Today's News

IRS Grants Tax Exempt Status to ARM Veterans Charity; NCO Group Enables Online Donations

2009-11-11T08:18:42-07:00

ARMing Heroes (www.armingheroes.org), a non profit dedicated to helping U.S. veterans find jobs and other opportunities in the accounts receivable management industry (hence “ARM” in “ARMing”), today announced two major milestones in the organization’s development.

The Internal Revenue Service has recognized the organization as a tax-exempt public charity, enabling any donations made to the organization to be taken as a tax deduction by the donor.

The organization is now able to accept donations online through NCOePayments™, a service offering of NCO Financial Systems, Inc. NCO is providing this integrated payment solution to ARMing Heroes at no charge.

ARMing Heroes decided to tell the world about these two major milestones today, Veterans Day, in light of the continued need to remind all Americans about the sacrifices our military veterans make every day around the world, especially in this difficult economic time. Donors interested in making a difference in the lives of our fighting men and woman can click here to visit the ARMing Heroes website and make a donation during the organization’s November fundraising drive. (http://www.armingheroes.org/donate-now.aspx)

The accounts receivable management industry has taken up the challenge of helping our veterans in many different ways. While NCO now enables people to make donations on the ARMing Heroes website, a major bank gave the organization steep discounts on merchant fees associated with credit card donation processing, and EarthSky Studios (www.earthsky.net) delivered web development services at sharply reduced fees also. There are collection agency owners and other industry professionals on the board of trustees, and more and more individuals in the industry have volunteered their time to support the organization’s outreach efforts in the veteran community.

Board of Trustees Vice President Howard Sorber commented, “As a disabled Vietnam Veteran I am thrilled that ARMing Heroes as attained its tax-exempt status so the organization can move forward in providing much-needed services to our vets. As a board member I want to thank all of the people and companies who have supported us so far in our efforts to help give back to our veterans.”

ARMing Heroes was founded and began operating in March, 2009. The organization’s mission is to serve the needs of U.S. military veterans, including their spouse and children. ARMing Heroes fills a charitable niche by linking people identified with employment, credit, and financial counseling needs with the accounts receivable management industry, an industry uniquely poised to help in these areas.

The organization needs you to help organize and manage programs that will help veterans and their families in the following areas:

Job Opportunities
Job Training
Business Development Mentoring
Financial Counseling
Direct Grants
Credit Counseling, Debt Reduction & Forgiveness

Persons interested in volunteering their time and others interested in applying for benefits or pledging other forms of support are encouraged to contact the organization at www.armingheroes.org.

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The economy appears to be heading back on track. This bodes well for liquidations.

2009-11-11T08:05:41-07:00

Recovery from the most pervasive recession since the Great Depression continues to move in a positive direction causing some naysayers to change their tune and join the ranks of the bulls who have already concluded that the U.S. recession ended about mid year. Has the final chapter for the recession that began in 2007 finally been written? Is liquidation performance going to get back on track? Let’s blog.

The high level of bullish optimism among analysts, economists and even CEOs stems from the release of the third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) report which showed solid real growth at a better-than-consensus 3.5% annual rate. This report covers numerous indicators and extends a run of positive economic reports that has consistently beat forecasts for about six months and counting. Adding fuel to this fire is the outlook for continued improvements in corporate profits, the stock market’s recent strong performance and double digit improvements in U.S. manufacturing output in Q3. This list goes on, but you get the picture.

The bears among us are casting doubt on the sustainability of the economic rebound particularly since it has been so heavily dependent upon government stimulus money that, they will point out, has generated short lived results. The naysayers will also point to the U.S. unemployment rate which reached 10.2% in October, passing the double digit mark for the first time in more than a quarter century. They will go on to tell you that payrolls declined for the 22nd straight month and that foreclosures jumped nearly 23% in the third quarter with expectations that foreclosure rates may accelerate in 2010 driven by high unemployment and more adjustable rate loans resetting to higher monthly payments. This list goes on too but, again, you get the picture.

We will take our respective sides as we tend to do, joining the ranks of the bulls or the bears to debate the results. Ultimately the real driving force for those of us who are focused on liquidation results is tied directly to the behavior of the consumer (otherwise known as the debtor in the ARM industry). Since the unemployment rate continues to increase, and since foreclosures have climbed to levels never seen before, consumer confidence has deteriorated, marking a fresh low in September, a low that has only been surpassed once before — at the end of the early 1980s recession which, by the way, was the last time the unemployment rate was so high.

Therefore, I am sorry to say, we are not out of the woods yet. The good news is that debtors tend to have their lowest level of confidence during the first part of the recovery because the indicators that affect them the most, jobs and housing, are reaching their peak. Combating this are the companies that have stated their intentions to start hiring again and the companies that are suspending layoffs which are good signs the recession is starting to move behind us. Interestingly, the ARM industry appears to be one of the sectors that is ready to hire again, according to our latest Confidence Survey results.

We expect that liquidations will continue to stabilize for the rest of the year and possibly improve compared to last year’s Q4 results given that liquidations declined last year as much as 45% to 60% in Q4 (not exactly impossible to improve on that performance). Despite the growing concerns in the commercial real estate market, liquidations of consumer portfolios will likely stabilize in Q1 of ’10 compared to Q1’09 as well given that most consumers have increased their savings rates and will want to continue reducing their debt loads – the government is also considering additional stimulus programs that may include another tax rebate if needed.

What are you seeing in your own recovery efforts?

Conifer Expands Revenue Cycle Services Agreement with Colorado Hospital System

2009-11-11T08:02:33-07:00

FRISCO, Texas -- Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions, Inc. today announced it has reached an agreement to expand its relationship with a 12-unit hospital system in Colorado through 2012. Conifer will provide Medical Eligibility Counseling Services (MECS) to all 12 hospitals and continue to provide self-pay Accounts Receivable Management services to six of the system’s hospitals. The MECS program helps patients who may not have the means to pay for needed hospital services identify government programs, third-party payers and social service organizations from which they may be eligible to receive financial assistance.

“We began providing self-pay collection services to half of this client’s hospital system in 2008. Now, based on our team’s industry expertise and strong proven results, our client has chosen to expand our relationship and use additional Conifer services at all of its hospitals. We are very pleased that our client feels confident in our team’s ability to help them solve real business challenges,” said Stephen M. Mooney, President of Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions.

About Conifer
Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions and Conifer Patient Communications are operating subsidiaries of Conifer Health Solutions, Inc., which provides services to more than 100 hospitals and health systems nationwide. Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions utilizes proprietary workflows and technology to offer comprehensive revenue cycle services ranging from patient pre-registration through the processing of governmental, managed care and self-pay claims. Conifer Patient Communications provides best-in-class communication services that include physician referrals, patient education, marketing services and pre-admission clinical appropriateness reviews.

Born from healthcare, Conifer Health Solutions is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and employs more than 2,200 people. For more information, call 1-877-CONIFER or visit the company’s Web site at www.coniferhealth.com.

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Auto Finance Veteran Launches Windsor Remarketing

2009-11-11T08:02:33-07:00

FORT WORTH, Texas – Windsor Remarketing today announced its entry into the third-party servicing business. The company is currently signing up clients who need fast, cost-effective liquidation of their repossessed vehicles.

Windsor Remarketing customizes streamlined remarketing solutions for auto lenders, banks, credit unions, dealer groups and investors. No matter their size or type of collateral, all clients enjoy convenient service and top-tier results.

Services include:

Auction communication
Transportation of collateral to the most profitable market
Reconditioning and repair recommendations to boost value
Floor pricing using the latest market research
Live, in-person representation at auction to bring the best return on collateral
Online sales to foster buyer interest
Quick transfer of auction proceeds

The company is owned and operated by President Scott France, a 25-year veteran of the auto finance industry and former executive at Triad Financial, AmeriCredit and Omni Financial Services. France’s management team has worked together for nearly a decade. They each bring more than two decades of experience in the industry.

“The auto finance world has endured a constant roller coaster of change during the past 20 or 30 years. But my team and I have always adapted successfully,” France says. “At Windsor Remarketing, we’re advancing that same mindset of ease and flexibility. We tailor our sales strategies to fit clients’ needs. No bureaucracy, no cutting corners … just expert remarketing to minimize losses and maximize recovery.”

More specifically, clients leverage Windsor Remarketing’s:

Large scale
Nationwide network of top-performing auctions
Understanding of today’s used car market and vehicle values
Certification program that increases auction yield
Volume-based pricing at auction
Advanced technology and software
Efficient processes and procedures
Daily, interactive reporting

About Windsor Remarketing
Windsor Remarketing helps auto lenders, banks, credit unions, dealer groups and investors to quickly and effectively remarket repossessed vehicles. Services include auction communication, transportation, reconditioning and repair, floor pricing, live in-person representation, online sales and transfer of auction proceeds.

The company’s management team has worked together for nearly a decade. They each bring more than 20 years experience in the industry. Windsor Remarketing is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. For more information, call (877) 294-6376 or e-mail Remarketing@WindsorRecovery.com.

Windsor Remarketing frequently partners with Windsor Group (www.WindsorRecovery.com), a Dallas-based servicing company focused on skip tracing and national repossession.

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Consumer Credit Card Debt Increases in October

2009-11-11T08:02:33-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Credit Karma (www.creditkarma.com), the consumer's advocate for demystifying credit, today released its U.S. Credit Score Climate Report with trend data for October 2009. Amongst consumers with a credit card, credit card debt increased 14% nationally from September. The Midwest and Northeast regions showed the highest increases in credit card debt with 16% and 17% respectively, and Philadelphia consumers represented the highest gain for a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), increasing debt by 28% in October.

In October, the average consumer with an open account had:

$7,573 in credit card debt
$194,372 in home mortgage loans
$54,039 in home equity
$14,729 in auto loans
$26,417 in student loans

"This month's data shows that consumers are feeling more confident about spending money again ahead of the holidays," says Ken Lin, CEO of Credit Karma. "However, credit scores remain high in regions with lower increases in credit card spending proving there's a direct correlation between debt and credit scores."

