Compliance

American Municipal Services Corp., a collection agency that collects on behalf of more than 500 municipalities across the country, has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and agreed to stop engaging in allegedly illegal tactics. The agency was using collection letters that had “Warrant Enforcement Division” or “Municipal …

The Federal Communications Commission yesterday issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would try to protect consumers from receiving calls from scammers and robocalls. The proposal would allow carriers to block calls from being sent to individuals’ phones because, according to the FCC, “that the specter of enforcement action …

Rep. Mia Love [R-Utah], the first black Republican female member of Congress, has introduced another bill aimed at amending the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The bill, H.R. 864, titled “Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2017,” is exactly the same piece of proposed legislation that she introduced last summer. …

For most people, Oct. 12, 2016 was a normal Wednesday. Donald Trump had not yet been elected president. The Chicago Cubs had not yet won the World Series. And everyone was still wondering who Negan had clobbered with his barbed baseball bat on “The Walking Dead.” But for Craig Cunningham, …

The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it has named Thomas Pahl, currently a partner at the law firm of Arnall Golden Gregory, to be the acting director of its Bureau of Consumer Protection, replacing Jessica Rich, who announced her departure yesterday. Pahl has previously worked at the FTC, serving …

While not directly related to the business of collections, executives at agencies that require credit checks as part of the hiring process would do well to look at a decision released earlier this month by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case, Syed v. M-I, LLC, centers around the …

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled earlier this week that a class-action settlement approved by a lower court was not “fair, reasonable, and adequate” because the “relief afforded by the settlement” did not have enough value for the members of the class. The case, Koby …

Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who’s job has become the ball in a game of political ping pong, said yesterday that he has no intention of stepping down from his job. While the president has not made any decisions or even committed to a timeline for …

Editor’s Note: A copy of the full webinar recording is available for download by clicking here.  The design of a website and where a collection agency shows up on search engine rankings play a big role in limiting the number of pre-litigation demand letters that are sent to that company, …

The Federal Trade Commission has filed charges against an infamous name in the collections world for allegedly selling portfolios of fake payday loan debts. Joel Tucker, and his brother, racecar driver Scott Tucker, have been running afoul of the FTC for nearly five years. This time, Joel Tucker, and companies …