ABI Blog Exchange
Tim Russi played a key role in the company’s transition away from its once-close relationship on General Motors. He will be succeeded by Doug Timmerman, a 32-year Ally veteran.
Read More from: BankThink
Financial institutions are sharing more information with third parties these days, but they need to be cautious about it.
Read More from: BankThink
Randal Quarles found himself in the middle of an issue that typically doesn't fall under a bank regulator's purview.
Read More from: BankThink
Investing in technology has been an important focus for banks. But big questions remain about these investments, including how best to pay for them.
Read More from: BankThink
“We know we've said this before, but we do feel we've put this behind us now,” Joseph DePaolo said Thursday.
Read More from: BankThink
The fresh funding supports the popular fintech trends of encouraging people to save money and “rebundling” alternative banking services.
Read More from: BankThink
The CFPB and OCC are expected to assess a $1 billion fine against Wells Fargo for allegedly overcharging customers for auto insurance and home loans.
Read More from: BankThink
The New York Department of Financial Services is encouraging banks to review ties with the firearms industry.
Read More from: BankThink
The firing happened in 2013 after the staffer gained access to emails from top executives and shared them outside the company, according to a news report.
Read More from: BankThink
Readers react to the Senate overriding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's auto lending guidance, weigh in on House efforts to reform the Dodd-Frank Act and debate technology being used to replace new branches.
Read More from: BankThink
The latest fine from regulators is expected to be leveled against the bank as early as Friday. But it's far from the only penalty it has paid in recent years, and more may be on the way.
Read More from: BankThink
“What debt collector threats should people be afraid of?” was the question my friend bankruptcy attorney Cathy Moran asked.
To which I replied, “Afraid of? Pretty much none of them!”
Because they’re mostly all empty threats.
- You’re not going to jail,
- They are not going to come get you,
- Your credit is not about to be ruined, and
- Who cares if your “account is being referred to the attorneys for review?”
Trust me, I’m actually a former debt collection attorney! None of those threats, even if they happened, changes anything in your tussle with a debt collector.
Read More from: The Soap Box
At the risk of borrowing trouble, I’m looking ahead to changes to the tax laws that may adversely impact pending Chapter 13 cases. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ( probably as appropriately named as the Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act) limits the deductibility of state and local taxes, including property taxes. A […]
The post Tax Changes & Projected Expenses appeared first on Bankruptcy Mastery.
Read More from: Bankruptcy Mastery
Lists of stupid laws are lots of fun, when they don’t really touch your life.
But the law that gags mortgage lenders after bankruptcy isn’t funny.
Preventing lenders from sending mortgage statements to homeowners after bankruptcy just sets families up for foreclosure and rewards servicers with the fees that follow default.
It’s just a stupid result that no one has fixed.
Bankruptcy laws collide
Two clients this week weren’t laughing when two different bankruptcy laws collided:
One law says that the lender’s lien on your home remains enforceable after bankruptcy.
The second law prohibits efforts to collect a debt after bankruptcy.
Read More from: The Soap Box
Last month, I wrote about The Weinstein Co. seeking bankruptcy protection after revelations of serious sexual assault and misconduct on the part of board member, Harvey Weinstein. This misconduct occurred over decades, and remained a well-kept secret due to a document known as a Nondisclosure Agreement, or NDA.
Victims of Harvey Weinstein were required to sign nondisclosure agreements in return for receiving monetary settlements arising from claims of sexual misconduct against Mr. Weinstein. Because the victims were required to stay silent after receiving settlements from the Weinstein Co., per the nondisclosure agreements, the actions of Harvey Weinstein were never brought to light until just recently. Upon announcing its plans to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, The Weinstein Co. announced further that all nondisclosure agreements entered into with victims of Harvey Weinstein will be canceled.
Read More from: Bonds & Botes, P.C.
The weapons of a debt collector are fear, shame, and annoyance.
The weapon delivery system is communication.
Those weapons don’t have to be any more threatening than a plastic toy pistol, if you understand what’s going on.
To use those emotional weapons, the collector needs to get to you, either by phone or in writing.
They need to stir those negative emotions in the hope of getting you to pay them instead of some other pressing need.
Disarming the debt collector
Turns out, you have a weapon of your own.
It’s paper, but it works.
Invoke your legal right to be left alone and you disarm them.
Afraid to answer the phone
The woman on my phone was petrified about the balance on her husband’s credit card.
Read More from: The Soap Box
Here's what all of the commentary I've read has overlooked. Signatures are utterly irrelevant to consumers except to the extent that the slow down the transaction. (Ok, they also require those germaphobes among us to touch a shared pen when we were doing just great with a contactless NFC transaction). The signature requirement has ZERO effect on consumer liability. Federal law already limits consumer liability on unauthorized credit card transactions to $50. But that $50 liability only applies if (1) it is an "accepted card" and (2) the card issuer has provided a means to identify the cardholder, and those limitations mean that consumers are rarely, if ever, actually liable for unauthorized credit card transactions. Put another way, the statute says $50, but it is basically saying $0.
Here's why. First, an "accepted card" means a card that "the cardholder has requested and received..." Most card fraud today is with cloned cards or digits lifted off of cards. I think it's a stretch to call either situation an "accepted card". "Accepted card" would seem to refer to the one and only physical card a consumer has received. If so, then there is no liability whatsoever unless the unauthorized transaction is undertaken with stolen physical card. (Strangely, the CFPB's Official Interpretation of Reg Z doesn't get into this.)
Read More from: Credit Slips
However, mortgage growth and servicing income weren't the only reasons profits rose by double digits at the Dallas bank.
Read More from: BankThink
During an appearance on the CBS Evenings News Wednesday evening, Dimon unveiled new details about the first leg of the New York company's recently announced, multi-city branch expansion.
Read More from: BankThink
The New York bank said it wrote down each taxi medallion loan to a value of $160,000. At their peak, New York City medallions were worth well over $1 million.
Read More from: BankThink