Update all newly acquired consumer information ASAP

You know how it goes....  As a collection attorney that reports to the Credit Report Agencies, we send batch reports to the CRAs on the 15th every month. The consumer submits a payment to your agency on the 16th day of the month.

Credit Reporting Agencies take The CRA take 14 days to  45 days to upload the new information to the consumer’s credit report. You then wait until the 15th day of the next month to update the consumer’s credit report with the new balance.

It is quite possible, likely even that the debtor's  new balance will not be reflected their  credit report for up to 75 days.   If the debtor  pulls his or her credit report during that period or applies for an extension of credit the consumer can find the information previously reported to be inaccurate.  This is a problem with the system of reporting to Consumer Reporting Agencies, not a problem with your, or our, conformance with the laws.  

It is imperative that if you are reporting to CRA's, you continuously feed new updated information to them as it becomes available.

If this is looking like more confusion that you want to take on, perhaps its time to involve an attorney focussed on debt collection in the state of Florida.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

New Clients 

Ext. 247 Gil Singer

Ext. 240 Ralph Marcadis

Existing Client Client Liason

Ext. 242

To Pay a Claim

Ext.  245

Avoid Debt Collection Reporting Pitfalls, Respond promptly to consumer complaints and disputes.

Respond promptly to consumer complaints and disputes.

Reporting around collection of a debt in Florida, and anywhere in the USA is overseen by the FDCPA  (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and the FCRA - Fair Credit Reporting Act.

If you don't take this oversight seriously, you waste valuable resources.  the cost with answering consumer complaints and disputes is heading in only one direction, and we all know that's UP.  We all know that the volume of these disputes are going in only one direction, and that's also UP.

You have to have trained and competent personal conduct a "reasonable" investigation after receiving any consumer dispute.  According to the FTC's report to congress 26% of all credit reports contain inaccuracies.   Just raising the flag is enough to derail a solid collection action.

In todays sometimes hostile environment towards debt collection agencies and debt collection attorneys it is imperative to live and act not just within the letter of the law, but within the character and intent of the law.   Responding promptly to debtor disputes is the RIGHT thing to do, and is a requirement of the law.

If you need help navigating the sometimes hazardous waters of debt collection, and its time to call a debt collection attorney in Florida, please call us first, and most importantly, call us early and avoid the many pitfalls of collections process.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

New Clients 

Ext. 247 Gil Singer

Ext. 240 Ralph Marcadis

Existing Client Client Liason

Ext. 242

To Pay a Claim

Ext.  245

Avoid Debt Collection Pitfalls, wait 45 days to report to CRA's

I’m sure you’d side with me, reporting to a credit reporting agency is a collection activity.  As a collection activity, there are duties imposed on you for reporting by both the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA).

First the FDCPA gives debtors the right to dispute the debt, and request verification within 30 days from notification that they are past due.  To many debt collectors in their rush to collect, report to Credit Reporting Agencies pre-maturely.

The major reasons consumers file disputes with Credit Reporting Agencies is that they claim to not owe the debt.  If the debt is reported too early to the CRA, there’s a much larger potential that you are not communicating with the right party, or that the amount is incorrect.  Waiting for the 30 days, plus a bit, improves your odds that the data is correct, belongs to the debtor, and it greatly diminishes the number of expensive consumer disputes.

Many chose to go it alone in the credit reporting landscape.   Engaging an attorney that focuses their practice on the collection of debt will help you avoid the many pitfalls.

If it’s time to call in the attorney’s, call the Florida Debt Collection Attorney’s Marcadis Singer, PA.

(813) 288-1881

Staying Compliant with Credit Reporting

Our world, legal debt collection, is changing rapidly.   Recent rulings appear to be just the start of a new wave of regulation.  If you are a business owner, and are collecting on debt on your own, or through a debt collection agency, or an attorney that does not focus on debt collection, there are many new pitfalls to watch out for.

We'd like to share 5 front line of defense strategies to avoid becoming snarled in a credit reporting law suite.

1. Wait At Least 45 days after the expiration of the validation period to report.
2. Respond promptly to consumer complaints and disputes.
3. Update all newly acquired consumer information ASAP
4. Look for complaints, welcome them.
5. Never make false statements!

We'll be borrowing from a report from Ontario Systems called

5 tips to end the credit reporting nightmare, and reduce all those costly disputes.

We offer a special thank you to attorney Rozanne Anderson with Ontario Systems for her work on this report.  The report is available free of charge in its entirety at the following address.

http://www.insidearm.com/freemiums/5-tips-to-end-the-credit-reporting-nightmare

Marcadis Singer, PA

A Florida Law Firm, focussed on debt collection law and creditors rights.  

