What you need to know about Medical Debt Collection in 2015

As 2014 came to a close there was a CFPB field hearing in Oklahoma City on December 11, 2014. The main purpose of this hearing was to address medical debt collection practices and the relationship between medical debt collection practices and consumer credit reporting.   CFPB Director Richard Cordray shared the Bureau’s position that problems ...

How Long Will it Take for my Business Credit Score to Bounce Back after Settling Debts?

Businesses seldom incur major credit damage from large purchases because they properly position their finances beforehand. In addition, the contentious business consistently monitors its D&B or Experian credit file for any problems that could manifest with vendors, suppliers or others entities that it relies on to extend credit. But, it’s important to remember that even minor ...

How the New FICO Score 9 Enhancements Impact Businesses

With the recent rollout of the new FICO Score 9 credit scoring system, many business owners are curious, if not anxious, to know how it will ultimately affect their ability to extend credit to customers. Let’s look at what the FICO system is and is not. While many people think of FICO as the arbiter ...

Going Cardless – Anne Rosso

More than 30 years ago, ACA members debated whether to abandon their workcards in favor of computers the 1980s, as computers became increasingly popular, credit and collection industry members heatedly debated the pros and cons of “going cardless”—abandoning their account workcards and putting a computer on each collector’s desk. Some agencies said they would never ...

Massachusetts Division of Banks clarifies that a written request from the consumer would not be necessary to initiate an obligation of response.

The Massachusetts Division of Banks clarified in a July 18, 2014 written opinion that a debt collector’s receipt of an oral request for records is sufficient to trigger the “five business day” period set forth in the Division’s validation of debt rule in Section 18.18(3). Section 18.18 of the Division’s Conduct of the Business of ...

Idaho Supreme Court ruling could change charges and fees

The Idaho Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding attorney’s fees could change how you charge collection fees. The Idaho Department of Finance recently issued guidance to help licensed collection agencies comply with the Idaho Collection Agency Act. 
In May, the high court unanimously ruled that collection agency Medical Recovery Services could not ask for attorney’s fees ...

Consumer Rights in Debt Collection

In today’s economy, debt is a fact of life for millions of people. This is evidence by statistics such as those from a Corporation for Enterprise Development study, which shows that 44 percent of Americans have less than three months’ worth of savings. Statistics like this make it imperative to keep people informed about their ...

A Check of American Credit Card Debt

Despite relative job growth, the American economy continues to struggle as more people see mounting debt levels. While the good news is that Americans seem to be getting better at paying down credit card debt as we distance ourselves from the 2009 recession, the bad news is that more people are going into debt. As ...

CFPB Readiness

A recent article on the ACA International, the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA) website, revealed that the ACA requested that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) discontinue the pursuit of the consumer debt collection survey to some 10,000 randomly selected consumers with good reason. Review of the survey seems to slant the outcome ...

A perspective from our home state: Understanding Utah’s debt collection laws

Part of the commitment we make to our customers is that our debt collection software is compliant with collection regulations.  While we strive for compliance within the software, it is imperative that businesses and agencies that meet the legal requirements for debt collection also be fully conversant and compliant with debt collection laws. When it comes ...

Accounts Receivable and Debt Collection Software for 2011 – A Welcome Change to Collection

Not only is debt software making it easier and less expensive for collection agencies to do their jobs, it is also making it much more convenient for debtors hoping to solve their debt problems with as little notice as possible. Accounts Receivable software has hit the mark with an anonymous method for debtors to settle ...

Expensive and Outdated Collection Methods Hampering Industry Rebound

A recent survey of 400 US based collections and financial services executives by Lodestar Research on behalf of Varolii in May of 2010 shows that collection companies are finding it increasingly difficult to collect. They are faced with new problems because consumers cannot or do not want to pay, and the cost of making collections ...