In addition, credit scores are on the rise for many consumers with 40% of consumers increasing their credit scores in October. However, despite the high percentage of increasing credit scores, the average credit score is still down one point from September and down five points since the beginning of the year. The current average credit score is 671.

Here are some other key findings:

The South region had the highest percentage of increasing credit scores. In October, 41% of consumers in the South increased their creditscores, while 28% of consumers' credit scores decreased and 31% of consumers' credit scores stayed the same. Despite this high percentage of increasing credit scores, Southern consumers still have the lowest credit score nationwide. The average credit score in the South in October was 661.

Among states, North Carolina and Louisiana had the highest percentage of increasing credit scores. In both states, 44% of consumers were able to increase their credit scores in October; however both states have average credit scores below the national average. The average credit score in October was 663 for North Carolina and 646 for Louisiana.

Since the beginning of 2009, consumers in the West have had the highest credit scores nationwide. In October, the average credit score in the West was 682. Additionally, the San Francisco MSA remains the only MSA with an average credit score above 700. On average, San Francisco consumers have a credit score of 707.

Methodology

Each month, the Credit Karma U.S. Consumer Credit Score Climate Report compares the current credit scores of its user base with previous scores pulled at least 30 days prior and no more than 90 days prior to the stated month. This month's report includes a comparison of more than 79,000 Credit Karma user scores.

About Credit Karma
Credit Karma, the consumer's advocate for demystifying credit, is the only Web site that provides consumers free access to their credit score, plus a range of tools and information resources to help them monitor and manage the credit aspect of their financial health. Credit Karma's goal is to help consumers easily digest the contents of their credit report and understand what makes up their credit score. Credit Karma works with a range of partners, including mortgage lenders, credit card providers, banks, and wireless providers. For more information, visitwww.creditkarma.com.

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Doctations Partners with Professional Claims Bureau in Providing End-to-End Practice Management and Outsource Revenue Cycle Solutions

2009-11-11T08:02:33-07:00

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- Doctations, Inc., an innovative leader in applying Internet technology to improve healthcare, and Professional Claims Bureau, Inc. (PCB), a healthcare revenue cycle optimization company, have signed a partnership agreement that allows PCB to utilize Doctations suite of software, including its iBillWell medical billing system, to deliver a best in class, full-service electronic medical records and practice management solution to physicians and hospitals of all sizes.

Doctations offers an innovative, cloud-based platform for Internet Healthcare which allows patients and doctors to share internet space for the purpose of improving healthcare quality and efficiency. Doctations enables physicians to manage all facets of their practices online, from efficiently handling the business and scheduling aspects of a medical practice to automating electronic medical record keeping. The Doctations system directly couples patient workflow management and a novel, easy to use and rapid EHR documentation system with integrated voice recognition and transcription management directly to its automated, claim-lifecycle-based medical billing and RCM system, iBillWell. Doctations reduces back office overhead, increases time healthcare professionals can devote to patient care, and improves outcomes by more directly involving patients in the care process.

PCB is a one-stop shop for end-to-end revenue cycle solutions, providing a wide variety of services from early stage day-one billing and patient statement mailings all the way through secondary and tertiary collections. Leveraging their decades of experience with revenue recovery, PCB will integrate their established best practices with the Doctations system in client offices to create a customized practice management solution for clients.

“There is great synergy between Doctations and PCB, because Doctations end-to-end, integrated clinical and business functionality provides PCB all the tools required to offer their clients the most complete revenue cycle and practice management solution available,” observed Jerry Kolosky, COO of Doctations. “With our software, especially the iBillWell system, PCB can now handle any source of revenue, from patient payments, insurance or any other third party source, more effectively to help healthcare providers maximize efficiency and optimize revenue.”

“In addition to the most advanced front-end patient management system ever created, the Doctations system’s back-end functionality for third-party billing, follow-up and collections is unsurpassed,” commented Leigh Marcus, Executive Vice President, at Professional Claims Bureau, Inc. “We are specialists in the intricacies of both third-party and self-pay billing and collections. With the combination of our expertise and the Doctations software, we are now positioned to set a new standard for outsource revenue cycle management solutions for physician practices, clinics and hospitals.”

About the Doctations Solution
Doctations provides Internet-based technology as a service to physicians, other healthcare providers and patients – and forms the basis for connecting practices, providers and patients in one Internet space while simultaneously maintaining the privacy of each practice and patient.

The Doctations solution gives physicians easy, online, on-demand access to patient medical records, medical information databases and shared patient databases, and empowers patients with the ability to share a single, complete set of information, or medical record, with their doctors, and collaborate interactively with their healthcare team. By implementing the medical practice management and digital documentation solutions as web-native tools, Doctations provides doctors and patients with advanced, secure, HIPAA compliant, comprehensive solutions that are substantially less expensive than any other options currently available.

The iBillWell component of the Doctations suite is a comprehensive web-based medical billing system designed from the ground-up to modernize the practice of billing and to reduce the overhead of billing operations. In addition to bill processing, it features online services such as claim scrubbing and automated phone reminders to improve office patient flow and billing operations.

About Professional Claims Bureau, Inc.
Founded in 1964, Professional Claims Bureau, Inc. (www.pcbinc.org) services Physicians and Hospitals with a unique blend of revenue recovery solutions. Providing outsourcing solutions for both third-party and self-pay initiatives, PCB acts as an extension of the client business office. PCB is also a licensed bad debt collection agency. Our focus is 100% healthcare and our approach to both outsourcing and collection solutions are entirely unique, based on vertical integration through a partnership with a cutting-edge software development company that enables us to offer an end-to-end revenue cycle solution. PCB aims to set the benchmark for excellence in the healthcare revenue outsourcing arena.

About Doctations
Doctations Inc. has created an innovative, internet-based means of transacting healthcare. Doctors simply login to www.doctations.com to register, and for about the price of a cell phone subscription, they are given all of the tools needed to run an efficient, state-of-the-art medical practice. The goal is to leverage the Internet to make healthcare more accessible to patients and to substantially improve the processes of healthcare such as generating medical documentation, medical billing and denial management. Doctations brings physicians the benefit of the first true internet EMR and PMS without the burden or expense of difficult-to-use software. Our technology is updated monthly to accommodate new users and new ideas from our member physicians, other healthcare providers and patients.

For more information, please visit www.doctations.com or call 1-877-Doc-Patient.

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ARM Firm EOS Group Receives

2009-11-11T08:02:32-07:00

Hamburg – For the fifth time in succession, Euler Hermes Rating GmbH has awarded an ‘A’ rating to EOS consolidated. This means that the agency regards the company’s credit standing as well above the average that prevails in the economy as a whole.

The crucial factors in this appraisal were the very high and sustainable earnings power, its strong market position in Germany and the high quality and efficiency of its transaction handling in normal business operations. The rating agency was also convinced by the company’s high internal refinancing potential and its very high level of financial flexibility. The rating report emphasized the long experience in debt purchasing using efficient analytical methods, the effective risk estimates and monitoring activities, and the successful debt collection methods used by EOS.

The agency’s auditors assessed the strategic orientation of EOS consolidated in the receivables management field as convincing and expect its rating to show a stable trend over the next twelve months. ‘This rating certifies that we are capable of meeting the current challenges of the market and that we are a reliable business partner even in a difficult global economic environment,’ says Justus Hecking-Veltman, Board Member and Chief Financial Officer at the EOS Group. ‘The rating also reflects our chances of growing both in Germany and abroad, and confirms that EOS’s strategy is on the right track,’ adds Mr Hecking-Veltman.

About the EOS Group
With over 4000 employees in more than 20 countries, the EOS Group, a member of the Otto Group, is one of the leading financial services companies in Europe. The over 40 operating companies in the group are active in the receivables management, marketing and risk information as well as payment services segments and look after some 20,000 clients around the world – from banks and insurance companies, the manufacturing industry and mail order segment to public utilities, telecommunications firms and IT companies. For further information see www.eos-solutions.com.

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Executive Change: Andrew Grace appointed as President of Business Development at FAST

2009-11-10T09:22:40-07:00

Frontline Asset Strategies, LLC, (“FAST”), is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Grace as its President of Business Development, effective November 9th, 2009. Mr. Grace will be located in the company’s corporate headquarters in Roseville, MN. Mr. Grace was formally the CEO of AllianceOne and has over 27 years of experience in the ARM industry.

Andrew Dunn, the CEO of FAST states “When faced with the unique opportunity to bring someone on board with A+ credentials and experience, we jumped at the opportunity!” Dan Winkler, COO of FAST adds “There isn’t a better individual that we could have brought on to assist us in our next phase of growth.”

Frontline Asset Strategies, LLC, is quickly becoming a major competitor in the debt collection industry and now has 50 plus years of combined executive expertise. With this addition to the current staff and their dedication to continued client satisfaction and use of advanced technologies they have positioned themselves to continue serve existing clients at the highest level and look forward to developing new partnerships.

For more information about FAST please visit us on the web at www.frontlineassetstrategies.com, email us at info@frontlineas.com or Mr. Grace at andygrace@frontlineas.com.

LiveVox Delivers Unprecedented IT Control over a Hosted Solution with Config Manager

2009-11-10T08:55:33-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO — LiveVox Inc., the leading provider of hosted-dialer solutions, today announced the initial release of Config Manager, a set of GUI configuration tools that gives call center IT departments unprecedented control over a multi-tenant, SaaS call center telephony platform.

Config Manager allows call center IT groups for the first time to configure dialer components via a web-based GUI at the application, platform and infrastructure layers to the only SIP-based, fully hosted voice solution that delivers outbound, inbound and blended contact campaigns.