Consumer Debt Growth Slows

Good News!

Consumer debt grew at its slowest pace in 6 months as of last November, according to a blog in the Wall Street Journal.

Consumer credit (not including real-estate) grew at 4.8% according the Fed, which was far slower than the 7% in October.

Most of this reduction in debt came from consumers reigning in on Credit Cards, always a good sign.


It appears that Americans have worked hard at building up their finical house during the recession, with all the "bad" indicators now at historic lows.  At the same time, there's been an increase in spending (just not debt based) and an increase in employment.

The blog ends on an optimistic, but cautious note, which we share.

Americans’ spirits have been boosted in recent months by the surging stock market, rising home values and a decline in gasoline prices. But some economists say spending likely won’t hold up at current levels this year unless workers secure larger wage gains.

Jacksonville unorthodox debt collection

Marcadis Singer, PA is involved in legitimate debt collection practices, as debt collection attorneys, in Jacksonville Florida.

This article, though, points out the shadier side of debt collection when dealing with drugs and other illegal substances.

http://jacksonville.com/breaking-news/2014-01-10/story/arrest-nov-death-sword-wielding-jacksonville-man


Swords?  Seriously?

Marcadis Singer, PA, Debt Collection Attorneys for Florida, focussed on the practice of collecting debt through the courts and other legal remedies.

Give us a call.

2014 The Year Ahead in Debt Collection Part 6

PREPAID CARDS

Last year we heard the Federal Consumer Agency clearly state that they were considering new rules for the rapidly growing, but mostly unregulated industry.   Gift Cards, and re-loadable debit/ cards.

There are no industry standards, fee disclosures or protections that people often simply assume come with a card, just like a credit card.  NOT TRUE!

There is industry wide concern that without some form of new regulation this industry has the potential to become rife with fees and high interest rates and unregulated overdraft charges.

This issue, we believe, is a sleeper, one that most of the economy is simply not paying close attention to.  The gift cards are ubiquitous on every web e-commerce site, and at the checkout of every drug store.  Who knew that these ad hoc financial instruments actually exist in a virtually unregulated environment.

Once again, a busy ear for the Federal Consumer Agency, they have a full agenda, and we wish them well.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

http://www.marcadislaw.com

2014 The Year Ahead in Debt Collection Part 5

Credit Report Disputes

Amazingly, as long as the big 3 credit bureaus have been in existence, there has never been a fine for sloppy practices or ignoring consumer disputes.

One has to ask, are they that well run, or has oversight been that sorely lacking?

This is a question that will likely be addressed by the agency of the coming year.

One of the thorniest issues will be finding a way to disentangle individuals credit.  For instance, when there is a divorced couple with one being a responsible bill payer, and the other not.  Thsi tangling can become a credit untangling nightmare.


Surprisingly, if you extrapolate from comments made by Chi Chi Wu, a lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center focussing on consumer credit issues  "We would like to see matching  <social security number> based on all nine digits of the social security number." that implies at least to us, that someone's credit with a similar personal history, just a number or two off from my social security number, could have a big impact on my own personal score.

These are things well worth the time and effort of the board to sort out.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

http://www.marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

2014 The Year Ahead in Debt Collection Part3

Student Loans

At this time, Marcadis Singer is not involved in the collection of student loans as a part of our debt collection attorney law firm in Florida.  However, there is not question that the massive volume of debt carried by the next generation of business leaders and workers merits serious attention.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has huge oversight over the largest loan services, both traditional and nontraditional banks.   in the two month window between October and September, the agency took almost 4,000 complaints from student loan holders.

The most common complaints were not enough ways to reduce payments during tough economic times, & inaccurate payment processing.  Of particular issue was when early or over payments were made, and accounting for them.



It was suggested by Robhit Chopran, the agency's student loan ombudsman that the reforms recently applied to mortgages and credit cards should be applied to student loans as well.  reforms like clear guidelines for payment applications, and records retention.

No matter how you look at it, there was once a time when someone's largest debt would be their home mortgage.  Today we have brand new, not yet employed, students coming into a soft job market with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt.

We welcome whatever reform, and relief can be found for those that we are counting on to be the next generation of business people, workers, entrepreneurs, medical professionals..

Marcadis Singer, PA
5104 South Westshore Blvd.
Tampa, Florida 33611

info@marcadislaw.com
(888) 547-1881
(813) 288-1881
http://www.marcadislaw.com

2014 The Year Ahead in Debt Collection Part 4

Debt Collection

Of course, as debt collection attorneys in Florida, this is the area of the agencies attention that we are most focussed on.

