work, businesses risk becoming irrelevant (or getting "ghosted") if they fail to meet the evolving needs of Gen Z consumers. Credit cards with flexible payment options, especially for young adults with little-to-no credit history, are a particularly important and valuable solution for this generation.

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CFPB Provides Some Hints as to First Party Debt Collection Rules

Consumer Financial Services Law

In prepared remarks to the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, the CFPB provided some hint as to what we can expect with regard to first party debt collection rules. In July, the CFPB released a debt collection proposal regarding traditional third party debt collectors. At the time, the CFPB stated that it would also be releasing a debt collection proposal addressed to first party debt collectors at a later date.

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New Jersey District Court Rejects Meaningful Involvement Claim

Consumer Financial Services Law

A New Jersey district court has dismissed an FDCPA claim which alleged a debt collection complaint was misleading because the collection attorneys were not meaningfully involved in its preparation. Lopez v. Law Offices of Faloni & Assocs., LLC , 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124730 (D.N.J. Sept. 14, 2016). In Lopez, the consumer alleged that the collection firm violated 15 U.S.C. §§1692e and f by filing the complaint “without first having an attorney individually review the file, make the appropriat

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Fifth Circuit Weighs in on Time Barred Debt

Consumer Financial Services Law

The Fifth Circuit has joined the growing split in circuits concerning the collection of time barred debt. In Daugherty v. Convergent Outsourcing, Inc., 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16531 (5th Cir. Tex. Sept. 8, 2016) , the Fifth Circuit joined the Sixth and Seventh Circuit in holding that “a collection letter that is silent as to litigation, but which offers to “settle” a time-barred debt without acknowledging that such a debt is judicially enforceable, can be sufficiently deceptive or misleading to vio

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Sep 16, I Helped My Late Father Save His Home. What Now?

Debt Collection Answers

My father let his home go into foreclosure and I paid to get it out of foreclosure. My father signed the deed over to me. I have been making the payments on the home for the last four yrs and have put several thousands of dollars into the home to get it back into living conditions. Now.

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How Collection Agencies Minimize Effort and Maximize Results with the Right Software

Navigating collections in the dynamic financial landscape presents multifaceted challenges. Organizations face pressures to maintain standards alongside software challenges like regulatory adaptations, data integration, security, workflow optimization, and automation. Finding the right software can save time and money. BEAM offers a comprehensive solution with specialized modules to streamline debt collection effortlessly.

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What Can We Learn from the Wells Fargo Consent Orders?

Consumer Financial Services Law

By now, most have read about the consent orders issued last week by the CFPB and the OCC concerning Wells Fargo. The consent orders ordered Wells Fargo to pay a total of $185 million in civil monetary penalties ($100 million to the CFPB, $50 million to the OCC and $35 million to the City and County of Los Angeles), as well as reimbursing customers an estimated $5 million because Wells Fargo employees, in an effort to boost sales figures and earn bonuses: (a) opened deposit and credit card accoun

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Bankruptcy Court Sanctions Hospital for Proof of Claim Snafu

Consumer Financial Services Law

A recent decision from a North Carolina Bankruptcy Court emphasizes the need for proper training for those who file proofs of claim on behalf of anyone providing consumer credit, including healthcare providers. Bankruptcy Rule 9037 requires that in all court filings containing an individual’s social security number, taxpayer-identification number, birth date and financial account number be redacted to the last four digits of the social security or taxpayer identification number, the year of the

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Pennsylvania District Court Applies Benign Language Exception to Barcode

Consumer Financial Services Law

A Pennsylvania district court has recognized that a benign language exception exists under 15 U.S.C. 1692f(8) and may be applied to barcodes under appropriate circumstances. Anenkova v. Van Ru Credit Corp. , C.A. No. 15-4968 , 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108950(E.D. Pa. Aug. 17, 2016). The court’s decision signals a welcome step back from other district courts’ expansion of the Third Circuit’s decision in Douglass v.

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Court Holds That Consumers Cannot Engineer FDCPA Violations

Consumer Financial Services Law

A Missouri district court has refused to grant partial summary judgment in favor of a consumer who asserted violations of 15 U.S.C. 1692e(11). In Dodd v. Delta Outsource Group, the consumer, who was employed as a collector by another debt collector, received two calls from the collection agency while at work. A week later, the consumer filed suit asserting violations of the FDCPA, including violations of section 1692e(11), contending that the collector failed to disclose the communications were

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From Complexity to Clarity: Strategies for Effective Compliance and Security Measures

Speaker: Erika R. Bales, Esq.

When we talk about “compliance and security," most companies want to ensure that steps are being taken to protect what they value most – people, data, real or personal property, intellectual property, digital assets, or any other number of other things - and it’s more important than ever that safeguards are in place. Let’s step back and focus on the idea that no matter how complicated the compliance and security regime, it should be able to be distilled down to a checklist.

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Guest Post: Why Rental Cars May Present a Serious Loophole in Privacy Policies

Consumer Financial Services Law

By Ragan Riddle September 2, 2016 If you are charging your phone through a USB port or connecting to Bluetooth in your rental car, you may want to think twice. Last week, an FTC article highlighted the dangers of this seemingly innocent conduct, as it creates an avenue for compromising both you and your clients’ sensitive information. While individuals connect their devices to rental cars to charge their phones, make calls, listen to music, or use their GPS systems, what these individuals fail t

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Deposit Accounts Remain in the CFPB Crosshairs

Consumer Financial Services Law

The CFPB issued its monthly report on consumer complaints this week making it clear that consumers’ access to depository accounts remains a focal point for the CFPB. The monthly report is a high level snapshot of trends in consumer complaints and spotlights a different product type each month on a rotating basis. The Report provides a summary of the volume of complaints by product category, by company and by state.