In This Update
CONTENTS
Register for Executive Summit 2021 Recap 2021 Annual Conference
Federal Activity State Legislative Education
Registration and room block are now open for the RMAI Executive Summit 2021, August 2-4 at the Lodge at Spruce Peak, Stowe VT!
Register, reserve your room and make your plans for in-person networking with other executives, conversion with policymakers, and learning the latest in compliance and operations.
Executive-Level Networking Nine Education Topics
Legal & Regulatory Updates Industry Trends & Insights
Golf (Monday, August 2) A Taste of Vermont (Tuesday, August 3)
Come early or stay after. Bring your family and friends. The Early Member Registration Rate is available until June 7, 2021. Register today!
Thank you to everyone who made the RMAI 2021 Annual Conference a success. Whether you attended in person or virtual, we appreciate your participation.
AC2021 Testimonials
Thank you all very much. I found it informing and very worthwhile.
The virtual conference was well done.
Thanks for all of the time and hard work you put into a seamless 2021 Annual Conference. The event was a success for everyone I have asked, and you guys did an amazing job considering all of the hurdles you had to overcome.
Given the session’s description [Diversity & Inclusion: Reimagining the Post-Pandemic Workplace], I wasn’t expecting the presenters to address the topics they did, and it was terrific…I hope RMAI continues to embrace sessions on this topic and thank you so much to the whole team for seeing the importance of addressing difficult conversations.
AC2021 by the Numbers
841 Registrations 443 In-Person Attendees 63 Exhibiting Companies
3 Pre-Conference Virtual Networking Events 4 Pre-Conference Webinars
20 In-Person & Livestream Education Sessions
1 Annual Business Meeting & Keynote Address
1 Golf Program 1 Pedicures with Peers 1 Cabana Crawl
18 Additional In-Person Networking Opportunities
With the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) being published in the Federal Registry, the deadline to submit comments regarding the extension of the Debt Collection Rule Implementation Date is now set for May 19, 2021. The NPRM would extend the implementation date by 60 days – or to January 28, 2021. The RMAI Federal Committee is now drafting RMAI’s response for submittal. We patiently await the Senate confirmation of CFPB Director nominee Rohit Chopra. We anticipate he will be confirmed once the vacant FTC Commissioner seats are filled.
There is a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill with the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions holding mark-up hearings on several pieces of FDCPA and other pieces of legislation impacting the ARM industry. RMAI is meeting with senior staff to provide valuable education and insight on the effect of some of these proposals as well as the unintended consequences of some of the proposals. Our Federal Counsel at K&L Gates is closely monitoring these activities.
RMAI was pleased to have former CFPB Deputy Director, Tom Pahl, as the keynote speaker at the RMAI 2021 Annual Conference last week. Tom provided valuable insight and a unique perspective on the CFPB. Additionally, a panel of federal regulators from the OCC, FTC and the CFPB shared their agencies activities and outlook under the new administration. Both programs were recorded and are available on the RMAI website.
We are halfway through the State Legislative Session as most state legislatures are in session only the first half of the year. The 2021 sessions continue to be hectic. Presently, RMAI has retained lobbyists in California, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Washington. Here are some recent developments at the state level that might be of interest:
California AB 1020 – This bill would among other things prohibit the sale of hospital debt to debt buyers. [RMAI strongly opposes the provision of the bill which prohibits the sale of an entire asset class of debt. We view this as a dangerous precedent which could be used in the future to prohibit the sale of other asset classes. RMAI had a productive conversation with the bill sponsor last week where we highlighted our certification standards on medical debt and are hopeful that we can get this prohibition removed from the bill.]
California SB 373 – This bill would prohibit a debt buyer from collecting or attempting to collect a consumer debt if the consumer provides documentation to the debt buyer that the debt or any portion of the debt is the result of economic abuse. [RMAI and other industry organizations raised concerns on this bill which resulted in the bill be held over until 2022 so amendments can be developed and thoroughly vetted.]
