December 3, 2018 Newsletter
2017 Changes to Credit Bureau Listing Requirements Lead to Significant Drop in Collection Accounts on Credit Reports
New research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows 8 million consumers had a collection account removed from their credit report, since last year.
Throughout last year, our office notified our clients to be aware of the 2017 changes, which included stricter reporting practice requirements, as outlined in the National Consumer Assistance Plan (NCAP).
These changes have resulted in $11 billion in debt that has been removed from account balances on credit reports. Possibly great for consumers but undesirable for those who rely on those credit reports, like lenders and renters.
The best course of action creditors can take is to make sure they obtain the required credit bureau listing information. That way, if the time comes to list an account with the credit bureau, it won’t be rejected by the reporting agency.
Are Your Practices Hindering Us from Collecting Your Accounts?
We receive many inquiries, each month, from potential clients looking to utilize our collection services. With so many wonderful opportunities to cultivate new business relationships, and in the interest of both of our businesses, we have to step back and review their business practices before we begin any collection activity on their accounts.
When we do this, we sometimes find their business practices to be unfair, deceptive and/or illegal. In addition, we sometimes find that their current agency’s business practices are unfair, deceptive and/or illegal. In those instances, they are usually dealing with an out-of-state agency unfamiliar with Wisconsin state laws.
In the industries we service, we have caught:
Unlawful interest or late fee charges
Attempting to implement contracts/financial policies that are null and void
Agencies adding collection fees without following the requirements mandated by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.
We exist not to just be a collection agency but to also be your business partner. So, this means we look for these things to make sure we are all on the right side of the law. This process may slow down the sign-up time but knowing your business is adhering to collection laws is worth this time.
Feeling Thankful to Give Back this Past Thanksgiving
For the past several Thanksgivings, Vice President, Jeff Shavlik, and his girlfriend Cathy Matis, have volunteered to serve at Christian Outreach’s Ecumenical Thanksgiving Day Dinner held in the Lambeau Field Atrium.
This year was no exception. With over 900 people in attendance and an additional 1,200 dinners served to people, in the community, there was no shortage of need for volunteers. Here are a couple of his snapshots from the day.
Question from our inbox:
“If someone refuses to pay their bill, to your office, can you still contact them?”
Answer: Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), if a consumer notifies a debt collector, in writing, that they refuse to pay a debt, or that a consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with them, the debt collector must not communicate further with the consumer, with respect to that debt except
To advise the consumer that the debt collector’s further efforts are being terminated
To notify the consumer that the debt collect or creditor may invoke specified remedies which are ordinarily invoked by such debt collector or creditor, or
Where applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy.
Finance System of Green Bay, Inc., with our desire to listen to your referrals, also expands this to any verbal notification that we receive. We do this so as to reduce the cost of responding to disputes which then allows more resources to be spent on collecting other accounts.
Holiday Hours
Our office will be CLOSED the following times, during the holiday week:
Monday, December 24th: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM (We will be open from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Tuesday, December 25th: ALL DAY
Tuesday, January 1st: ALL DAY
