Sat.Oct 26, 2024 - Fri.Nov 01, 2024

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Common mistakes businesses make in debt collection and how to avoid them

Collections Law

In the world of business, collecting unpaid debts can feel like a never-ending battle. In addition, many companies unknowingly commit errors that hinder their efforts. Our commercial collections attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan M. Cohen & Associates LLC law have dedicated their legal careers to helping businesses collect their unpaid debts. Our attorneys have more than five decades of combined experience helping companies collect their unpaid accounts receivable.

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Collector to Pay $60k to Settle EEOC Religious Discrimination Suit

Account Recovery

A debt collection operation has reached a settlement in a religious accommodation lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and agreed to pay $60,000 to end a long legal battle. The big picture: The lawsuit, filed by the EEOC, involved an employee of the collector who requested an accommodation to observe religious holidays in line with his religion.

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CFPB and CMS Take Action to Stop Illegal Billing of Lowest-Income Medicare Recipients

Consumer Finance

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a joint letter to protect millions of Medicare beneficiaries living at or below the poverty line from unlawful medical bills.

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Effective Year-End Business Budgeting Strategies for Financial Success

Enterprise Recovery

With just a few months left of the year, it's time to ensure that your business is well-prepared. Careful planning and allocation of financial resources can help your business seize new opportunities, overcome potential challenges, and achieve its growth objectives. By creating a financial roadmap that supports sustainable development and long-term success, you're positioning your business to thrive in the coming year.

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Solve Your Firm's 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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Navigating Seasonal Cash Flow Challenges with Better Credit Control

JMA

Seasonal businesses often face unique challenges when it comes to managing cash flow. While peak seasons can bring in significant revenue, off-peak periods often lead to cash flow shortages, putting financial strain on the business. Managing these seasonal cash flow fluctuations is critical for maintaining financial stability and ensuring long-term success.

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CFPB Orders VyStar Credit Union to Pay $1.5 Million for Illegally Stranding Consumers from Accessing Their Money and Accounts

Consumer Finance

The CFPB took action against VyStar Credit Union for harming consumers through its botched rollout of a new online banking system.

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Evenflow: AI is Great for Building Workflows

NCBA Law Practice Management Blog

Artificial intelligence has fast become a fact of modern life – as it has perhaps been adopted more widely, more quickly, than any previous technology. Yet, lots of attorneys still haven’t had any substantive experiences with AI, to date. But, the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of use cases for AI, in law practice; so, it may be easier to get started, than you think.

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Barron & Newburger’s Latest Risk Management Guidance

BN Lawyers

Here’s the latest risk management guidance, published in September 2024, from B&N’s Attorneys Risk Management practice group. BN – Tip of the Month – ABA Issues Formal Opinion 513 – Duty to Inquire – Sept 2024 The post Barron & Newburger’s Latest Risk Management Guidance appeared first on Barron & Newburger, P.C.

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N.M. Supreme Court Rules CU Employees Engaged in Unauthorized Practice of Law When Filing Collection Suits Against Members

Account Recovery

The Supreme Court of New Mexico has ruled that employees of a credit union engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by filing collection lawsuits to recover unpaid debts. The background: The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by having non-attorney employees file collection lawsuits against them in New Mexico state court.

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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 Takes Action to Address Townstone Financial’s Unlawful Redlining

Consumer Finance

The CFPB filed a proposed order to resolve its case against Townstone Financial for discriminatory lending practices and redlining African American neighborhoods in Chicago.

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28% of credit card users are still paying off last year’s holiday debt. How to get this season’s tab under control

Collection Industry News

For some shoppers, the upcoming holiday season may lead to significant credit card debt. Meanwhile, some people are still paying off debt from last year’s gift buying. In fact, 28% of shoppers who used credit cards have not paid off the presents they purchased for family and friends last year, according to a recent holiday spending report by NerdWallet.

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Strategic Credit Management: The way to positive cash flow

On Guard

Relatively little has changed over the past 25 years in the credit management profession. Yes, we now send e-mails and text messages instead of faxes and letters. Moreover, we have “fancy” systems and AI. However, in essence, outstanding receivables have not declined structurally within organisations, said Meri Nasole, at the first Onguard University event.

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CFPB, CMS Issue Guidance on Collecting from Certain Medicare Recipients

Account Recovery

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday issued a joint statement reminding and warning companies in the credit and collection industry that millions of low-income Medicare recipients, known as Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMBs), are protected by federal law from being charged for Medicare cost-sharing, such as co-pays and deductibles.

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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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Combo Platter: Law Firm Mergers Are on the Upswing

NCBA Law Practice Management Blog

According to a new report from Legal.io, law firm mergers are on the upswing, in 2024. The interesting part of that report, is just how many small firms are involved in the merger conversation. All me rgers were up 24% for Q1 of 2024; but, fully 65% of those mergers involved law firms with between 5-20 attorneys. Anecdotally, of late, I have myself been involved in helping to move forward mergers between small firms, including those where 2 solo lawyers have joined forces to form a small law fir

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CFPB Annual Report on FDCPA Activities (2024)

Burt and Associates

The Financialization of Debt: A Growing Concern in Medical and Rental Markets In a world increasingly shaped by the integration of finance into everyday life, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a report that sheds light on two critical sectors affected by this trend: medical and rental debt. These areas, essential to basic human well-being, are becoming fertile ground for financial products and services that may not always prioritize consumer welfare.