LiveVox combines carrier-grade, multi-carrier and multi-protocol VoIP architecture with multi-tenant SaaS contact center application infrastructure. LiveVox is unique in that the system is built from the ground up with near infinite scalability and rapid deployment with complete geographic independence.

“LiveVox is aggressively developing tools that open up multiple layers of a multi-tenant SaaS platform that is already fundamentally different than anything on the market in its ability to scale,” said Louis Summe, Chief Executive Officer, LiveVox. “For call center IT departments, Config Manager will drastically increase control and reduce the time needed to customize and configure new call centers, dialer groups, database integration and campaign strategies through a secure web GUI. As call center infrastructure increasingly resides in the network, LiveVox will deliver technology that is more integrated, flexible and gives greater control to meet business objectives.”

Benefits & Differentiators

Config Manager is materially different than configuration tools offered by competing systems. Hardware dialers only allow changes to the application layer, predominately through time consuming command line programming or awkward graphic interfaces.

Additional releases of Config Manager are planned with enhance functionality. Launched in the initial release of Config Manager are the following:

WAN Deployment: Quickly and easily create and configure new call centers or dialer workgroups, review and diagnose dialer jobs, and activate voice talents for specific campaign groups.

Integration APIs: Configure and customize file input fields, file formats and call result/termination codes for output files.

Message Editor: Preview, listen, test and validate IVR scripts, view IVR flow charts and copy messaging to new call centers and workgroups.

Capacity & Scalability

LiveVox packages multiple outbound dialing modes, ACD, inbound/outbound agent blending, the CTI layer, customizable data import/export, Web-management, graphical real-time operation monitoring, historical reporting and call recording. The LiveVox platform connects directly to the backbone of the Internet by multiple Gigabyte Ethernet links and supports peering with multiple Tier 1 and Tier 2 IP telephony carriers for unlimited capacity both in terms of concurrent calls and calls-per-second dialing rate. By deploying capacity in such massive scale, LiveVox eliminates capacity issues that surround premised contact center solutions based on traditional TDM trunks.

Due to capacity constraints, account volumes and changing consumer behavior, the credit and collections industry is experiencing a rare technological tipping point as companies increasingly transition to LiveVox from legacy fixed-line hardware. Many of the top industry players are in varying phases of hardware dialer shutdown discussions.

“Maximizing call center agent productivity should never require a trade-off between dialer capacity and the perception that hosted technology leads to a loss of system control,” said John McNamara, Chief Marketing Officer, LiveVox. “Hardware dialers increasingly constrain call center operations, IT resources and client balance sheets with down time, exorbitant maintenance fees and limited line capacity. LiveVox engages both call center IT and operations groups to enable clients to reach performance goals.”

About LiveVox
LiveVox is the first provider of hosted dialer solutions for the credit and collections industry. Breakthrough, patented technology and deep industry knowledge allow LiveVox to assist clients with optimizing their operations and collection strategies. Private, carrier-grade VoIP networks enable LiveVox to maximize the productivity of leading credit, collections, debt purchase and call center organizations at the lowest cost of ownership in the marketplace. LiveVox is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.livevox.com.

Cavalry Portfolio Services Unveils New Online Payment Center

2009-11-10T08:55:33-07:00

PHOENIX, AZ - Customers are now able to go online to the Cavalry Portfolio Services website to manage their accounts. With a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, customers can easily manage any of the following account services directly:

View account information
Update their profile
Make an offer to resolve their account
Set up a customized payment plan to resolve their account
Make a payment online

Cavalry Portfolio Services buys consumer debt portfolios from banks, credit card companies, consumer finance companies, auto finance companies and other financial institutions.

"At Cavalry, our focus is helping customers to create affordable resolutions," said Andrew Zaro, Chairman of Cavalry Portfolio Services. "We recognize that financial issues affect each person differently, so we built this website to provide our customers with more flexibility in managing their accounts."

Cavalry works with each customer individually to resolve debt issues, Zaro added.

"Most people get into debt because of a major change in their lives, such as a job loss, divorce or illness," he went on to say. "At Cavalry, we understand that. People's situations also change and improve over time. Our goal is to work with you, one-on-one, to find a financial solution."

For more information, visit www.cavalryportfolioservices.com or stay connected with us online at Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Customers with questions about their accounts can also call Cavalry at 866-434-2996.

About Cavalry Portfolio Services LLC:
Cavalry Portfolio Services collects distressed consumer debt portfolios from banks, credit card finance companies and consumer finance companies, as well as other industries including automotive, utilities and telecom. The firm has offices in Hawthorne, New York; Phoenix, Arizona; Tulsa, Okla.; St. Paul, Minn,; and Buffalo, New York. Its affiliate companies include Cavalry Investments, Cavalry SPV I and Cavalry SPV II.

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FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics

2009-11-10T08:55:33-07:00

Grand Rapids, MI – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

Monthly Recap: There were a total of 766 FDCPA cases filed for the month of October 2009, along with 89 FCRA cases and 7 TCPA cases. This compares to 506 FDCPA cases and 101 FCRA cases in October 2008.

FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, October 16-31, 2009 There were about 492 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of October. Here is an approximate breakdown:

415 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
37 Fair Credit Reporting Act
2 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
19 Truth In Lending Act
1 Consumer Legal Remedies Act
1 Credit Repair Organizations Act
2 California Unfair Competition Law
3 Equal Credit Opportunity Act
2 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
2 Fair Housing Act
1 Federal Trade Commission Act
2 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
1 Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act
1 New York Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices
1 Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law
6 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
1 Right to Financial Privacy Act
1 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
1 Unfair Business Practices
7 Unjust Enrichment
1 Wisconsin Consumer Act
1 Washington Consumer Protection Act
2 West Virginia Consumer Credit & Protection Act

Summary:

Of those cases, there were about 541 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
Of those plaintiffs, about 155 had sued under consumer statutes before.
Combined, those 155 plaintiffs have filed about 774 lawsuits since 2001
Actions were filed in 108 different US District Court branches.
About 483 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

40 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
33 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
23 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
18 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
17 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
15 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
15 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
14 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
12 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
12 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver

The most active consumer attorneys were:

Representing 32 Consumers: George Thomas Martin, III
Representing 23 Consumers: Gene W. Choe
Representing 22 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
Representing 19 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
Representing 19 Consumers: Adam Jon Fishbein
Representing 17 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
Representing 14 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
Representing 11 Consumers: Adam Jacob Krohn
Representing 11 Consumers: Kenneth W. Pennington
Representing 11 Consumers: Donald A. Yarbrough

Statistics Year to Date:
8052 total lawsuits for 2009:

6638 FDCPA
994 FCRA
23 TCPA

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 7898 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

Representing 379 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
Representing 270 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
Representing 199 Consumers: Kenneth R. Hiller
Representing 191 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
Representing 174 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings

About WebRecon LLC: Creditors and collection firms use WebRecon’s services to easily segregate predictably litigious consumers from their databases. A significant percentage of consumer litigation is initiated by the same consumers over and over again, and screening them out of the general population can reduce lawsuits by as much as a third.

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Debt Collection Agencies More Optimistic About Future

2009-11-10T08:55:33-07:00

U.S. collection agencies reported an improved outlook for performance in the next six to 12 months and the majority are planning to hire, according to the latest results from insideARM’s quarterly Credit & Debt Collection Industry Confidence Survey.

The Fall 2009 survey, conducted October 13 – 23, showed the highest reading ever for anticipated performance 12 months out. When asked to rate their company’s expected performance in 12 months on a scale of 1 to 5 – with 5 being the best score – more than 34 percent of collection agency respondents answered with a rating of 5, the highest level ever recorded in the survey. The average of responses on the question, 4.05, was also an all-time high.

View all data from collection agency respondents

Other accounts receivable management companies shared the collection agencies’ enthusiasm. The average expected performance rating for collection law firms was higher than agencies at 4.06, while debt buyers were not far behind at 3.94.

ARM companies also indicated that they were ready to expand payrolls en masse. More than 55 percent of collection agency respondents expect their staffs to be larger six months from now, an all-time high. Only 11 percent of agencies anticipate laying off workers in the near term, an all-time low.

The positive outlook drove the new ARM Confidence Index reading to 63.1, the second-highest level recorded.

The ARM Confidence Index, launched for the Fall 2009 survey, uses responses from the quarterly Confidence Survey to create a snapshot of how ARM firms see financial performance in the next six months, based on current conditions. The Index provides a measure of industry confidence on a scale of 0 to 100 and is calculated using data from select questions in the survry, including prior quarter performance rating, current performance rating, future performance expectations, and anticipated staffing moves.

The Fall 2009 Index reading of 63.1 was second only to the Fall 2008 reading of 65.5.

Although the readings in the Fall of 2008 and 2009 were similar, they were reached in very different ways. The 2008 survey was conducted as the financial crisis was sending Wall Street into a tailspin and Congress was passing the bank bailout. Confidence was very low. But unemployment had not yet snowballed, so ARM collection performance was average to above average, keeping the reading inflated.

In contrast, ARM company confidence was at an all-time high in the Fall 2009 survey. Performance, however, was a drag on the Index reading, as unemployment reached decades-long highs. To underscore the challenges facing ARM firms in the current environment, more than 72 percent of collection agency respondents reported using more payment arrangements to increase collection performance in the third quarter of 2009.

To view the full results of the Fall 2009 Credit & Debt Collection Industry Confidence Survey, including responses from creditors and vendors to the ARM industry, please visit http://www.insidearm.com/go/confidence-survey/fall09.

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Resource Management Services, Inc. is Proud to Announce Joel Winston of the Federal Trade Commission As A Featured Speaker at the Collection and Recovery Solutions 2010 Conference

2009-11-09T08:48:53-07:00

Santa Fe Springs - Resource Management Services, Inc. is proud to announce Joel Winston of the Federal Trade Commission as a featured speaker at the Collection and Recovery Solutions(sm) 2010 conference, being held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 5-7, 2010.