The agency reviewed over 31,000 complaints, and in November the agency indicated that they were readying a direction for any new rules as a result.

Many debt collectors, and even debt collection attorneys continue to embarrass our industry, and impinge on the legitimacy of our profession.  While at the same time our profession is so heavily regulated that it is incredibly difficult to go through the debt collection process without some legal misstep.  The debt collection industry, especially once it leaves the front line debt collectors, and moves into the legal ground, needs help, on both sides of the equation.

We need to be able to weed out those that hurt our industry, and strengthen the ability of those professionals whose job it is to make sure that American Businesses get paid for their goods and services.

Sale of debt from the original debt holder to an agency that buys bad debt appears to be under scrutiny in the coming year.  There are large concerns over the movement of the supporting data behind the debt, as it is purchased, and moves on to a new debt holder.

These movements are nearly inevitable, and will significantly shape our industry for some time to come.

2014 The Year Ahead in Debt Collection Part 2

Overdraft Fees

Are overdraft fees a thing of the past?

Overdraft fees are bank charges to the consumer, if the bank choses to honor a check written by the consumer for which there is insufficient funds.

   This single fee generates an incredible $31 BILLION in revenue for banks.   In 2010, the Federal Reserve stopped banks from charging overdraft fees, unless consumers agreed for the program ahead of time with the debit and credit cards.

Even though there are these new rules on the books to "opt out" of the fees, banks have not been overly speedy in changing their ways.

“Consumer advocates would like to see overdraft fees regulated to limit the number of times fees can be applied, how the fees are calculated and to have fees related to the amount of the overdraft,” Professor Levitin said.

61%  of bank fees were from overdraft last year.   This is not an issue that banks are quick to give up!

Overdraft Fees can make the difference for some banks between being profitable, and not.

We are hearing clear indications that these will be under review again buy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

As debt collection attorney's in Florida, it is our commitment to keep our clients in the know on current legislation that effects their ability to collect a debt, and the general direction of the industry going forward.

2014 The Year Ahead Pt 2

Debt Arbitration

Coming Changes to Arbitration?

Deep in the small print in many credit card and other loan contracts is usually the statement that the consumer agrees in advance to give up their right to  sue, either individually, or in a class action law suite.

Dodd-Frank required that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau  study the sue of this type standard languages, and they have the power to issue legislation around it.

“If there’s one issue that consumer groups are really upset about it is the rising use of binding mandatory arbitration, which the Supreme Court has unfortunately blessed in a number of recent cases,” said Adam Levitin, a Georgetown law professor, who sits on the agency’s advisory board, an unpaid position.

The US Public Interest Research Group has offered the opinion that this might be one of the most important issues that the agency will handle this year.

“The biggest thing we are hoping for in 2014 is to finish or at least make major progress with the arbitration rule and ban forced arbitration in consumer contracts,” he said. “In many of these cases you are ripped off for $10 or $100 each. But millions of consumers are ripped off. That’s why we think it’s a very big deal.” 

As Florida Debt Collection Attorneys, it is our job to watch these developments, and advise our clients not to offer an opinion of good or bad.  The law, will be, the law.  We will watch these developments closely.

If you are concerned how these upcoming changes will impact you and your business. its time to to strikeup a relationship iwth Florida's premier Debt Collection Attorneys, Marcadis Singer, PA.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - in for an interesting year

Many may not have been paying attention, but over the last year, there has been a huge review of how those in the debt industry conduct themselves.

There has been major companies ordered to pay refunds for misleading business practices, there's new mortgage rules going into effect, a recording of consumer complaints against the collection industry, to the tune of over 31,000 complaints.

As Florida Attorney's focussed on debt collection, we pay particularly close attention to what at times are seismic shifts in policy and law, and at times are simply subtle changes in public and legal attitude.

We look at some of the "bad apples" in our industry and are pleased to see a strengthening of requirements, while at the same time, balancing the fact that we are creditors' rights attorneys.

There's something very basic that we must not lose site of.   If you owe a debt, you should pay it.  If you extend credit, you should do so responsibly.  Everyone needs to play by the rules.

Over the next year the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is going to be re-evaluating

• Arbitration
• Overdraft Fees
• Student Loans
• Debt Collection agencies
• Credit Report Disputes
• Prepaid Cards.

We will be running through our own rundown of these critical areas in the blog posts ahead.

