Some quick links to start your Thursday. Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen have stopped selling cars with certain diesel engines in them because the vehicles contain illegal software to manipulate emissions … 1.1 billion people per day are on Facebook … The NFL is returning $7 million to the Department of Defense that was paid advertising in the form of “military tributes” … Kraft Heinz is cutting 2,600 jobs … Cybersecurity is the hottest career track … The 50 best cities to live in … The world’s most powerful people … Banks’ e-security images “worse than useless” … There might be such a thing as too much exercise … What it’s like to be an intern at JPMorgan … How to keep your business finances in order … Apps that every leader needs … Guinness is going vegan.
NEWS
- A day after it was announced, 11 Senators (10 Democrats and one Independent) have introduced a bill to repeal the portion of the federal budget that allowed the use of autodialers to help collect on federal student loans. Because Senators know how to use acronyms better than anyone, the legislation is called the HANGUP Act, which stands for Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone calls.
- The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs has gone after nearly two dozen debt collection agencies for activities ranging from collecting on payday loans (which are illegal in New York) to engaging in harassing and illegal collection tactics. All total, the amount of fines levied against the companies was more than $2 million.
- More on Operation Collection Protection, the initiative from the Federal Trade Commission that is aiming to crack down on more illegal debt collectors. There are still few details, but that doesn’t matter because the level of rhetoric is extremely high.
- The company operating a major toll road in the Washington, D.C./Virginia area is in legal hot water in a class-action lawsuit filed by motorists suing for receiving hefty vines for not using their automatic toll transponders (EZ-Pass), when in fact it was the company’s equipment that was faulty. The company issues a $1,000 “administrative penalty” for every unpaid toll. How is this related to collections? The judge hearing the suit has affirmed that the company, Transurban, has violated collection laws for blaming motorists.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen on how banks are falling short of managing their risk
Since I once argued whether a cheeseburger could ever go back to being a hamburger, this is my kind of argument
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