Mr. Winston will be speaking on recent FTC (or federal) actions that impact the collections industry. As the numbers of consumers who default on their debts has risen in these difficult economic times, federal regulators have increased their oversight of the collections industry. The Federal Trade Commission is pursuing a number of new initiatives that could impact your business, including law enforcement actions and proposals to amend the FDCPA in several important areas. Recently, the FTC held a series of roundtable meetings to discuss its concerns relating to debt collection arbitration and litigation. Hear from the FTC official with responsibility for leading the agency's work in this area about what the FTC has been doing and where it may be heading.

Joel Winston is Associate Director of the Division of Financial Practices in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. That Division has responsibility for enforcing federal consumer protection laws relating to mortgages and other credit products, debt collection, debt relief services, fair lending, and other financial products and services. Prior to that position, Mr. Winston was Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, with responsibilities covering the areas of consumer privacy, data security, identity theft, and credit reporting. While in that position, Mr. Winston served on a presidential Identity Theft Task Force, was a member of the Advisory Board for the BNA Privacy & Security Law Reporter, and served on the Editorial Board and as an author for a treatise published in 2009 by the American Bar Association, “Consumer Protection Law Developments.” In 2008, Mr. Winston received the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, one of the highest honors given to members of the federal government’s Senior Executive Service. Mr. Winston is a frequent speaker and provides guidance and advice to the business and legal communities on consumer protection issues.

Collection and Recovery Solutions(sm) is an invitation-only event for senior-level collection and recovery professionals, providing educational opportunities regarding the Challenges and Opportunities in a Changing World. For more information on Collection and Recovery Solutions(sm) 2010, please go to www.collectionrecoverysolutions.com or call 562-906-1101.

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Commercial Bankruptcies: Involuntary Bankruptcy Petition

2009-11-09T08:27:55-07:00

The items below are excerpted from the Business Bankruptcy News Bulletin. A full issue contains information on dozens of troubled companies, as well as informational and analysis highlights. Please visit the insideARM bookstore for information on subscribing to the Bulletin.

Creditors begin an involuntary bankruptcy case by filing a petition and a summons with the clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The debtor then has 20 days to file objections. If that happens, the case then goes to trial. If no objection is filed, the bankruptcy proceeds. Creditors take a risk, however, filing such a petition because if the case does go to trial and if the court finds the petition was filed in bad faith, the court can then award monetary damages as well as attorney fees for the debtor.

CIT Group Inc., one of the nation’s largest providers of loans to the country’s small and medium-sized businesses, filed Chapter 11 Sunday. The filing, made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, was made after a debt-exchange offer to bondholders failed. Bondholders opted for a prepackaged reorganization plan that would reduce CIT’s debt by $10 billion and which could result in the company emerging from bankruptcy protection by 12/31 if all goes well. The U.S. government, which injected $2.3 billion into the company last year in exchange for preferred shares, will likely get nothing, since common and preferred stock would be wiped out as a result of the filing. CIT listed assets and liabilities of $71 billion and $65 billion respectively in its filing, making it the fifth-largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. corporate history.

Freedom Communications Holdings Inc., the bankrupt owner of 30 daily newspapers and 8 television stations which filed its plan of reorganization on Saturday, reported the plan would give lenders, who hold $770 million in debt ,ownership of the company in exchange for reducing its debt to $325 million. The court must first approve Freedom’s disclosure statement before it can solicit votes.

Greektown Casino saw the confirmation hearings on its bankruptcy exit plan postponed a couple of days. At dispute is how the bankrupt firm was valued. Pre-petition lenders put the value at $540 million and would own the firm once it emerges from Chapter 11. Bondholders however place the value at closer to $600 million. The latter value would allow bondholders, who are owed $180 million, to get some payout.

Six Flags Inc., the New York amusement park firm which operates twenty parks throughout North America and which filed Chapter 11 in June under case number 09-12019, reported third quarter earnings declined 11%–to $210 million, on a 7% revenue decline–to $457 million. The results reflect both a decline in attendance and per capita spending. The company ended the quarter with unrestricted cash of $262 million to help pay administrative claims and other approved pre-petition claims.

Station Casinos Inc. in Las Vegas, Nv. has seen Boyd Gaming Corp. ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for permission to see its financial records. The move by Boyd is in response to Station’s recent request for additional time to file its reorganization plan. Last winter Boyd presented a nonbinding $950 million offer for part of Station but Station has pursued its own reorganization rather than a sale of the company.

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Executive Change: Van Ru Appoints Vice President/CFO

2009-11-09T08:27:55-07:00

Des Plaines, IL - Van Ru Credit Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of Louis (“Skip”) Spillone, Jr. to the company's Executive Team. Mr. Spillone will serve as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, leading Van Ru's in-house Accounting, Finance and Human Resources teams.

Skip brings more than 27 years of diverse financial, strategic and operational leadership to Van Ru, including roles at early-stage, entrepreneurial companies, privately-held, mid-size companies and publicly-held, fortune 500 companies. Most recently, he spent the last 7 years as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Brook Furniture Rental, Inc. in Lake Forest, IL. Skip has an established track record of helping companies grow both organically and through acquisition, and he is skilled at managing companies through changing economic cycles. His talent and leadership will help Van Ru to profitably grow its business while better serving its clients.

“I am pleased to add someone with Skip’s experience and business acumen to our management team. With the addition of Skip, and Brion Henes as VP of Information Technology earlier this year, Van Ru has significantly improved the depth of our senior management team,” said Dan Calderon, Van Ru’s President/CEO.

Mr. Spillone is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an Accounting degree from the University of Illinois and a Masters in Management from the prestigious Northwestern University J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Evanston, Illinois.

About Van Ru
Van Ru is one of the nation’s largest independent receivables management companies, employing nearly 700 debt collection professionals across its nationwide network of call centers. Van Ru has earned the confidence of its diverse clientele by delivering superior service and integrity since the company's inception in 1953. Van Ru provides innovative collection and call center solutions to clients in the financial services, government, educational, energy, telecommunications and healthcare industries. For more information please visit www.vanru.com or contact Jenny Saboya, Director of Marketing Support, at JSaboya@vanru.com.

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PCI Group President Chris Kropac Jr. Receives the National Postal Customer Council Award for PCC Industry Member of the Year

2009-11-09T08:27:55-07:00

Chris Kropac Jr., President of PCI Group Inc. (Fort Mill, SC), one of the nation’s leading providers of rapid outbound direct mail services for collection agencies and debt buyers, has received one of the nation’s highest postal industry awards. He has been named the National Postal Customer Council™ (PCC®) PCC Industry Member of the Year. The award recognizes outstanding service and individual achievement. Kropac received the award from the nation’s highest U.S. Postal Service® (USPS) officer, Postmaster General John E. Potter, during National PCC Day in Washington, DC. Mr. Kropac is a resident of Lake Wylie, SC.

As Chief Executive Officer of PCI Group, Kropac has led his company to the forefront of the direct mail industry. While doing so, he has been a vigorous proponent within the PCC community. He currently serves as Long Island PCC Industry Co-Chair; a role through which he has contributed extensively to the development of various activities to strengthen relations between the USPS and its customers. As a strong advocate for his customers, he maintains a collaborative working relationship with members of the USPS and continually strives to keep postal customers informed regarding important developments such as postage rate and procedural changes. Under his tenure, the Long Island PCC has expanded its membership and programming significantly.

In acknowledging their past Co-Chair Kropac’s recent award, the LI PCC noted in its current newsletter, “For over six years, Chris has been an enthusiastic motivator in the planning and facilitating of sessions and events sponsored by our organization. Chris is dedicated to staying updated with the latest industry and USPS information. With the economic troubles that occurred this past year, the Long Island mailing industry was fortunate to have the optimistic attitude that Chris conveyed. Because of his leadership, 2009 was one of the LI PCC’s strongest years in membership growth, education and networking opportunities.” The LI PCC also acknowledged Kropac’s LI PCC Co-Chair Kenneth Hale, USPS Long Island District Manager who received the National Postal Customer Council™ Award for PCC Leadership as District Manager of the Year.

At PCI Group, a company founded by Kropac’s father almost 40 years ago, Kropac too is leaving an indelible mark. Following in the entrepreneurial and innovative footsteps of Chris Kropac, Sr., he has introduced new, advanced technologies and methodologies which place PCI on the leading edge of his industry. Reflecting the company’s tagline, “Intelligent Solutions for Rapid Direct Mail,” Kropac has harnessed the power of technology to facilitate improved business processes, mail quality and security, information flow and economies.

Pictured here (left to right): USPS Postmaster General Jack Potter, PCI Group President and PCC Industry Member of the Year Chris Kropac Jr. and USPS Long Island District Manager and PCC District Manager of the Year Ken Hale.

About PCI Group Inc.
PCI Group Inc. is a family-owned and operated business founded in 1970. The company provides comprehensive rapid outbound direct mail services to the collection and debt buying industry. A hallmark of its service in the company’s effective use of leading-edge technologies, from the Intelligent Mail Barcode to its proprietary processes including RapidCollect™, RapidInvoice™, RapidEntry™, RapidScrub™, webtrak™ and Pinpoint™. These technological advancements deliver improved business processes; assure the highest standards of quality, data integrity and security; afford optimum economies; and provide customers with real time information through all stages of their mail’s production and handling at PCI. For more information about PCI Group and its “Intelligent Solutions for Rapid Direct Mail,” visit: www.pcigroup.com or call Anthony Faldetta, Vice President, Business Development, 803-578-7700.

About the PCC
The Postal Customer Council™ (PCC®) was established in 1962 to improve communications between the U.S. Postal Service® customers and managers. The organization has grown increasingly more important since the 1970s, when business mailing issues became its primary focus.

Today, there are more than 200 local Postal Customer Councils with approximately 120,000 members across the nation. Regular meetings, educational programs, mailer clinics, and seminars keep members abreast of the latest Postal Service™ developments. Members also work closely with local Post Office™ locations to make mail service more efficient, resulting in improved delivery with greater customer satisfaction.

