Judge Denies MSJ, Class Cert in FCRA Suit Over Unflagged Indirect Disputes
- A mortgage servicer’s employee handbook says never add a dispute code when answering an ACDV, and it can point to CDIA guidance to back that up. A federal judge in Illinois just said the guidance “is not the law of the land,” sent willfulness to a jury, and questioned why the Metro 2 manual still says what it says. The servicer did get one win, but it came with a “without prejudice” attached.
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Judge Rules Student Loan Guaranty Agency Falls Under FDCPA Fiduciary Exception
- A pro se borrower argued a guaranty agency became a debt collector the moment it requested a Treasury offset, and that attending a private university turned his federal loan into “private debt.” An Ohio judge walked through where the fiduciary exception starts and stops, and where a guaranty agency’s sole function would push it back inside the FDCPA. The allegations about a hotel room in São Paulo did not help the plaintiff’s cause.
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Connecticut Fines Firm $30k for Unlicensed Collection Activity
- Two $89.50 notices over $6 and $12 in unpaid parking fees turned into a contested licensing case, a refund order, and a penalty that came in well under what the Department of Banking asked for. The company said it was an original creditor collecting its own violation fees. The Commissioner looked at the contract, the notices, and the dates on a master collection agreement, and decided labels don’t control.
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FTC Reaches $12 Million Settlement With Payment Processor Over Shell Merchant Accounts
- More than 1,000 merchant accounts, $139 million in card volume, and chargeback rates nearly 10 times the card-network threshold. The FTC says a registered ISO opened them anyway, and moved its riskiest accounts onto a cleaner BIN to keep approvals flowing. The stipulated order spells out exactly what screening, monitoring, and agent oversight now looks like when a regulator writes the underwriting manual for you.
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Report: Two-Thirds of Adults Now Live Paycheck to Paycheck
- PYMNTS asked consumers to sort 22 expense categories into essential, discretionary, and the uncomfortable middle. The answers depend heavily on why a household is stretched in the first place, and a group with a median income of $92,500 is holding onto childcare and private school even as the savings cushion thins. Roughly a third of some households say there is nothing left to cut.
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Two-Thirds of Knowledge Workers Say They Miss Work Before AI: Report
- Sixty-five percent of knowledge workers feel nostalgic for pre-AI work, and Gen Z misses it most. The same survey found most workers want their employer to use more AI. The report’s explanation involves a “verification tax,” performance comparisons against machine output, and a surprising share of executives thinking about walking away.
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37 Companies Seeking Collection Talent
- Remote healthcare collections, a VP of Disputes, a Chief Compliance Officer, and an AI governance director at a credit union. This week’s roundup spans entry-level through the C-suite across collections, legal, compliance, and technology roles.
- More details here
WORTH NOTING: 61 different seemingly innocent health systems that actually terrify doctors … As Apple gets ready to unveil its new iPhone models, here is what people think about cell phones today, including how many are willing to go into debt to buy one … A look at the 557 different jobs that Trinity Health is getting rid of … A quick calculation to determine if you are overpaying for Internet service … It’s not just you. Why it’s getting harder and harder to return merchandise … Why you may want to think twice about leaving reviews online … The circumstances under which it makes sense for people to pay off your mortgage early … A look at how Republicans and Democrats view their own ideologies.
Wisdom Wednesday, part I
Wisdom Wednesday, part II
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