Daily Digest – October 26. Judges Illegally Jailing Poor Defendants; Collectors Work Unchecked in Illinois

Some quick links to start your Monday. Susan Hayes, the president of Alacrity Collections, has been appointed to serve a fifth term on Maryland’s Collection Agency Licensing Board … An interesting tale about the breakup of American Express and Costco, which shows the tensions that can exist in business partnerships … Why Hillary Clinton is likely the next president … SunTrust Banks recently laid off 100 IT employees so it could outsource their jobs, but required the former workers to be “reasonably available” should the company need to contact them to ask questions. The biggest kick in the teeth? SunTrust wasn’t going to pay the workers for their time … The disruption in service for RushCard prepaid debit card users is an example of how the banking industry has stopped serving the poor … Photos of the damage from Hurricane Patricia … The 10 most profitable companies in the world … Why Utah is the best state for doing business … A look inside the new Microsoft retail store … Toyota takes over the top spot among automakers …  What a fighter pilot can teach you about teamwork and focus.

NEWS 

• Judges in the city of El Paso, Texas, may be illegally jailing defendants who are unable to pay fines assessed by the municipal court. State law requires judges to look at the finances of defendants to determine whether they are too poor to pay prior to incarcerating them.

• Social Security benefits should be immune from student loan garnishments, and a petition with 350,000 to that effect is being delivered to Congress. About $150 million was garnished from Social Security checks in 2013.

• Collectors working on behalf of Cook County, Illinois, are not being monitored well enough, according to a state audit. The audit reveals that the county clerk is not keeping track of the total amount of outstanding fees or the individual amounts collected by different collection agencies.

• A Freedom Furniture and Electronics store in Washington was assessed a $63,000 penalty for engaging in illegal collection activities, including contacting commanding officers and and filing lawsuits against delinquent debtors in Virginia, even though the customers were not stationed there.

Shaq on team building

The problem of banking in the legalized marijuana business

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