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International Accounts Payable Professionals and AP Now & Tomorrow Create Strategic Partnership

2009-11-09T08:27:55-07:00

Orlando -- International Accounts Payable Professionals (IAPP) and Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow, often referred to as AP Now, have announced a strategic partnership that will provide expanded benefits to IAPP members and to AP Now readers. This group includes practitioners in accounts payable and internal auditing, as well as the CFOs and controllers responsible for the payment function.

More than 5,000 members strong, the IAPP provides certification, events, training, and resources such as the bimonthly magazine AP Matters for accounts payable and other finance practitioners. Comparable benefits are now offered to accounts receivable professionals through a brand-new sister organization, International Accounts Receivable Professionals, and its publication AR Matters.

“AP Now’s publisher, Mary Schaeffer, has many years of AP experience, especially in the tax and regulatory realm, and brings a wealth of knowledge into this partnership,” says Thomas M. Bohn, IAPP/IARP CEO and executive director. “Our members will reap the benefits of that knowledge and the resulting expansion of resources available to them.”

Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow is a monthly newsletter for professionals concerned about payment issues. It is widely read by practitioners, controllers, auditors and accounting professionals. The parent organization of AP Now, Crystallus Inc., also offers a free weekly ezine and a newly launched quarterly electronic publication, CFO & Controllers Accounts Payable Management Journal.

“We are thrilled to be working with an organization of the caliber of the IAPP,” says Schaeffer, a nationally recognized accounts payable expert. “This partnership will allow us to strategically add value to our core audience by providing them access to a fine professional association and certification program. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”

About IAPP and IARP International Accounts Payable Professionals is internationally recognized as the trustworthy guidance-setting association for the accounts payable profession. Serving members throughout the world, IAPP is the AP professional’s global voice, chief advocate, recognized authority, acknowledged leader, and principal educator on all AP operational, regulatory, leadership, tax, control, and fraud-related topics. Together, the IAPP and its sister organization, International Accounts Receivable Professionals, have more than 5,000 members in 70 chapters throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and provide training, conferences, knowledge sharing, certification, online resources, AP Matters and AR Matters magazines, and more. For more information, visit www.TheIAPP.org and www.TheIARP.org.

About Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow
Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow is the flagship publication of Crystallus Inc., a boutique training, publishing and consulting firm focused on accounts payable issues. In addition to the Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow newsletter, the organization produces a free weekly ezine, numerous webinars, seminars and other resources to help streamline the accounts payable function. The work of both organizations is directed by Mary Schaeffer, a nationally recognized accounts payable expert and author of over 15 business books published by John Wiley & Sons.

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ACA Defends Self-Regulatory Proposal for Debt Collection Industry

2009-11-09T08:27:54-07:00

Association leaders at ACA International’s Fall Forum last week used the final day of the meeting to further explain their idea to propose a self-regulatory structure for the accounts receivable management industry.

Much of ACA’s membership was wondering why the group had pulled back a draft proposal to give the industry the power to self-police (“ACA International Board Halts Plans for Self Regulation in Collection Industry,” Nov. 5).

Rozanne Anderson, executive vice president and general counsel for ACA International, said Friday that the proposal, which was expected to be submitted but never formally was, had been pulled back largely to thoroughly vet it across the organization. Also, the proposal itself wouldn’t be heard until full markup of legislation to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), a proposal that is expected to be introduced before the Thanksgiving break by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

ACA International had hoped that it could convince lawmakers that the debt collection industry needed to be “carved out” of many of the requirements of CFPA, like auto companies and several others types of consumer credit organizations. The organization wanted to propose self-regulation as an alternative to government rules under the CFPA.

But at the close of a meeting between Frank and ACA International in early October, he indicated there would be no carve out for the collection and asset purchasing industry and he would consider introducing proposed language creating a self-regulatory structure for the collection and asset purchasing industry as a floor amendment.

According to a letter from ACA president Karolyn Rubin to membership, the draft amendments are presently under review by the group’s legislative council and therefore a final draft had not been submitted to Frank’s attention.

The plan would have included industry-operated state licensing and registration for agencies and collectors, and called for an industry education program run by ACA International.

“Self regulation is by definition a voluntary initiative or program created by a trade group or private industry to control its members or itself. It is NOT a regulatory scheme driven by, run, mandated or operated by a governmental entity,” Rubin explained in her letter. “The two motions passed by the board in July specifically contemplated self regulation initiated, created, designed and funded by the association or the industry at large and did not address regulation or legislation passed into law by either the federal government or state governmental bodies.”

In July, ACA board members gave its executive committee the power to study and, if feasible, draw up a plan for a self-regulatory structure, complete with a nationwide debt collector registry and dispute resolution program. The idea itself came about after ACA board members learned of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (the SAFE Act), which requires all mortgage loan originators, regardless of the type of entity they are employed by, to be either state-licensed or federally-registered. All mortgage loan originators must be licensed or registered through the expanded Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. Under the SAFE Act, all states must implement a mortgage loan originator licensing process that meets certain minimum standards and must license loan originators through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS). NMLS is owned and operated by the State Regulatory Registry LLC (SRR), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

The idea was to pattern something somewhat after SAFE with the idea that it would hold off the government from imposing its own rules, with the philosophy that self-regulation would be better than government regulation.

The most recent draft of ACA’s proposal, for Secure and Fair Enforcement for Debt Collection of 2009, says:

“In order to increase uniformity, reduce regulatory burden, enhance consumer protection, and improve the debt collection industry, the sates, through the North American Collection Agency Regulatory Association and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, are hereby encouraged to establish a Nationwide Debt Collector Licensing
System and Registry for the debt collection industry.”

According to ACA International, the proposal, as currently drafted, is designed to:

Provide uniform license applications and reporting requirements for companies operating as State-licensed debt collectors.
Provide uniform registration applications and reporting requirements for individual State-registered debt collectors.
Provide a comprehensive licensing, registration and supervisory database.
Aggregate and improve the flow of information to and between regulators.
Provide increased accountability and tracking of debt collectors.
Streamline the licensing and registration process and reduces the regulatory burden.
Enhance consumer protections and supports improvement of the debt collection industry.
Provide consumers with easily accessible information, offered at no charge, utilizing electronic media, including the Internet, regarding the employment history of, and publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement actions against, debt collectors.
Facilitate responsible behavior in the debt collection industry and provide comprehensive training and examination requirements related to debt collection.
Facilitate the collection, disbursement and resolution of consumer complaints on behalf of state and federal debt collection regulators through a uniform, nationwide system of adjudication

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Another Big Loss for Consumer Credit Card Debt in September

2009-11-09T08:27:54-07:00

Americans continue to hold back on credit card spending as banks slash lines of credit and charge off card accounts at a record pace. The Federal Reserve reported another large dip in consumer credit for September.

The Fed said late Friday that overall consumer credit in the U.S. contracted at an annual rate of 7.2 percent in September, or by a total of $14.8 billion. Analysts had a contraction closer to $10 billion.

September marked the eighth straight month of consumer credit declines.

Credit card debt, called revolving debt in the Fed’s report, led the way once again. Revolving debt fell at a 13.3 percent annual rate or by $9.9 billion to $889 billion. The Fed slightly revised upward the reading from August to reflect an identical 13.3 percent annual contraction rate.

Since September 2008, Americans have shed $86.2 billion in credit card debt. Although many credit consumers restrained card spending, much of the mathematical credit for the plunge can be given to soaring charge off rates at banks (“Banks Charging Off Debt at a Higher Rate than in Great Depression,” Oct. 28).

The Fed said that the annual rate of decline for revolving credit was 10.0 percent in the third quarter of 2009. In the first and second quarters of the year, the annualized rate of decline was 9.6 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively.

Nonrevolving consumer credit – like that found in auto, student or personal loans -- dropped at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in September, or nearly $15 billion.

Total consumer credit outstanding in the U.S. stood at $2.455 trillion at the end of September, down from its all-time high of $2.581 trillion in July 2008. The Fed’s report does not include debt backed by real estate.

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Southwest Credit Achieves PCI DSS Level 1 Compliance

2009-11-06T02:35:51-07:00

Plano, TX - Southwest Credit Systems, L.P. a national provider of accounts receivable solutions is proud to have achieved Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Level 1 compliance through a Qualified Security Assessor.

The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. This comprehensive standard is intended to help organizations processing credit card payments proactively protect customer account data.

By achieving PCI Compliance Southwest Credit continues to demonstrate clients and prospects their commitment to quality and compliance; as well as the focus placed on protecting their customers’ data by adhering to the proper rules and regulations.

“Performing with integrity is the bedrock of everything we do at Southwest Credit”, said Jeff Hurt, CEO “and safeguarding our customers’ information is our top priority”.

We are proud of the continuous investments we have made in technology and the rigorous audits of our processes by accredited third parties which demonstrate that we operate at the highest levels within the collections industry.

About Southwest Credit
Founded in 1974, Southwest Credit Systems L.P. is a national provider of accounts receivable management services to small and large companies in the Communications, Education, Utility, Government, and Financial Services industries. Southwest Credit services consumer and commercial accounts along various stages of the credit and collection process.
The company bases its service philosophy on their mission statement:

“At Southwest Credit, our goal is to provide our chosen partners with professional accounts receivable solutions based on Value, Integrity, and Performance.”

Southwest Credit is SAS 70 Type II Certified and has a Better Business Bureau rating of A+. For more information contact 1.800.637.7439 or visit www.sw-credit.com

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Greenfish Fund Purchases Another Large Medical Debt Portfolio

2009-11-06T08:26:40-07:00

PHILADELPHIA—Greenfish Fund II, LP, a leading buyer of healthcare receivables, announced today that it successfully completed the acquisition of another portfolio of accounts receivable from a large non-profit hospital system. The cumulative face value of accounts purchased since the inception of the first Greenfish fund in early 2008 now exceeds $950 million. Greenfish expects to surpass the important $1 billion milestone by the end of 2009.

