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FTC Alumn to Return to the CFPB

Stephanie Eidelman of insideARM

Tom Pahl has had the opportunity to make the regulatory rounds in recent years, uniquely preparing him for this moment. On Monday he returns to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)...

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Collection of Bad Debt Helps County Economic Development
With nearly all its bad debt collected, the Marion County…
Oregon Amends Debt Collection Statute
On April 3, the Oregon governor signed SB 1553, which…
Mass. Holds Passive Debt Buyers Are Not ‘Debt Collectors’
In an important decision for the debt buying industry, the…

CFPB Issues Annual Complaint Report
The CFPB has issued its Consumer Response Annual Report that…
CFPB Faces Lawsuit on Payday Lending Rule
Two industry groups representing payday lenders are suing the Consumer…
7th Cir. Holds Collector May Rely on Info from Creditor
Joining with the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, the U.S. Court…

Amendment Clarifies Requirement for Purchased Debts
Last summer, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed H.B. 2356 into…
Mulvaney Recommends Changes in CFPB Report
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released its semi-annual…
2nd Circuit Upholds Taylor, Win on Interest Disclosure Issue
In a decision released today, the 2nd Circuit upheld the…

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Engaged Collectors Instead of Dialer Zombies

Sam Eidson

Managing a collection floor certainly has its highs and lows. It’s always been a, “what have you done for me lately,” kind of business. Whether your agency had a strong...

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How Speech Analytics Changed the Way We Do Business
Shortly after the Dodd-Frank Act and CFPB were created our…
Working with the Modern Mortgage Consumer
Almost a decade ago the mortgage industry turned upside down…
How I Handle Federal and Private Student Loan Collections
Many are concerned that our nation is heading in the…

The Step-By-Step of Commercial Collections
Almost ten years into my collection career I was introduced…
How to Get Into Municipal Utility Collection
There are many financial products agencies collect on and each…
16 Things Your Letters Should Have
Collection letters have been a pain point for many agencies…

Compliance vs. Operations
Remember the days of collecting money first, the days when…
Protecting the Client's Brand in Telecom Collections
Have you seen the commercials where a cell phone provider…
The Sensitive Nature of Medical Collections
As we continue to age it becomes more difficult to…

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Consumer Complaint Numbers Continue Streak of Decrease

Collection Advisor

According to American Banker magazine, the Better Business Bureau reports complaints against debt collectors are down. Debt collectors outperform other industries in complaint resolution. Debt collection dropped to fifth place in...

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95% of Consumer Debt Paid on Time
As many of you might know, April is National Skip…
Do-It-Yourself Credit Repair
When working with consumers, it can be helpful to develop…
Collection Tips for A/R Pros
Valuable information should be absorbed whenever it presents itself, particularly…

Competition or Collaboration?
The Truth About ARM Trade Organizations There is much debate around…
5 Ways to Improve Your Reputation Among Clients
Tennis player Andre Agassi once marketed a Canon camera with…
Accounts Receivable Professionals Protected by FCC Rule
The FCC “one-free-pass” rule still prevents liability for calling a…

Technology is the Debt Collection Hero
In the economy where one in three Americans have a…
The CFPB Cancels 8,000-Debtor Collection Survey
The CFPB rulemaking on debt collection has been further delayed…
Survey Says Most Parents Pay Children's Debt
As accounts receivable professionals know, when advising consumers on how…

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Who's Who in Compliance 2018

Collection Advisor

Top A/R Pros Drive Compliance and Production Compliance with federal and state regulation has made and destroyed accounts receivable organizations. It is the pillar on which respect in the accounts receivable...

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The CFPB's New Payday Rule
In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued its much-anticipated…
Patience Wins in Medical Collections
Hospitals and medical professionals find themselves in a complicated situation…
Protecting Your Business in Commercial Collections
Collecting and taking legal action against a business in commercial…

Focus on Skip Tracing to Reach Ultimate Goal
Focus allows a collection professional to surpass all distraction and…
Strengthening Collection Litigation
An ideal world would be accompanied by an end to…
Collectors Weigh In On Proposed CFPB Rules
The CFPB released the Outline of Proposals Under Consideration and…

25 Most Influential Women in Collections
The debt collection profession is wide open to influence from…
Game for Anything in Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt seems to be susceptible to just about…
Guitar Collector Collection Attorney
Behind every collection call is a person. This person, much…

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Batch or Manual Skip Tracing for You?

Nick Jarman

There's an age old debate on which is the most effective way to skip trace an account. The old school method is to have a collector manually skip trace an...

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Take Control of Your Digital Reputation
Reputation is defined as the general estimation in which a…
Are We Abiding by "Subjective Compliance"
What's left to say; question so many debt collectors are…
How Technology of Tomorrow Can Help You Thrive Today
Each day it gets tougher than the next to get…

Secrets of Government Collections From an Industry Leader
If there is one entity that has a leg up…
3 Tips to Guide Your Skip Tracing Through Turbulent Waters
Skip tracing has always been one of the most highly…
A Play-By-Play of the CFPB SBREFA Hearing
Since the inception of the CFPB on July 21, 2011…

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Collection Letter Cases Gone Wild

Debra J. Ciskey

Letters are a necessary evil for debt collectors – necessary because we are required to provide disclosure of the consumer’s right, and because communication with a consumer is necessary to...

