Picture it: rows and rows of human drones hunched over stacks of files, clutching chunky black markers, combing through reports until their eyes glaze over. Wow. Pretty picture, right? That was the reality of redaction for years. Read More
We can no longer use ignorance as an excuse for how we operate within the ARM industry. Regardless of if we are discussing a performance metric or a compliance metric if you respond with “I didn’t know,” “I don’t know,” or “how would I know,” it suggests to me that you cannot pull the data into a standard report; this is a recipe for disaster. Many collection agencies and collection law firms operate today without the ability to run the reports they need to run their business. In addition, they are unable to know if an operational or compliance measure is not working correctly or if an employee didn’t follow a procedure. Read More
Increasing Scrutiny for SCRA Compliance Violations
Financial services providers across the country are scrambling to avoid being caught in the fallout over the crackdown on violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). Recent fines levied against several credit issuers are an early sign of the increased scrutiny now being focused on everyone from lenders and loan service providers to debt collectors and affiliated agencies.
The SCRA is designed, in part, to reduce interest rates on credit and services and provide protection for members of the military who on active duty. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and other agencies continue to unearth thousands of violations and issue severe and costly penalties against companies found to be in violation of the Act. Just this month, there was a report indicating certain retailers have filed debt collection suits against active duty servicemembers who are unable to defend themselves while serving on active duty. As a result, Senators are now calling on the CFPB to investigate ‘Aggressive Debt Collection’actions against military servicemembers. Read More