Commenting on the purchase, Greenfish Fund II 's Managing Director, Eric Raymond, said, “Hospitals are facing severe margin contraction as a result of declining reimbursement levels and increasing self-pay and insurance-related bad debt. Recently enacted Medicare and Medicaid audits create enormous administrative cost and threaten even to rescind past reimbursement. In purchasing old receivables, which have typically already been written-off, Greenfish provides hospitals with much-needed immediate cash for an otherwise dormant asset. A meaningful trend we are seeing is that hospitals are now willing to sell accounts receivable much earlier in the cycle than in the past.”

About Greenfish Fund II, LP
Greenfish and its predecessors have been active buyers of healthcare-related receivables since 2006. Capital deployed to purchase accounts has grown by double digits every year and is expected to increase again—by 100% or more—in 2010.

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Debt Purchasing Takes Center Stage at ACA International Fall Forum

2009-11-06T08:13:41-07:00

The debt buying and selling industry has undergone significant changes in the last year as a result of the economy, credit crunch and the regulatory landscape, all of which were touched upon Thursday at ACA International’s Fall Forum in Chicago.

Today’s asset purchase and recovery management business is quite different than it was when we entered it, noted Steve Leckerman, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NCO Financial Systems, Inc.

Only 20 years ago, the average primary fees were in the low 30 percent range; the secondary fees consistently were 50 percent. Recovery percentages were in the mid-to upper 30 percent range and the secondary recoveries averaged about 6 percent, according to Leckerman.

“Average balances at placement were around $400 and insurance recovery could make up more than 60 percent of the dollars collected for clients in primary collections,” Leckerman said.

The industry itself had less focus on compliance; more volume, higher commissions and higher liquidations. More clients were selling and more agencies were in the network receiving business. Money was available for the consumer to borrow.

Debt buying was a robust segment of the business with willing buyers and willing sellers. Both large and small debt buyers did well.

Between 2005 and 2007, the collection industry was flat even though consumer debt and delinquencies had grown to unprecedented levels.

“There’s a perfect storm going on right now,” Leckerman said, pointing to the debt, delinquencies, recession, reduced credit availability, low consumer confidence and the complex regulatory environment.

“If you do business with large banks, utility companies or other large firms, they are looking to cut costs; health care is fearful of rules changing,” Leckerman said. “You’re working with more middle-class debtors. They’re more sophisticated consumers, so they will file more complaints. We have attorney creditors who are like regular customers.”

Competition is fierce in this type of environment, Leckerman said. “In today’s environment, an agency needs to deliver consistent best performance. Second is not good enough. You have to be able to adapt to clients’ ever increasing demand for data. They want performance metrics down to metrics for the employees.”

Leckerman also encouraged the audience to protect their clients’ brands and to seek to be an industry leader.

To succeed in the industry today, Leckerman said, a firm needs to have a winning attitude; accountability at every level; the right strategy; flawless execution, even on “the small stuff;” face time with regulations and have a self-regulation initiative.



Valuation and Divesting

Among the common threads of many of the deals so far this year, according to Brian Greenberg, managing director of Greenberg Advisors, LLC, is that more distressed companies are seeking liquidity and debt buyers are seeking debt/equity funding partners.

Greenberg added that investors are seeking portfolios offering growth of at least 15 percent annually and similar performance in terms of profit margins. But the investors won’t take the buyers word for past performance, investors want substantive proof.

Investors are also interested in business partners that offer a niche focus or some type of differentiation from other potential acquisitions. An excellent, tenured management team, efficient technology, good analytics and “sticky” clients are other attributes investors are seeking.

“Due diligence is more intensive today,” added Robert Castle, managing director, investment banking, for Northland Securities, Inc. “Check with your advisors [before a transaction]. There is no such thing as being over-prepared.”

As compliance and regulation continue to become bigger factors and consume more of a firm’s resources, it will become increasingly difficult for small and mid-sized companies to compete, Greenberg and Castle added. One factor that could affect the timing of some deals in the next five quarters is the change in capital gains taxes, which they expect will take effect after 2010.

Debt Buyer Licensing

Companies making acquisitions should closely examine state laws, particularly if a transaction brings them into new locations, advised Valerie Hayes, ACA International vice president for legal compliance and government affairs.

Each state has its own rules for the licensure of debt purchasers (there are a couple without specific rules), Hayes said. Among these rules is the actual definition of a debt purchaser.

“Some states differentiate between active and passive debt purchasers,” Hayes added. “You need to be aware of the guidance provided by state regulators in interpreting licensing statutes.”

For example, in Connecticut, state law prohibits “consumer collection agencies from purchasing or receiving assignments of claims for the purpose of collection or to institute suit.”

Loss Prevention Techniques

One of the biggest factors in avoiding unexpected losses in debt purchase transactions is to use carefully drafted contracts, said Hayes and Janis St. Martin, administrative vice president for the Collector’s Insurance Agency, Inc., a subsidiary of ACA International.

In reviewing these contracts, firms should seek legal assistance and conduct thorough due diligence, Hayes and St. Martin advised, recommending that thorough due diligence firms review contracts executed by others.

They also recommended that debt buyers and sellers pay particular attention to the hold-harmless clause and the liability assumed or transferred in the contract. Debt owners are routinely named in lawsuits against collection agencies.

Collectors Insurance Agency offers liability insurance for contractual liability. Errors and omissions insurance can also mitigate some of the risk in debt transactions.

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Equifax Helps Financial Institutions Improve Account Management Productivity Across Portfolios

2009-11-06T08:13:41-07:00

BOSTON -- Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) today announced at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference the launch of a new solutionto help banks and financial institutions drive increased return-on-investment from their portfolio review processes. InterConnect for Account Management(TM) enables banks to automate account segmentation and risk decisioning for credit line adjustments and cross-sell offers. Now, banks can better identify customers most likely to accept product and service offers, resulting in increased cross-sell acceptance rates and improved customer retention.

"Providing this automation as a hosted solution will make it possible for more institutions to see the advantages of customer-centric decisioning," said James Taylor, CEO of Decision Management Solutions, a consulting firm focused on helping companies adopt decisioning technologies. "With complete control over credit policies, portfolio segmentation and customer treatment and no software to install, lenders can maximize their agility and keep their operating costs down."

While financial institutions historically have leveraged these types of tools with their credit card portfolios, many have considered them too complex and costly to use when managing deposit accounts. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the percent of increase year-over-year in total deposits for both commercial banks and savings institutions was approximately 27.4 percent from June 2005 to June 2009. Recent Equifax research has shown that while consumer debt has declined year-over-year more than $440B since 2000, the average personal savings rate reached its highest levels in the past decade during Q2 and Q3 2009.

InterConnect for Account Management enables banks to cost-effectively evaluate portfolio changes in both credit and deposit accounts - resulting in a comprehensive view of customers and their relationships with the financial institution. The solution provides a consolidated look at each customer within the portfolio and segments these customers based on behavioral and transactional data from Equifax, third-party sources and internal databases.

With this insight, banks can better measure individual risk and assess the overall ROI associated with an account.

"Current economic pressures make consistent account management especially important for today's financial institutions, which must address increasing regulatory requirements and respond quickly to changing market needs," said Dann Adams, president, US Information Solutions. "Our new solution provides the flexibility lenders need to accurately segment their portfolios and optimize credit risk decisions to reflect evolving market conditions and business priorities. Those that do stand a greater chance of winning the battle for reduced risk and profitable growth over time."

Financial institutions that adopt InterConnect for Account Management gain access to actionable customer intelligence delivered in real-time from internal and external databases. Leveraging business rules technology, the solution automates account-level decisions for:

Credit line assignments
Exception handling and compliance reporting
Implementation of new risk policies
Cross-sell and product optimization

Other benefits of the solution include its flexible suite of modules for data integration, decision management, rules editing and reporting which can be easily deployed, allowing businesses to respond quickly to market changes. The solution's comprehensive reporting tools enable financial institutions to view credit risk as well as transaction and operational activity to identify emerging trends.

InterConnect for Account Management is the latest addition to Equifax's Technology and Analytical solutions, which include loan origination, credit risk decisioning, fraud prevention and account opening products. For more information about InterConnect and other Equifax technology solutions, visit www.equifax.com/consumer/risk/account_opening/appro/en_us .

About Equifax Inc. (www.equifax.com)
Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

With a strong heritage of innovation and leadership, Equifax continuously delivers innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability. Businesses - large and small - rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more. We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity, and maximize their financial well-being.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. operates in the U.S. and 14 other countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.

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Noble Systems Expands with its Acquisition of Liberation Product Line from TDI (TeleDirect International Inc)

2009-11-06T08:13:41-07:00

Atlanta, GA - Noble Systems Corporation, a global leader in innovative contact center technology solutions, announces the acquisition of the Liberation® unified communications platform, related client-base, and all related intellectual property, including the TDI/TeleDirect brand from TDI (formerly TeleDirect International, Inc.). This acquisition provides TDI/TeleDirect Liberation users with expanded solutions and services that will help them continue to increase revenues, reduce operating costs, and enhance the customer experience.

Noble Systems and TDI/TeleDirect both have long histories of providing productivity-enhancing and cost-saving solutions to the contact center marketplace. The acquisition is an opportunity for Noble Systems to further continue to broaden its scope of services and influence within the industry. TDI/TeleDirect has built a brand that is well known within the Cable, Resort and Newspaper industries. This transaction solidifies Noble Systems as the leading provider of call center solutions in these key core markets.

With the acquisition, Noble Systems will bring on board key staff from TDI/TeleDirect’s development and service delivery teams, while taking advantage of organizational efficiencies. TDI/TeleDirect Liberation customers will continue to receive the same high levels of service, support, and upgrades, and have access to the full line of Noble® contact center technology products. In addition, Noble will keep an office in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area.