California SB 531 – This bill would expand the definition of “debt buyer” in the California Fair Debt Buying Practices Act to include any person or entity who is “regularly assigned consumer debt for collection purposes.” The bill would also prohibit creditors from selling consumer debts or assigning a third party the right to collect payments unless the creditor has provided a 30-day notice to the debtor before selling the debt that contains the dollar amount of the outstanding debt and the name of the party to whom the debt will be sold. The creditor would be required to provide the notice described to a purchaser of the debt. [The sponsor is amending the bill to address some of the concerns raised by RMAI, including maintaining the current definition of debt buyer and changing the consumer notice from 30 days prior to sale to 5 days after sale. RMAI continues to work with the sponsor on additional amendments.]
Maine LD 1466 – This bill would prohibit debt collectors from suing on credit card and student loan debt in small claims courts. [This is a reintroduction of a bill that RMAI negotiated in 2020 where we were successful in eliminating anti-debt buyer provisions. We were also successful in adding a provision which allows debt collectors who have affiliates to have a single license and a single examination. RMAI testified in opposition to the small claims court provisions in committee on April 20th.]
New Mexico HB 36 – This bill would among other things: (1) tie wage garnishment exemptions to 40 times the highest applicable minimum wage; (2) establish an automatic $2,400 bank levy exemption; (3) increase various personal property exemptions; and (4) increases the Homestead Exemption from $60,000 to a range between $90,000 and $180,000. [RMAI and industry partners successfully fought to reduce the automatic bank levy exemption to $1,500. After the bill was amended, time ran out for bill passage as the legislature adjourned. We expect this bill will be a high priority in 2022.]
Ohio SB 13 – This law decreases the statute of limitations from eight years to six years on a written contract and four years on an oral contract and would provide exceptions to the state borrowing statute. [RMAI worked with other industry trade associations over the past year to get this bill passed. The Governor signed the bill into law on March 11th as Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2021.]
Washington HB 1525 – This law establishes an automatic $1,000 bank exemption on bank garnishments. The law would sunset on July 1, 2025. [RMAI and the Washington Collector’s Association successfully fought to reduce the automatic bank exemption from $2,500 to $1,000 and have it tied to a sunset date. The Governor signed the bill into law on April 14th as Chapter 50 of the Laws of 2021.]
RMAI 2021 Annual Conference Education Sessions
All registered in-person and virtual RMAI 2021 Annual Conference attendees can watch recorded education sessions through July. Use your login credentials to access education sessions via the virtual Annual Conference Lobby.
If you missed the RMAI 2021 Annual Conference, you can purchase access to the recorded sessions. Watch for our announcement coming soon!
RMAI Office
(916) 482-2462 www.rmaintl.org
Thank you to our April 2020 – April 21, 2021 Legislative Fund Contributors!
Diamond $25,000
Cavalry Investments, LLC
Crown Asset Management, LLC
Financial Recovery Services, Inc.
Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
Resurgent Holdings, LLC
Titanium $15,000
Velocity Portfolio Group, Inc.
Platinum $10,000
C&E Acquisition Group, LLC/Diverse Funding Associates, LLC/DNF Associates
CKS Financial
Crown Asset Management, LLC
Encore Capital Group, Inc.
Unifund CCR LLC
Gold $7,500
First Financial Portfolio Service, LLC
Silver $5,000
Collins Asset Group LLC
Oliphant United, LLC
The Bureaus, Inc.
U.S. Equities Corp.
Bronze $2,500
Absolute Resolutions Corp.
Central Portfolio Control, Inc.
Investment Retrievers, Inc.
National Loan Exchange, Inc.
RAzOR Capital, LLC
SAM, Inc. – Solutions for Account Management
Security Credit Services, LLC
Synergetic Communication, inc.
Tobin & Marohn
Brass $1,000
Andreu, Palma, Lavin & Solis, PLLC
Balbec Capital, LP
Ballard Spahr LLP
Butler & Associates, P.A.
