Fair Debt in the News
Collection News
AmSher Collections Agency, a nationally recognized receivables company headquartered in Birmingham, strongly encourages the creditor and debt collection industry to be sensitive towards Oklahoma tornado victims and immediately remove anyone that is affected by the disaster from their current contact lists.
New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs in 2009 passed onerous requirements for ARM companies operating in the city. The new regulations have been widely discussed in the debt collection community ever since. But now that the rules are in full swing, the Department is taking action against collection agencies and debt buyers.
ARMing Heroes is pleased to announce that Coast Professional, Inc. has been recognized as the first ever recipient of the organization’s newly-minted Corey Davis award for 2013, given out annually to companies that go “above and beyond the call of duty” to raise awareness and money for military veterans facing financial difficulties.
The International Association of Commercial Collectors, Inc. (IACC) will host its annual Mid-Year Conference 2013 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, July 13-14, 2013, where higher level commercial collection professionals will meet to learn and discuss new ideas to strengthen their business strategies.
Value Healthcare Services announces CEO Ezra Zucker will be a featured speaker at the summer meeting of Keystone AAHAM. The event will be held on July 18 at the Penn National Conference Center in Grantville, Pennsylvania. Keystone is one of the 32 local chapters of AAHAM, American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management.
Recent changes to the system that tracks recovery performance in the Department of Education’s (ED) private student loan debt collection contract may have resulted in either overpayments or underpayments to the 23 collection agencies on the contract, according to a report from ED’s Office of the Inspector General.
DECA Financial Services, LLC, a nationally-licensed collection agency, recently announced that it has joined the Fishers, Indiana, Chamber of Commerce.
The motto of the local organization is "Connecting People for Success" and, according to its website, members of the Fishers Chamber "have a voice voice with other businesses in helping guide, promote and develop the economic and civic well-being of one of the fastest growing communities in Indiana."
AMG Financial Services, LLC, a fast growing master servicer of receivables, whose principals are industry veterans, Michael Chiodo and John Hill, is pleased to announce the company's strategic alliance with Jeffrey A. Schreiber and The Schreiber Law Firm, PLLC, for the purpose of providing a complete range of collection services.
So, where does this leave us and what does all of this mean? Clearly, the TCPA and the interpretation thereof are in flux. Creditors and debt collectors have come to rely upon the 2008 FCC ruling as a means in which to establish prior express consent under the TCPA. Mais now holds that neither a creditor nor a debt collector have consent to call a cell phone number via automated dialing equipment or to leave prerecorded messages under the TCPA merely by obtaining a phone number provided on a credit application.
Two bills in major Western U.S. states aimed at reining in debt collection practices have recently advanced in their respective legislative chambers. One targets debt buyers specifically while the other is designed to more tightly control debt collectors working for government clients.
Debt Buying
New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs in 2009 passed onerous requirements for ARM companies operating in the city. The new regulations have been widely discussed in the debt collection community ever since. But now that the rules are in full swing, the Department is taking action against collection agencies and debt buyers.
ARMing Heroes is pleased to announce that Coast Professional, Inc. has been recognized as the first ever recipient of the organization’s newly-minted Corey Davis award for 2013, given out annually to companies that go “above and beyond the call of duty” to raise awareness and money for military veterans facing financial difficulties.
Two bills in major Western U.S. states aimed at reining in debt collection practices have recently advanced in their respective legislative chambers. One targets debt buyers specifically while the other is designed to more tightly control debt collectors working for government clients.
Lowell Group, a leading purchaser of non-performing consumer debt portfolios in the United Kingdom, today announced the acquisition of Interlaken Group, including its widely known Fredrickson International brand. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will see ownership of the Surrey-based debt collection agencies group transfer to Lowell Group, along with the 300 plus employees.
For the second straight quarter, the percentage of Americans with at least one account in the third party debt collection system hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2013. Close to 15 percent of consumers have an account being worked by debt collectors.
AnaCap Financial Partners LLP, a specialist European financial services private equity firm, announced Wednesday the sale of Cabot Credit Management (CCM) to funds managed and advised by J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC. The transaction agreements have been signed, and the transaction is expected to complete imminently.
