A Peek at the Disturbing Fine Print of a Debt Settlement Contract

Those of us who have witnessed the frustration of consumers who have paid money to a debt settlement company only to find out their debt hasn’t actually been paid down may have wondered how the consumer got there. Were they tricked? Or did they understand what they were signing up for? A party to one of these agreements recently shared the complete process and unredacted debt settlement agreement with me. The fine print was shocking. Though this can only be directly tied to one debt settlement company, I suspect this agreement is not unique.

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LJ Ross Associates Partners with Skit.ai to Leverage Voice AI for Call Automation and Compete with Larger Agencies Across All States

NEW YORK, NY -- Skit.ai, the leading conversational voice AI solution provider in the ARM industry, announced today its strategic partnership with LJ Ross Associates, a 30-year-old collection agency successfully managing revenue recovery programs. The partnership with Skit.ai provides LJ Ross Associates with a unique competitive edge, enabling seamless scalability and agile, efficient operations fueled by state-of-the-art voice AI technology.

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If Consumers are “Clueless” About Arbitration, it’s Not Industry’s Fault

On July 26, 2023, Professor Jeff Sovern of St. John’s University School of Law published a blog post discussing a new empirical study by Roseanna Sommers, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, dealing with consumer understanding of predispute arbitration agreements.  According to Professor Sovern, the Sommers study augments his earlier (2014) study of this subject and confirms that “consumers are generally unaware of whether their contracts contain arbitration clauses, and consumers who have agreed to such clauses tend to hold mistaken beliefs about their procedural rights ….” This week, in a follow-up blog post concerning the Sommers study, Professor Sovern asserts that consumers are “clueless” about arbitration opt-out provisions because companies use “dark patterns” on their websites to mislead them.

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Tara Malcolm Promoted to Vice President of Operations at Coast Professional, Inc.

Geneseo, NY – Coast Professional, Inc. (Coast), a leader in the accounts receivable management and contact center industries, proudly announces the promotion of Tara Malcolm to the position of Vice President of Operations. With two decades of industry experience, Ms. Malcolm's unwavering dedication and leadership have been instrumental to the company's success.

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Judge grants MSJ in class action over disputed debt investigation

On July 28, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant third-party debt collector in an FCRA and FDCPA putative class action, holding that the defendant carried out a reasonable investigation following plaintiff’s dispute of the debt it had reported to credit reporting agencies (CRAs) and that the plaintiff failed to establish that the defendant knew or should have known that the debt was inaccurate or invalid.

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New York Federal Court Stays CFPB’s Lawsuit Against Indirect Auto Finance Company Pending U.S. Supreme Court Decision in CFPB Funding Case

As discussed here, on January 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the New York Attorney General (NY AG) filed a joint complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Credit Acceptance Corporation (Credit Acceptance), a major subprime indirect auto finance company. The joint complaint alleges that Credit Acceptance pushed dealers to sell cars with hidden interest costs, include add-on products, and inflate prices. On March 14, Credit Acceptance filed a motion to dismiss the complaint.

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Work Smarter, Not Harder - Compliance Sells! The Intersection Between Compliance and Sales

22 August 2023 at 02:00 p.m.

Compliance sells. Sure, your organization gets a chance to talk about its compliance program in response to questionnaires, but are your salespeople armed with this information? Do you have compliance and sales working together so salespeople can tell prospective clients what sets your organization apart and how you’ll help them increase numbers AND protect their brand?

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Featured Resources and Webinars

from insideARM.com

» Reduce Collection Call Costs with Voice AI: Compliant and Easy to Integrate

» A New Kind of Collections Strategy: Empowering Lenders Amid a Shifting Economic Landscape

» Open the Door to SMS Communication for Debt Collection

» The State of Customer Outreach: Top Ten Findings for Collections

» How to Connect with Today’s Digital Consumer

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