The story of US debt from 1790 to 2011 Part 5

Credit where Credit is Due.  We came across an outstanding article by Matt Phillips from 2012 that does a magnificent job of showing the history of US Debt from 1790 to today.

The complete article can be found here

http://qz.com/26062/one-chart-that-tells-the-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011/

The Great Recession

The great recession was the perfect storm to blow debt-to-GDP ratios skyward. GDP tumbled. That means that even without a spending increase, debt-to-GDP would have jumped sharply. Moreover, government revenues shrank to their lowest level since 1950 — as a percentage of GDP — because business activity declined; that meant that debt levels would have to rise, even without spending increases. And there were indeed spending increases. For instance, in 2009, outlays increased to more than 25% of GDP, the highest level since World War II.  That number declined somewhat, to 24.1%, where it rested in both 2010 and 2011. The U.S. started 2012 with $10.48 trillion in publicly traded debt. And by the end of last week, it was$11.42 trillion.

So how do we get to $16.2 trillion?

Because on top of the roughly $11.4 trillion in US government debt, which can be bought and sold and is floating around in financial markets, there’s also nearly $5 trillion in debt that the US government owes to itself. Those are largely obligations to the trust funds that are used to pay for programs such as Social Security. These aren’t counted in debt-to-GDP charts published here, and are often excluded from such calculations. But if you did include this debt—and there’s an argument to be made that we should, since the government is on the hook to pay these claims—the US debt-to-GDP ratio was just under 100% at the end of 2011.

So what does that mean? Here’s where we get into some arguments. Some economists say that the empirical record suggests that a debt-to-GDP ratio this high is bad for long-term economic growth because the borrowing costs become a drag on other government spending. Others argue that such observations aren’t that helpful because it isn’t as if large build-ups of debt always come before economic slowdowns. Sometimes large buildups of debt sometimes result from shocks to economic growth—such as massive collapses in the financial system.

Still, many people are looking at Japan as a potential cautionary tale of for the US. Japan suffered its own real-estate bubble, bust, and banking failure in the early 1990s. Its debt-to-GDP has surged to more than 200% in recent years. Back in the mid-1980s, it was around 50%. And for what it’s worth, it’s not as if the Japanese economy shows signs of gathering long-term strength any time soon.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

The story of US debt from 1790 to 2011 Part 4

Credit where Credit is Due.  We came across an outstanding article by Matt Phillips from 2012 that does a magnificent job of showing the history of US Debt from 1790 to today.

The complete article can be found here

http://qz.com/26062/one-chart-that-tells-the-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011/

Reaganomics

Debt-to-GDP began another upswing in the early 1980s, when the US fell into a particularly nasty recession, set off by the Federal Reserve under Paul Volcker, who raised interest rates to record heights in order to defeat inflation. Government receipts flattened thanks in part to the large, permanent tax cuts that served as one of the top accomplishments of President Ronald Reagan’s first term. Spending jumped on both defense and social programs. Deficits exploded, breaking with the US tradition of only running large deficits during wartime. Debt-to-GDP began to climb and it hit a postwar peak of more than 49% in the early 1990s. In 1995, the publicly held debt outstanding was about $3.6 trillion (or $5.47 trillion, in today’s money).  After that, a surge of economic growth, and increased revenues—thanks in part to the 1990 tax increases that cost the first President George Bush re-election and tax increases pushed through by the Clinton administration —helped bend the trajectory of the debt load back into line.

W.

The debt-load continued to look increasingly manageable throughout the late 1990s, and it hit its recent low of less than 33% of GDP in 2001. At that point, things looked so good on the debt front, that some were projecting the US would be within striking distance of eliminating the entire debt within a decade. It didn’t work out that way.

A recession, combined with tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 championed by President George W. Bush, severely crimped revenue. At the same time, spending surged both on military outlays after Sept. 11 and on domestic programs such as an expensive prescription-drug benefit for senior citizens. As a result. US borrowing shot higher to finance the Bush Administration’s efforts to stabilize the banking system as the economy teetered on the brink in 2008. Total government debt available to be traded publicly rose from $3.41 trillion in December 2000 to $5.80 trillion in December 2008, an increase of 70%; the debt-to-GDP ratio went up from 34.7% in 2000 to 40.5% in 2008. 

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

The story of US debt from 1790 to 2011 Part 3

Credit where Credit is Due.  We came across an outstanding article by Matt Phillips from 2012 that does a magnificent job of showing the history of US Debt from 1790 to today.