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Ratcheting Up Your Compliance Management System
Looking back over the year, it seems that 2017 was…
Leading Collectors Provide Telecom Compliance Insights
The compliance world changed somewhat for telecommunications providers in the…
False Accusations or Real Problems?
In my last article, I wrote about dispute management and…

Dispute Management: New Advice from the CFPB
Handling disputes is a necessary function in any collection agency…
Preventing Cracks In Your Compliance Management System
In 2016, the CFPB celebrated its fifth birthday; half a…
Why Your Letters Should Be Written for the Least Sophisticated Consumer
One would think that as we enter the 40-year anniversary…

Compliance Tips Courtesy of the CFPB
While we await official rules related to debt collection from…
What the CFPB is "Fixin' to" Do
My in-laws live in Texas, so I have spent a…
Staying Optimistic in a World of Compliance Unknowns
“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily.“So it is.” “And freezing.”…

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Cybertracking Using Email & Websites

Ron Brown

I have been asked on several occasions why data brokers provide IP addresses and how are they useful to a tracer. In this article I will attempt to explain how...

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Why You are the Golden Bullet for Skip Tracing
I concluded the last article with the statement, “the bottom…
Stop Searching for the Golden Bullet
In today's world of cyber tracking, the tracer has many…
4 Sources You Need to Search the Invisible Web
This will be our sixth and final article in the…

Expert Skip Tracing Sources on the Invisible Web
This will be our fifth series related to what is…
Key Search Engines of the Invisible Web
In this issue, we will once again continue to explore…
Little-Known Sites to Find Your Skip - The Invisible Web - Part 3
In this issue, we will continue to explore the web…

The Invisible Web - Part 2
In the last issue we began a journey down a…
The Invisible Web
I was recently asked, “When are you going to run…
Tracing on Student Loan Debt
In this issue we will take a look at tracing…

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Reasons to Diversify into New Markets

Harry A. Strausser III

For decades in the collections industry there was a tendency and a perceived strength in specializing your recovery expertise in a specific market or vertical. It was a feather in...

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Lonely at the Top? Bearing the Weight of Leadership
There is a popular best-selling book, “Don’t Sweat the Small…
5 Ways to Keep Your Leader Ship Afloat
Whether you are the CEO of an organization, a supervisor…
Sealing the Deal
How solid is your relationship with your client base? Do…

5 Ways to Land Clients Like a Large Agency
There is a recurring theme in many of the management…
5 Benefits to Help Attract the Best Team
All collection firms and collection departments like to believe they…
Thinking About Buying Some Debt?
In the very early 1990s I was actively working in…

Are You Proud of Your Web Presence?
As we immerse ourselves in the technological age, we sometimes…
Solving Miserable Uncertainty
We have addressed numerous topics in this column over the…
Back to Letters to Get Attention
"I am Gritkhor, third son of Tibeldar and in charge…

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Pay Attention to Incoming and Outgoing Mail!

Fred N. Blitt

In passing the FDCPA 40 years ago, Congress found that there was “abundant evidence” of the use of abusive, deceptive and unfair debt collection practices. Later case law clarified that...

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Making Compliance a Value-Added Component
I have been faulted for being too optimistic or seeing…
Supreme Court Henson Case Brings Common Sense?
In June, the United States Supreme Court handed down its…
Make Like the Cubs and Win for Collections
With baseball back in full swing here in 2017, there…

Out Top 6 Compliance Christmas Wish List Items
Over the past five years there has been much negative…
CFPB Lawsuit Symptom of Dissatisfied Students
In January 2017, the CFPB took aim at Navient, the…
How Will the Presidential Election Impact Debt Collection?
With all the articles we have seen on the CFPB…

What is Your Cost of Compliance
I have written extensively about compliance related issues and consent…
The CFPB and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
On July 28, 2016, the CFPB released its outline of…
The Student Debt Crisis: Where We Are
Many believe that the next great financial crisis in America…

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Rewarding Telecom Consumers to Entice Payments

Sam Edens

Great opportunities for agencies to get into the telecom market remain. The continued growth of telecommunications providers combined with loosely defined regulation in the industry has introduced a noteworthy amount...

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3 Ways to Improve Conversion of PDF and Image Files
It can be argued that a large percentage of hospitals…
Does Business Intelligence Matter?
Most agencies have data scattered amid many different systems. The…
3 Ways to Wow Governments (And Everyone) With Your Tech
In 2010, the framework for massive technology updates in healthcare…

Differentiating in the Commoditized Skip Tracing Market
Some time ago, the process of locating and gathering information…
Compliance: Technology Alone Will Not Protect You
Every day, I receive around a dozen emails detailing some…
Automatic Collections
Nearly ten years ago, I read a book titled “The…

Managing Unstructured Data with Big Data Notions
Data is traditionally structured. It makes the data easy to…
Texting Is the Final Frontier?
How are there two extremes when it comes to sending…
Collecting for the IRS
Last December, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act)…

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11 Strategies to Improve the Science of Skip Tracing

Jason Horsley

Skip tracing is part art and part science. The science involves leveraging technology. I’d like to share 11 strategies to improve how you use technology to improve the science side...

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Required Documentation for Buying or Selling Debt
Due to the lack of formal proposed rules from the…
A Map to Online Skip Tracing Data
There is no correct way to scour the Internet for…
Legal Collection Software Checklist
The following is a checklist collection professionals can use to…

Commercial Collection Client Care Checklist
Your company or client needs you to collect an overdue…
CFPB Compliance Examination Objectives and Procedures - Manual Excerpt, Part III
Periodically reacquainting oneself with important information is always a good…
Medical Collection Software Checklist
The following is a checklist collection professionals can use to…

FDCPA Prohibited Practices - Manual Excerpt, Part II
Periodically reacquainting oneself with important information is always a good…
UDAAP Examination - Manual Excerpt, Part I
The key to surviving the CFPB’s scrutiny is knowing what…
Mid-Range Collection Software Checklist
The following is a checklist collection professionals can use to…

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March/April 2018

Collection Advisor

The importance of keeping abreast of new developments in regulation, technology and collection techniques cannot be overstated. The following Collection Education Exam is a quick way of reviewing the information...

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