Daily Digest – March 6. Collection Law Firm Must Comply With FDCPA In Foreclosure Cases, Judge Rules; Judge Bans Collector From Industry For Life

The Daily Digest is sponsored by Beam Software. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Beam is a thought leader in portfolio management and collection software. They offer both cloud-based and on-premise solutions to accommodate the entire collection continuum. For more information, please visit www.beamsoftware.com or call (800) 212-2326.

COLLECTION LAW FIRM MUST COMPLY WITH FDCPA IN FORECLOSURE CASES, JUDGE RULES

• A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that a law firm bringing a foreclosure action must comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The ruling was part of a denial of a motion to dismiss order filed by the defendants. The law firm had filed a foreclosure complaint before providing the plaintiffs with a verification of the debt.

JUDGE BANS COLLECTOR FROM ARM INDUSTRY FOR LIFE

• Dequan Sicard has been permanently banned from the ARM industry, as the result of a default judgment that was entered against him following a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission after he was part of a scam that impersonated lawyers in attempting to collect debts from individuals. The FTC brought charges against Sicard, another defendant, Daryl M. Hall, and a pair of companies, for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act last July.

TCPA CLASS-ACTION TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2018

• When it comes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, collection agencies always need to be on their toes, because plaintiffs’ attorneys are very good at changing tacks and using new strategies in filing lawsuits. A pair of attorneys from the law firm of Sheppard Mullin, recently published an article that shares five trends related to TCPA class-action lawsuits that should be watched throughout 2018.

ELIZABETH WARREN PUBLISHES SCATHING REPORT OF EDUCATION DEPT. UNDER BETSY DEVOS

• In part because of her decisions and handling of student loan companies and collection-related topics, Betsy DeVos is the “worst Secretary of Education this country has ever seen,” according to a pair of Massachusetts Democrats, who issued a report last week on her alleged misdeeds. The authors, Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.] and Rep. Katherine Clark [D-Mass.], not only said the DeVos was the worst, but that she was the worst “by a large margin.”

WORTH NOTING: “Dumpster fire” has been added to the dictionary … Stephen Hawking says he knows what happened before the dawn of time … Walmart is rolling out meal kits and one-step meals to 250 stores … Another reason not to take selfies: they make your nose look 30% bigger than it really is … How to take effective breaks … A robot that is cooking hamburgers at a restaurant in California … Lifetime guarantees are becoming a thing of the past … The cities where the most educated millennials live … States are stepping up to mandate net neutrality … A rise in interest rates have cost more than 1 million homeowners the chance to refinance … An aircraft carrier that was sunk in World War II was found off the coast of Australia … Here are the hot cars being unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

An ex-cop on why criminalizing drug use is a bad idea

Cutting the cord saved this guy $1,000

The Daily Digest is sponsored by Beam Software. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Beam is a thought leader in portfolio management and collection software. They offer both cloud-based and on-premise solutions to accommodate the entire collection continuum. For more information, please visit www.beamsoftware.com or call (800) 212-2326.