Some quick links to start your Friday. A Minnesota school district is going to bring in a collection agency to help recoup $160,000 in unpaid lunch money from students … Why millennials are better targets for identity thieves … A data breach at Experian has exposed the information of 15 million T-Mobile customers … A tragic school shooting in Oregon leaves 10 dead … What to watch for in today’s jobs report … The secret benefits of late night snacking … Poor people are more likely to die in car accidents than people who are well off … Google employees confess the worst things about working there … Big banks that fund consumer lending operations are getting skittish about regulators.
NEWS
- Auto lender Westlake Services and a subsidiary were hit yesterday with a $44 million fine from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for engaging in illegal collection tactics. And this time, it’s not necessarily the same egregious tactics that many companies that have found themselves in a similar fate are accused of doing. The lender is accused of calling consumers under false pretenses and using phony caller ID information to help improve contact rates to collect on more debts. In the category of what we’re used to seeing, they allegedly also threatened criminal prosecution to delinquent debtors and disclosed information to borrowers’ employers, friends and family.
- Do you want to know how you might be trying to collect from someone who frequently files lawsuits against collection agencies? A West Virginia man is suing a debt collection agency for trying to collect on a $6,000 home equity debt. From the article about the lawsuit: Fernett claims he wrote to the law firm and informed them that he was represented by counsel, and provided the law firm with his attorney’s contact information. He also requested verification of the alleged debt and posted the letter by certified mail.
- A leading consumer advocate is against a proposal that would have the Internal Revenue Service outsource debt collections to third-party agencies. But she is singing a very old tune in making her argument. But it gets worse, she writes. If lawmakers approve Section 52106, they will be subjecting vulnerable taxpayers to abusive tactics that are unfortunately all too common in the collections industry.
Pioneer Credit Recovery has been awarded a contact by the Trenton (N.J.) Municipal Court to collect on $3 million in unpaid fines
What “The Most Interesting Man In The World” is really like
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