Capio
Digital Recognition Network
Equifax, Inc.
Halsted Financial Services, LLC
Investinet, LLC
Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC
Jormandy, LLC
Kino Financial Co., LLC
Plaza Services, LLC
Pressler, Felt and Warshaw, LLP
Resurgence Capital, LLC
Stenger & Stenger P.C.
Stephen L. Bruce & Associates
The Cadle Company
The Law Offices of Ronald S. Canter, LLC
TrueAccord
United Holding Group
Verifacts, Inc.
Vertican Technologies, Inc
Other
Accelerated Data Systems
Acctorp International, Inc.
Action Collection Agencies, Inc.
Aldridge Pite Haan, LLP
Alliance Credit Services, Inc.
Alpha Recovery Corp.
Applied Innovation, Inc.
Arko Consulting LLC
ARM Compliance Business Solutions, LLC
ATKB Portfolio Management
Attunely Inc.
Ballard Spahr, LLP
Bloom & Associates, P.A.
Capital Collection Management, LLC
Cascade Capital, LLC
Central Research, Inc.
CMS Services
Collins Asset Group
Commercial Credit Group Inc.
Complete Credit Solutions
Comtronic Systems, LLC
Convergence Acquisitions, LLC
Converging Capital, LLC
Convoke, Inc.
Credit Control, LLC
Credit Management Corporation
CSS Impact!
D & A Services, LLC
D. Scott Carruthers, APLC
David Reid
DebtTrader
Delev & Associates, LLC
Delta Outsource Group, Inc.
Dynamic Recovery Solutions
Faloni Law Group, LLC
FLOCK Specialty Finance
FMS, Inc.
FocusOne, Inc.
Full Circle Financial Services, LLC
G. Reynolds Sims & Associates, P.C.
Gaskell & Giovannini, LLC
Genesis Recovery Services
Glass Mountain Capital, LLC
Harvest Strategy Group, Inc.
Hunt & Henriques
Indiana Receivables, Inc.
Invenio Financial, a Phillips & Cohen Associates Company
Jan Stieger
Keith D. Weiner & Associates Co., LPA
Kelly Knepper- Stephens
Kirschenbaum & Phillips, P.C.
Law Office of James R. Vaughan, P.C.
Law Offices of Daniel C. Consuegra, P.L.
Law Offices of Steven Cohen, LLC
Lippman Recupero
Lockhart, Morris & Montgomery, Inc.
Logicoll, LLC
London & London
LTD Financial Services
Malone Frost Martin PLLC
Maurice Wutscher LLP
Mercantile Adjustment Bureau, LLC
Metronome Financial LLC
Monarch Recovery Management, Inc.
MRS BPO, LLC
Mullooly, Jeffrey, Rooney & Flynn, LP
National Check Resolution, Inc.
National Enterprise Systems, Inc.
National Recovery Associates
National Recovery Solutions
NCB Management Services, Inc.
NDS, LLC
Nelson & Kennard
Neustar, Inc.
Nuvei
Ontario Systems, LLC
Orion Capital Solutions, LLC
Palinode, LLC
PCI Group, Inc.
PerSolve, LLC
Pharus Funding, LLC
Phin Solutions, Inc.
Portnoy Schneck, L.L.C.
Poser Investments, Inc.
Premier Forty Financial, LLC
ProVest
Quantum3 Group, LLC
Resource Management Services, Inc
RevSpring
RIP Medical Debt
Robinson Hoover & Fudge, PLLC
SCORE Statistical Consulting
Simmonds & Narita LLP
Solutions by Text
Sonnek & Goldblatt, Ltd.
Stone, Higgs & Drexler
Superlative RM
Troy Capital, LLC
Universal Fidelity LP
US Mortgage Resolution, LLC
USI Solutions, Inc.
VanDerHeyden Law Office PA
Vargo & Janson, P.C.
Venable LLP
Venandi Systems, LLC
Viking Client Services, Inc.
VoApps
Wipfli LLP