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The Doctrine of Necessaries: Spousal Liability in New York Debt Collection

FFGN COLLECT NY

If you owe money, is your spouse liable for your debt? Being married does not, in itself, mean you are liable for your spouse’s debts. There may be spousal liability, however, if the doctrine of necessaries applies and creates enforceable financial liability. The general rule is that, absent an agreement, a person 18 years and older is not responsible for another adult’s debt.

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Judge Rules Defendant Meets FDCPA’s Definition of Debt Collector

Account Recovery

A District Court judge in California has denied a defendant’s argument that it does not meet the definition of a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and ruled that the plaintiff’s claims can proceed. The defendant, who argued that it was exempt from the FDCPA, failed to convince the court, which found sufficient allegations that the defendant was operating as a debt collector when it attempted to collect a debt from the plaintiff.

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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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Giant Steps: Raising Your Rates Doesn’t Always Have to be a Big Move

NCBA Law Practice Management Blog

I feel like I can safely say that – even though I have no idea what your rates are. In my experience, most law firm rates are far too low. That’s especially true if you bill hourly. Hourly rates for attorneys don’t even keep up with inflation. But, maybe you already knew that. And, perhaps you may even really want to raise your hourly rates. Though, you may also be thinking: I haven’t done that in quite some time , so I have to make a huge change , in order to make up for that.

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A New Era for Debt Collection?

Burt and Associates

About Transcript About CFPB 2024 Annual Report on Activities to Administer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act I. Introduction and Spotlight on Medical and Rental Debt 1.1 Medical Debt 1.1.1 Introduction: This section highlights the CFPB’s work on medical debt issues, including a proposed rule to restrict medical debt reporting on credit reports. 1.1.2 Debt Not Owed: Examines consumer complaints about medical debt collection for debts not actually owed, often stemming from billing error

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US sovereign credit default swaps rise on election, debt ceiling jitters

Collection Industry News

NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) – The cost of insuring exposure to U.S. government debt has climbed to its highest in nearly one year, suggesting investors are getting nervous about a U.S. presidential election outcome that could make the government less able to repay debt. Spreads on U.S. one-year credit default swaps (CDS) – market-based gauges of the risk of a default – widened to 49 basis points on Thursday, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, the highest since

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Collector Facing Class Action for Making Calls After Plaintiff Allegedly Revoked Consent

Account Recovery

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is part of a series that is sponsored by WebRecon. WebRecon identifies serial plaintiffs lurking in your database BEFORE you contact them and expose yourself to a likely lawsuit. Protect your company from as many as one in three new consumer lawsuits by scrubbing your consumers through WebRecon first. Want to learn more? Call (855) WEB-RECON or email admin@webrecon.net today!

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How To Optimize Cash Flow: Your Roadmap To Resilience!

Speaker: Genevieve Hancock, CPA

Cash flow isn’t just about balancing numbers - it's about ensuring your organization is positioned for both immediate stability and long-term success. Understanding that cash flow management fuels every decision, every opportunity, and every growth phase is critical. But how can you shift from simply managing cash to strategically optimizing it for resilience?

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Appeals Court Affirms Ruling for Creditor in FMLA, ADA Case

Account Recovery

One of the nation’s largest credit card lenders has had a summary judgment ruling in its favor affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, after it was sued for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act by an employee who had been terminated. The background: The plaintiff, who had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, claimed she faced adverse employment actions after taking leave under the FMLA and raising complaints about t

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Judge Rules Health Insurer Must Face Collection Suit

Account Recovery

A District Court judge in Florida has ruled that a defendant — a health insurance company — must face claims it failed to make appropriate payments to healthcare providers who subsequently assigned their claims to the plaintiff, Healthcare Ally Management of California, LLC, denying the defendant’s argument that the plaintiff needed to be licensed as a debt collector in the state in order to pursue its claim.

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Bill Introduced in House to Reform CID Process

Account Recovery

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to reform the Civil Investigative Demand process used by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rep. Andy Barr [R-Kent.] and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez [D-Texas] introduced the Civil Investigative Demand Reform Act of 2024. The proposed legislation aims to ensure due process for financial services providers subject to the CFPB’s Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs), which are often criticized for being overly broad and burde

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Judge Remands FDCPA Case Back to State Court for Lack of Standing Anyway After Plaintiff Withdraws Motion

Account Recovery

It’s helpful at times to be reminded that the issue of whether a plaintiff has standing or not to pursue a case in federal court is not always up to the parties. Judges can decide whether to keep a case in federal court or remand it back to state court on their own, whether the parties want it remanded or not. A District Court judge in New York has remanded a case back to state court — where it was originally filed — even though the plaintiff withdrew her motion to remand, ruling that the

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When It Comes to Collections Software, “Good Enough” Isn’t Good Enough

Are you finding some snags in your collections process? With delinquencies, and the number of consumers looking for payment assistance on the rise, it may be time to consider an efficient cloud-based software to support your team. Learn how MeridianLink® Collect has helped financial institutions like yours streamline collections processes.