James K. Noble, Jr., President & CEO of Noble Systems, said, “Along with the recent acquisition of TouchStar, the acquisition of the TDI/TeleDirect Liberation family of users allows Noble Systems to continue to extend our footprint into core markets. We are excited to bring the Noble hallmark of quality and service to TDI/TeleDirect’s Liberation customer base. In the near term, we are focused on working with our clients from both companies to answer their questions about the transition. In the long term, we will continue to build value and performance in our contact center technology solutions so that, regardless of their platform, all Noble Systems clients will have path for growth, with the stability, flexibility, and feature-set of Tier I solutions to maximize their return on investment.”

TDI will be renamed dvsAnalytics, Inc. and will continue to develop, support, and enhance Encore™, its comprehensive recording and performance management solution, which is not included in the transaction with Noble Systems.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Noble Systems®
Noble Systems Corporation (NSC) is a global provider of contact center technology solutions, delivering systems since 1989. Every day, millions of contacts are made by agents at 3,000+ installations worldwide conduct business using the Noble® platforms for inbound/outbound/blended communications. The scalable, integrated Noble solution includes ACD and predictive dialing; unified contact processing for voice, email, and web; and integrated IVR, digital recording, messaging, quality control/monitoring systems, scripting, and real-time reporting and management tools. Noble Systems (Atlanta, GA) pioneered an open, scalable, fully-distributed platform. For more information on this item or the company, contact Lee Allum at 1.888.866.2538 x538 or visit www.noblesys.com.

About TDI (formerly TeleDirect International, Inc)
TDI is the developer of Liberation® and Encore™, a proven technology platform that helps companies increase revenues and develop their workforce. Liberation manages a contact center’s entire sales workflow process, including campaign design and management, and agent effectiveness via an agent desktop; industry templates for ease of integration and operation, and performance management and reporting of results and trends.

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As the Health Care Debate Rages On, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Continue to Gain in Popularity

2009-11-06T08:13:41-07:00

While the nation's lawmakers debate possible ways to improve the health care system, a national consumer organization reports that thousands of Americans apparently believe they've already found an answer: Health Savings Accounts (http://usafact.org/HSA-HealthSavingsAccountforMedicalinsurance.html) (commonly known as HSAs).

"An HSA is a lot like an IRA," explains Vicki Rolens, managing director of the Federation of American Consumers and Travelers (FACT). "The money you put into the account offers above-the-line deductibility, reducing your adjusted gross income and thereby reducing your tax burden each year."

She adds that "There is one main difference between an IRA and an HSA: With an HSA, you are allowed to make tax-free withdrawals at any time to meet medical expenses that your health insurance doesn't cover."

In a bulletin to its members, entitled "How a Health Savings Account Can Save You Money and Simplify Your Life," FACT briefly outlines HSA basics:

   1. The consumer purchases a high-deductible health insurance plan (HDHP), which costs less -- often far less -- than a "conventional" health plan.

   2. Part or all of the money saved on premiums -- and saved on taxes --can then go into a tax-free health savings account (HSA). The account belongs to the consumer, not the insurance company.

   3 If a health issue arises, the consumer uses his or her HSA to pay any qualified expenses which the high-deductible plan doesn't cover. The money is withdrawn tax-free.

    4. In general, "qualified" expenses include dental bills, over-the-counter medicines, prescription drugs, eye care, hearing aids, and many other health-related items and services that the HDHP doesn't pay.

   5. All money remaining in the fund at retirement can be used to meet Medicare deductibles, long term care expenses, et al, or can simply be withdrawn -- without penalty if the consumer is over the age of 65.

   6. In 2010, an individual will be able to contribute up to $3,050 tax-free ... $6,150 for a family. The HSA can be opened in addition to any IRA the consumer may already have.

"The basic concept is simple," says Rolens. "You save money by having a higher health insurance deductible than usual, and you put that savings in a tax-free fund to meet medical expenses if and as needed."

"In essence, you pay a portion of your health-care budget to yourself instead of an insurance company, and you gain some distinct tax advantages in the process."

To qualify as an HDHP, a health plan's deductible amount must be at least $1,200 for an individual plan or $2,400 for family coverage.

Rolens points out that an HSA may not be right for everybody, and she recommends that anyone who's interested consult with his or her insurance expert or financial planner.

FACT is a consumer organization, formed under the not-for-profit corporation laws of the District of Columbia in 1984. It currently serves more than 1 million consumers nationwide. Additional information on FACT may be found in the Encyclopedia of Associations, and by visiting the association's Web site (www.usafact.org).

FACT's administrative office is located at 318 Hillsboro Avenue, Edwardsville, IL 62025.

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Lowell Group Tops Charts in OC&C Credit Management and Debt Collection Index

2009-11-06T08:13:41-07:00

Leeds-based debt buyer Lowell Group has come top of the charts for the second year running in the OC&C Credit Management and Debt Collection Index.

Lowell scored 63 points in the 2009 index, three less than last year, just beating hybrid Capquest, which rose from eighth to second with 62 points. The annual index, compiled by strategy consultancy OC&C and published exclusively in Credit Today, uses quantitative and qualitative measures to rank credit management and debt collection companies in the UK and Europe.

This year the index reflected a turbulent year in the industry, with dramatic alterations in many of the scores compared with 2008. However, one of the report’s author’s – OC&C managing partner David Hosein – said the credit crunch was no excuse for poor performance. “The writing was on the wall for people who had not improved their businesses before,” he said.

Last year OC&C predicted that Lowell’s clear strategy of focusing on low balance UK debts would be an advantage in a downturn and it has enjoyed “stellar growth and financial performance” since. The low balance focus means it has been less susceptible to declines in settlements and its arrangements are also holding up. This year it has also acquired trace business J2, allowing it to hold onto another strategic advantage.

Capquest, meanwhile, is the index’s rising star. Operationally excellent, it has mastered onshore and offshore capabilities with a South African call centre, and has a strong management team. It covers all elements of the loan lifecycle and has entered the mortgage collections market as well as being an early adopter of compliance and security standards. Its challenge is now to manage its diversity, said OC&C.

The Lewis Group, another debt buyer, came third in the index from thirteenth last year – praised for its range of techniques and size as well as top line growth. Parent company Cattles may have struggled but this means it is less likely to be dependent on the parent, said OC&C.

Following Cattles, Lindorff scored 49 points and moved up the index one place to fourth. The European giant’s strategy “goes beyond hybrid” said OC&C, with scale, size and a good management team. Operationally successful in many countries, it is a rarity in the purchase market. In fifth place is Cabot Financial, dropping from 61 points and fourth place to 49 points in 2009. OC&C said the size and scale of the debt purchaser has kept it in the top five but believes it to be on a downward trajectory and facing numerous challenges.

Also praised by the index authors as “rock steady ships” are debt collection agency BCW Group, bailiffs Equita and debt solutions provider Invocas. However, debt buyers 1st Credit and Aktiv Kapital suffered, plummeting from joint second positions last year. For the full index visit http://www.credittoday.co.uk/filestore/homePDF/CT_Oct09_occ2.pdf

The index is not intended to be used as an investment guide or as a way of identifying businesses that will fail.

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ACA International Board Halts Plans for Self Regulation in Collection Industry

2009-11-05T03:00:57-07:00

ACA International’s Board of Directors moved quickly Wednesday to halt proposed legislation that sought to create a self-regulation structure for the debt collection and purchasing industry after complaints from some of the board members.

The plan would have included federal mandates for state licensing and registration for agencies and collectors, and called for an industry education program run by ACA International.

Some board members told insideARM that ACA’s executive committee submitted the proposal in late September to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, as an amendment to legislation that would create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Sources said Frank could have introduced the proposal within two weeks.

In July, ACA board members gave its executive committee the power to study and, if feasible, draw up a plan for a self-regulatory structure, complete with a nationwide debt collector registry and dispute resolution program.

But during a special meeting Wednesday of the board at ACA’s annual Fall Forum Conference in Chicago, directors voted to take away that authority. The board also directed the executive committee to withdraw, in writing and within 24 hours of the meeting’s end, its amendment proposal, and confirm to all board members the proposal’s withdrawal to Rep. Frank and other political bodies by Friday.

ACA National Board of Director member Jerry Greenblatt told insideARM he was “very happy” with the outcome of the vote. “What’s happened with the passage of this motion is that the decision making within ACA is slowly being given back to ACA members.” He added that the vote to withdraw the proposal “is a great victory for the members of the association, especially the small and mid-size agencies.”

ACA spokesman John Nemo told insideARM that the association will continue to study the issue while incorporating and addressing the concerns of the membership.

“We are a member driven organization. We listen to our membership,” Nemo said. “There was no intent to try to deceive anyone or do anything behind the scenes. We understand that this is an incredibly sensitive and important issue, perhaps the biggest one since the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) passed, and we want to make sure we do as good a job as possible of being transparent about the process and making sure our board of directors and our membership at large are informed and able to give their input.”

ACA’s actions regarding a self regulation program raised questions within its membership and in the broader accounts receivable management industry.

Emil Hartleb, executive director of Commercial Collection Agency Association, told insideARM that ACA’s approach to self regulation was “fraught with danger for the industry.”

“Anytime you look at licensing or registration, there are unintended consequences that will come out. We don’t need more licensing. What we need is hard enforcement against rogue agencies who are committing these atrocities,” Hartleb said.

David Goch, legislative counsel for the Commercial Law League of America told inside ARM he was “surprised” to learn about a proposal by ACA to apparently legislatively create a debt collection industry licensing body.

Lloyd Dix, vice president and general counsel of Union Adjustment Co. in Burbank, Calif., said ACA’s amendment proposal has some California Association of Collectors (CAC) members considering renewing its motion to amend its bylaws requiring CAC members to also be ACA members (“California Association of Collectors Votes to Stand Pat on ACA Membership Ties,” Sept. 25). Dix is also the chairman of the Legislative Council for the CAC.