The complete article can be found here

http://qz.com/26062/one-chart-that-tells-the-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011/

The Depression

This is really the start of the very familiar political arguments about the role of government spending and economic growth. The chart above shows the relationship between debt and growth. As the size, scope and role of government changed drastically under Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, the US posted its biggest-ever peacetime debt increase. The debt jumped by 150% from 1930 to 1939, when it was at around $40.44 billion (about $673 billion in today’s money.) At the same time, the economy—the bottom of the formula—collapsed, as did government revenues, which suffered from lower economic activity. The result? A new debt-to-GDP record of 44% in 1934. And this was all before Pearl Harbor.

World War II

The debt-to-GDP ratio hit its all-time record of 113% by war’s end. Debt was at$241.86 billion in 1946, about $2.87 trillion in current dollars. Unlike after World War I, the US never really tried to pay down much of the debt it incurred during World War II. Still the debt shrank in significance as the US economy grew. It would take the debt-to-GDP ratio until 1962 just to get back to where the US was before the war. And with some fits and starts the debt load declined until hitting its recent low in 1974 at 24%, when the debt outstanding held by the public was$343.7 billion ($1.61 trillion, in current dollars.) 

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

The story of US debt from 1790 to 2011 Part 2

Once Again, we are NOT the authors of this excellent article.  We came accross this article by Matt Phillips, and were so impressed, that we offer it here to our clients.

The full article can be found at this address.

http://qz.com/26062/one-chart-that-tells-the-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011/

Civil War

The next major surge in debt coincided with the US Civil War. The federal government was nearly debt-free before the war. The public debt surged from about$65 million in 1860 to $2.76 billion in 1866. (The Lincoln administration also signed into law the first income tax in the country’s history in 1862, which was repealed 10 years later.) The debt would never get below $900 million again. But a surge of late-19th-century economic growth, with a bit of inflation, helped the US gradually reduce the the Civil War debt as a percentage of economic output.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

The story of US debt from 1790 to 2011 Part 1

Credit where Credit is Due.  We came across an outstanding article by Matt Phillips from 2012 that does a magnificent job of showing the history of US Debt from 1790 to today.

The complete article can be found here

http://qz.com/26062/one-chart-that-tells-the-story-of-us-debt-from-1790-to-2011/

$16.2 trillion.

As the high-stakes wrangling over the fiscal cliff gets underway, we thought it might be the proper moment to remind everybody just how the United States managed to become the world’s biggest debtor.

So, here’s how.

Freedom isn’t free

The US was born in debt. The earliest full reckoning of US national debt was compiled by Alexander Hamilton, the first US Treasury Secretary, who was sort of like the Nate Silver of his era—a self-taught economist.

The analysis dates to 1790 and puts the newborn US at around a 30% debt-to-GDP ratio, with the debt a bit higher than $75 million. Where did that debt come from? Well, the Continental Congress, the rough equivalent of the Federal government in revolution-era America, lacked the power to tax. It first tried to pay for stuff by printing money. This currency, known as the Continental, collapsed. The nascent US government also raised cash by borrowing under all sorts of authorities. This National Bureau of Economic Research working paper lists them:

These included certificates issued by the Registrar of the Treasury, the Commissioners of Loans of the States, the Commissioners for the adjustment of accounts of the Quartermaster, Commissary, Hospital, Clothing and Marine Departments, the Paymaster General, and the Commissioner of Army Accounts. In addition, interest on these certificates had often been paid in further certificates known as ‘indents of interest.’

All in, the US owed about $11.7 million to foreigners, mostly to Dutch bankers and the French government, and about $42 million to domestic creditors. The states also had a ton of debt (about $25 million, Hamilton reckoned), which the Federal Government assumed—take a hint, euro zone!—in 1790.

As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was laser-focused on the debt, not so much to pay it off, but rather just to ensure that the fledging government could make all its payments to creditors. How? Well, tariffs and taxes. Americans were cool with that? No, 0f course not. People hated it. After all, the country had just fought a war inspired in part by a revolt against the taxation imposed by the British.

But the federal government stuck to its guns, literally suppressing an armed anti-tax uprising in western Pennsylvania in 1794, known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Meanwhile, the economy grew, helping to shrink debt-to-GDP. Later on, Hamilton’s arch-nemesis, Thomas Jefferson, was even more focused on paying off the debt as fast as possible, driving US debt-to-GDP below 10%. All this work was undone, when the US had to borrow heavily to finance the war of 1812.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

5 Ways to Collect on Past Due Debt

A fun debt collection infographic from Florida Debt Collection Attorneys  Marcadis Singer PA.