Daily Digest

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE PASSES COLLECTOR LICENSING LAW The California state legislature on Monday became the 35th state to require debt collectors to obtain licenses in order to operate, passing a measure that also establishes baseline practices that will be prohibited, should Gov. Gavin Newsom sign the bill into law. CFPB WARNS …

MASS. AG SUES AUTO LENDER FOR VIOLATING STATE COLLECTION CALL LIMITS, AMONG OTHER VIOLATIONS The Attorney General of Massachusetts yesterday announced a lawsuit against Credit Acceptance Corp., a subprime auto lender, for knowingly originating loans to individuals even though it knew they would be unable to repay them, and then …

JUDGE GRANTS MSJ FOR DEFENSE IN FDCPA OVERSHADOWING CASE A District Court judge in New York has granted a defendant’s motion for summary judgment after it was sued for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it allegedly overshadowed the validation notice in a collection letter by including a …

FTC FILES SUITS AGAINST ALLEGED DEBT COLLECTION SCAMMERS A District Court judge in South Carolina has lifted the seal on two complaints filed by the Federal Trade Commission against debt collection operations that are accused of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by allegedly convincing unsuspecting individuals that lawsuits …

GETTING TO KNOW ERIN KERR OF MRS BPO Erin Kerr’s job title is emblematic of the changing dynamic within the credit and collections industry. Acknowledging that the technology in the industry is changing faster than it ever has before, Erin has embraced the challenge associated with forging new trails. Read …

BRANCH MANAGER FINED, BARRED FROM RENEWING LICENSE AS PART OF KICKBACK SCHEME The Minnesota Department of Commerce has banned a collection agency branch manager from obtaining a license for five years and fined him $2,500 for orchestrating a kickback scheme in which he inflated the commissions of a collector in …

CALIF. GARNISHMENT LAW SET TO GO INTO EFFECT NEXT WEEK An online press conference has been scheduled for later today to discuss a new law that is going into effect in California next week that limits how much debt collectors can garnish from an individual’s bank account when seeking repayment …

EXCLUSIVE: GORDON BECK SHARES DETAILS OF COMPANY‘S FIRST ACQUISITION Valor Intelligent Processing (VIP), based in Jacksonville, Fla., recently completed its first-ever acquisition, purchasing Credit Protection Association (CPA), a collection and business-process outsourcing company based in Dallas. JUDGE DENIES MTD IN FDCPA CASE OVER STATEMENT IN LETTER A District Court judge …

APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS DISMISSAL OF DEBT BUYING CONTRACT DISPUTE The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has overturned a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit in which the seller of a portfolio of loans sued the buyer for allegedly violating the terms of their agreement when the buyer turned …

GETTING TO KNOW MORGAN LEIJA OF PHILLIPS & COHEN Morgan Leija may not have a lot of experience in the credit and collection industry yet, but the time she has spent has already taught her a lot. Coming into this business without any experience can be overwhelming and enough to …