Days before the meeting and vote, Rubin attempted to explain the executive committee’s action in a letter to the ACA Board of Directors.

In her letter, Rubin said ACA submitted the proposal, modeled after the SAFE Act for the mortgage brokerage industry, after a failed attempt to get Rep. Frank to include an exemption of the debt collection and asset purchase industry from CFPA oversight in legislation to create the new regulatory agency.

“He indicated there would be no carve out for the collection and asset purchasing industry and he would consider introducing the SAFE Act amendments for the collection and asset purchasing industry as a floor amendment,” Rubin wrote of ACA’s meeting with Frank.

Critics of the proposal, however, said it would drastically change the debt collection industry and was potentially more damaging than governance by the CFPA because on the surface, the proposal appears to require collectors and asset purchasers to obtain a license in each state they conduct business.

Some key elements of ACA’s proposal included a call for:

All agencies and asset purchases to be licensed and registered by their state or by the CFPA if no state licensing and registration program exists one year of the legislation is passed.
ACA International to be the sole provider of all training materials associated with 20 hours of mandated initial education required to be licensed, under the scheme the amendment proposes and 8 hours of education necessary for annual renewals
Every collection agency must be licensed by the state as a debt collector before engaging in the collection of debt
Every individual debt collector must work for a state-licensed debt collector and must be individually registered by the state as a debt collector within 90-days of employment
The proposal also called for each collector to be subject to criminal background checks, finger printings by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and criminal background checks
Establishment of national licensing for states which do not adopt their own state licensing programs, with no preemption of state laws, thus adding an additional level of bureaucracy.

Greenblatt, who is also President-elect of the CAC, called the proposal “a monumental detriment to small and mid-sized debt collection agencies because of the additional costs and burden, and the monopoly that ACA attempted to mandate through federal legislation on education.”

Dix said the resolution program proposed also did not preempt any state or federal legal actions or bar any judicial remedies. “It was quite a blow when we saw it,” Dix said. “We had no idea it was coming.”

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Collector's For Change Drawing in October 2009

2009-11-05T09:11:23-07:00

Ottawa, Kansas: The Franklin County Cancer Foundation is first monthly recipient of National Recovery Services (NRS) Collector’s for Change drawing. The drawing took place on October 30th and the funds were delivered in person by Brad DeKraai, CEO/president of NRS, and Nydia Chan, the monthly drawing winner, on November 2, 2009. The Franklin County Cancer Foundation was pleasantly surprised to be presented with a check for $1264; of which $632 came directly from NRS employee contributions.

Nydia Chan chose The Franklin County Cancer Foundation because she has experienced the loss of loved ones through cancer. Chan stated that; “I have lost both of my grandmothers to cancer and I know that they (Then Franklin County Cancer Foundation) will use the funds to help people here in Ottawa.”

There is no doubt that the collector’s at NRS feel empowered by the Collectors for Change Project. Employees donate their loose change to benefit various charities and NRS matches the monthly total: dollar for dollar. Every month each collector selects a charity close to their heart and each month a drawing is held to determine which charity will receive all of the funds. It is possible to make a positive and sustainable impact throughout both the collection industry and the local community.

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DANTOM Systems and Diversified Data Announce Strategic Alliance

2009-11-05T08:35:07-07:00

Wixom, Mich. – DANTOM Systems and Diversified Data and Communications (d/b/a DIVDAT) are pleased to announce a strategic alliance. DIVDAT is exiting the third-party print & mail collection market and DANTOM has agreed to assume the customer relationships effective November 1, 2009. In addition, DANTOM will utilize specific DIVDAT advanced technology services for their collection customers.

“As DIVDAT strengthens our focus on preferential communication and EBPP, we remain committed to ensuring our clients’ needs are met and expectations are exceeded. We are grateful for the trust they have placed in DIVDAT over the years. We remain committed to honoring that trust,” said Jason Bierkle, Diversified Data’s president and CEO. “After a thorough and careful evaluation, I firmly believe that an alliance with DANTOM is in the best interest of our third-party, print and mail clients. DANTOM’s outstanding service and industry leadership has been demonstrated over a long period of time. I am convinced our customers will be delighted.” DIVDAT’s business focus includes products for healthcare providers, utility companies, insurance agencies and other organizations. Those products include print and mail, EBPP, payment processing and other messaging services.

“The addition of this highly-valued customer base provides DANTOM the ability to expand upon its industry- leading position in the collection letter marketplace and gain access to DIVDAT’s latest technology service offerings,” said Tim Schriner, DANTOM’s president and CEO. “We look forward to working with our new customers and providing them the value from our collection letter focus and expertise.”

About DANTOM Systems
DANTOM Systems, Inc. is the premier provider of collection letter services to the Accounts Receivable Management marketplace. DANTOM is SAS 70 Type II Certified and provides address information processing integrated into an award winning collection letter process utilizing FDCPA compliant customer service representatives, Six Sigma quality processes, certified project management with USPS acceptance and verification onsite for the highest quality print and mail delivery nationwide. DANTOM is located in Wixom, Michigan and now serves over 600 Credit & Collection customers nationwide. DANTOM is owned by Bolder Capital, LLC located in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, visit www.dantomsystems.com.

About DIVDAT
With its roots as a print and mail services provider, DIVDAT has evolved to become a leading provider of print and mail, online data processing, archiving and retrieval; preferential communication delivery solutions; EBPP; broadcast e-mail, fax and voice message services as well as direct marketing support services. DIVDAT is also the provider of CashLINCTM , a proprietary data integration, notification and response system. It is a comprehensive receivables management communication tool for companies in the collections, utilities, financial services, insurance, healthcare and telecommunications fields, among others. DIVDAT is located in Ferndale, Mich. For more information, visit www.divdat.com.

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Bharatbook.com Included New Report On "Collections and Debt Management In UK Personal Lending" In Its Market Report

2009-11-05T08:35:07-07:00

The current economic downturn is forcing many banks to rethink their debt management and collections strategies as more individuals become unemployed and unable to repay their loans.

Scope of this research

Analyzes the current personal loan market performance and provides forward looking estimates for the non-standard population up to 2013.

Assesses the process of debt management and recovery and provides analysis on how it can be enhanced throughout the current climate.

Research and analysis highlights

Generally, financial institutions do not invest in debt collection activity until there is an economic downturn. Devoting resources towards improving debt recovery generates an income stream that would otherwise be lost.

The single biggest obstacle for any bank offering a personal loan is assessing the likelihood of a potential default. To help eliminate this problem there needs to be a more rigorous lending criteria and a greater degree of customer data sharing.

Banks are offering advice on budgeting and financial maintenance to help reduce the threat of delinquency, especially for individuals in difficult situations.

Key reasons to purchase this research

Sizes and forecasts the non-standard population as well as providing historical data for the personal lending market in the UK.

Describes in detail the process of debt recovery for borrowers who have fallen into repayment difficulties.

Offers insight and recommendations for enhancing debt management and recovery strategies.

To know more and to buy a copy of your report feel free to visit : http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Collections-and-debt-management-in-UK-personal-lending.html

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Small Businesses Turn To Bibby Financial Services As Credit Card Pricing Soars

2009-11-05T08:35:06-07:00

Chicago, IL -- Small and medium-sized businesses throughout the country are seeing sticker shock from credit card interest rate increases and they are beginning to seek out alternative and more affordable financing sources, including accounts receivable financing, Bibby Financial Services (www.bibbyusa.com) CEO Stewart Chesters said.

"Credit cards have been an important financing source for businesses especially during this period of constrained capital. But some credit card companies are hiking their interest rates in advance of tougher regulations that will hit the industry in February; the result has been especially brutal for small and medium sized businesses that may depend on their credit cards for cash flow coverage while they wait for their invoices to be paid," Chesters said. "We are clearly seeing an uptick in our accounts receivable financing business from companies of all sizes as a result of concern about what's happening with their credit card pricing."

With impending changes in the credit card industry, companies are turning to factoring as a reasonably-priced alternative to fill cash-flow gaps so they can pursue growth opportunities. Here are some differences between the two types of financing:

In accounts receivable financing (http://www.bibbyusa.com/what-we-do/products/receivables-funding.aspx), as the amount of receivables increases the amount of the advance can increase. But a credit card company can reduce borrowing limits without any warning.

In accounts receivable financing, fees are known in advance and they are straight forward. Credit card fees and prices can increase or be applied more randomly.

In accounts receivable financing factoring is not considered debt; funds can be used to pay-off existing lenders. Credit card financing is debt that can be a non-ending cycle and hurt your credit ratings.

"Small businesses are starting to get notices in the mail about sizable jumps in their credit card interest rates, and the reality is hitting them that this could become a very expensive, unpleasant and ongoing form of borrowing with serious consequences. Factoring has become more attractive as a result, propelling it into the frontlines of financing options," Chesters added. 'Because we advance money against a company's outstanding receivables (http://www.bibbyusa.com/why-choose-us/case-studies/homeline-case-study.aspx), we are concerned with the ability of their customers to pay their invoices, rather than our client's own profit and loss statement. It make us more flexible and responsive to our customers as they strive to fulfill their business opportunities."

Bibby Financial Services (www.bibbyusa.com) is a worldwide market leading specialist of business cash flow solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. With offices in 10 North American cities and 27 countries around the world, its product portfolio includes receivables finance, factoring, exprot finance, purchse order financae, specilist solutions for the staffing andt trucking secors, and is an approvecd lender for the Export-Import Bank's working capital guaranty delegated authority program. Bibby Financial Services is a subsidiary of "The BIbby Line Group, a 202 year-old privately held company based in the United Kingdom. Please visit us at Facebook and for expert advice on small business plese visit CEO Stewart Chesters' blog.