Debt buyer Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECPG) late Thursday announced consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.
Effective immediately, Kaye Dreifuerst has been promoted to the position of President for Security Credit Services, LLC reporting directly to William Alias, III. Additionally, Brandy Reardon has joined the firm and named Vice President of Portfolio Acquisitions.
A district judge in Maryland last month dismissed a potential class action lawsuit against a debt buyer due, in part, to a rejection of the notion that a technical error constituted a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Another claim that tried to piggyback on the widely-publicized “robo-signing” issue with debt collection lawsuits was also rejected.
SquareTwo Financial, a leader in the $100 billion asset recovery and management industry, today announced the company has improved its capital structure with a two-year extension and lower interest rate on its revolving credit facility.
Debt Recovery
So, where does this leave us and what does all of this mean? Clearly, the TCPA and the interpretation thereof are in flux. Creditors and debt collectors have come to rely upon the 2008 FCC ruling as a means in which to establish prior express consent under the TCPA. Mais now holds that neither a creditor nor a debt collector have consent to call a cell phone number via automated dialing equipment or to leave prerecorded messages under the TCPA merely by obtaining a phone number provided on a credit application.
Higher contact rates – it’s the stat every collections operation strives for. More contacts means more promises. And more promises means more revenue. So it’s no surprise agencies, healthcare offices, asset purchasers, law firms, and every other collections operation under the sun are investing in technology that they hope will dial more lines and waste [...]
We’re all familiar with the constant challenge: being able to maximize payments while staying compliant and up to date with new rules and regulations. A solution? Speech analytics, which can help ease this challenge by analyzing every agent contact – either during or after the call – to eliminate compliance risk, improve agent performance, and increase recovery rates. The folks [...]
In each of the past two years, insideARM.com has conducted a survey of the ARM industry to better understand how these companies are utilizing debt settlement providers to increase collections. In each of these surveys, roughly 50% of survey respondents indicated that they now engage debt settlement providers as part of a strategy to locate collection accounts and increase collections through the use of these third party service providers. While this adoption is significant, still, roughly half of the firms responding to the surveys each of the past two years indicated that they still did not work with debt settlement companies as part of their collection strategy.
Gregory begins his paper by telling us, “Utah’s legal and regulatory environment is unapologetically “pro-business.” Utah is a state that believes in the summary enforcement of contract rights. Utah’s laws reflect that belief. For example, Utah does not have any usury laws, and will enforce any agreed upon rate of interest.” It would seem that the state slogan, “This Is Still The Right Place,” could easily apply to debt collection.
ARMing Heroes is pleased to announce that Coast Professional, Inc. will hold a fundraiser to support military veterans during the upcoming months of April and May. During this two-month drive to raise money for military veterans who are facing financial difficulties, Coast will be rewarding any employees who make a donation above a known threshold [...]
Harvest Strategy Group Inc. is pleased to announce that they have been selected by GM Financial as its service provider for a national litigation recovery program. HSG was chosen after a lengthy and thorough due diligence process. CEO David Ravin stated: “We are very proud to have been selected by GM Financial to meet their legal [...]
As of this year, debt collectors are now under federal supervision for the first time with new guidelines from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Extending the CFPB’s regulatory portfolio of financial companies, the guidelines have a broad impact on how the financial service industry outsources to handle and interact with bank customers.
Phillips & Cohen Associates International, Ltd. the global arm of the industry’s leading deceased recovery specialist today announced the formal opening of its Australian operation, headquartered in Melbourne, with the announcement of its Australian business leader. The group, which has delivered market leading compassionate recovery solutions since 1997, has six other offices in the US, [...]
The proliferation of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation against the debt industry continues unabated. Damage awards and settlements in TCPA cases costing debt collectors hundreds of thousands -- and even millions -- of dollars are a common occurrence. The latest development regarding the TCPA is sobering: a Federal Court found a debt collector liable for TCPA violations where some of the calls to a consumer's mobile phone were made in dialer "preview" mode and an individual collector "clicked" on the number to dial it.
