90-Day Clock Starts for 7M Borrowers as SAVE Plan Ends, With Default Wave Looming
- The clock is now ticking for nearly 7 million federal student loan borrowers who have 90 days to pick a new repayment plan or get defaulted into the most expensive one, while Treasury permanently resumes wage garnishments. With delinquencies and defaults projected to hit 12.5 million by year-end, the ripple effects will show up in credit scores and recovery rates across every asset class in your portfolio. Read what the next 90 days could mean for the industry.
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Judge Rules Time-Barred Collection Suit Violated FDCPA, Rejects Related Licensing Claim
- A New Jersey federal judge ruled that a debt buyer and its law firm violated the FDCPA by filing suit three years after the statute of limitations expired, rejecting an argument that a pre-printed “(SEAL)” notation stretched the clock to 16 years. The consumer didn’t win everything, though — the judge tossed a claim tied to the debt buyer’s lack of a state lending license. Read why one claim survived and the other didn’t.
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Judge Denies MTD Where CRA Used the Same Furnisher to “Verify” Its Own Data
- A Massachusetts federal judge is letting an FCRA suit proceed against a consumer reporting agency that “verified” a false report of alcohol abuse treatment by checking with the very furnisher that supplied the bad data in the first place. The ruling is a reminder that rubber-stamping a furnisher’s confirmation may not count as a reasonable reinvestigation. Read what the judge had to say about how disputes should be handled.
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House Dems Seek Industry Input on AI Regulation in Financial Services
- House Financial Services Committee Democrats have issued a 54-question RFI that reads like a roadmap of how they’d regulate AI in financial services, with questions on explainability, third-party vendor risk, and liability that land squarely on the collections industry. If your organization is deploying AI, or buying it from a vendor, this is your chance to see what may be coming — and to weigh in. Read what the Committee wants to know.
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Hawaii to Sign Medical Debt Buyback Law
- Hawaii’s governor signs a bill tomorrow putting the state itself into the business of buying and forgiving residents’ medical debt, complete with a $500,000 appropriation and an exemption from standard procurement rules. The dollars are modest, but the signal to agencies and debt buyers holding medical debt portfolios is not. Read what the new law means for the secondary market.
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Utility Bills Are Becoming a Bigger Collection Risk as Heat, Rates Squeeze Consumers
- Two new reports show utility affordability morphing from a seasonal hardship into a year-round budget crisis, with electricity prices up 7.3% in a year and nearly a third of U.S. households facing energy insecurity. When 30% of households are skipping basic necessities to keep the lights on, every other bill in the stack feels the squeeze. Read what the data says about where household budget stress is headed.
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34 Companies Seeking Collection Talent
- Looking for your next opportunity, or your next hire? This week’s roundup features 34 open positions across the industry, from entry-level collections roles to an AVP of Artificial Intelligence, spanning agencies, banks, fintechs, and healthcare. Browse the full list — and if you’re hiring, post your listing on the AccountsRecovery.net jobs board for free.
- More details here
WORTH NOTING: Your daily coffee might be doing your liver a lot of good … How much the average American earns from investments every year … A cool way to see if you can stop a penalty kick … I thought it was just me that did this. Turns out I am far from alone … What a divorce coach wished couples knew before going down that road … Southwest Airlines is roasting passengers who get up as soon as a plane gets to the gate … Does working out in the evening ruin your sleep? … The average new car payment continues to move in one direction.
Wisdom Wednesday, part I
Wisdom Wednesday, part II
The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN. Today, contact centers need to do more with less. TCN’s cloud-based predictive dialing tools and services help clients to leverage the most sophisticated inbound, outbound, and blended calling technologies available. TCN’s award-winning platform offers multiple features to assist in compliance while improving performance with no hardware, no monthly minimums, or maintenance fees. Call 866-745-1900 or visit tcn.com today.
