Daily Digest - August 25, 2025

EDITOR’S NOTE: So, you know how some times you swear you sent an email, only to find it in your drafts folder hours later? Sorry for the delay …

🎉🎂 Happy Birthday to: Ana Ventura of Resident Interface, Nikki Noyes of The Bureaus, Maggi Spencer of Equifax, Eric Bergeon of MedCycle Management, Stephen Varner of Professional Receivable Solutions, Thomas Hamilton of American Lawyers Company, Stephen Ryerson of CogoFi, and Robbie Myers of Cascade365. Happy belated Birthday to: Wassim Nimetallah of LJ Ross Associates (Aug. 24), Erik Patterson of Contract Callers (Aug. 24), Jay Woulfe CCE of Vibracoustic (Aug. 23), and Nevenka Pavlovic of Midland Credit Management (Aug. 23).

🎉 Congratulations to: Kenneth Honerkamp for starting new position as Collections Supervisor at Achieve, and Daniel Frisicaro as Director of Compliance at American Coradius International.

🔖 🎓 Now with CLE Credits!

Bloomberg: CFPB Accelerates Closure of Supervisory Issues Amid Impending Mass Layoffs

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is closing nearly all of its roughly 2,000 outstanding “matters requiring attention” (MRAs), a move driven by the potentially imminent firing of nearly 90% of the agency’s employees, according to a published report.

• More details here.

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY‘S WEBINAR

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Financial Ed Boom: How States Are Arming Teens

• As the new school year kicks off, more states are mandating financial education for high schoolers, a move that could reshape how young adults handle money and interact with creditors, according to a report from the National Endowment for Financial Education.

• More details here.

How Conversational AI Can Boost Efficiency

• Conversational AI is transforming how companies in the credit and collection industry engage with consumers. By leveraging intelligent chatbots, organizations like SoFi and Galileo have slashed response times by 65% and reduced chat drop-offs by 50%, driving efficiency while building trust, according to a published report.

• More details here.

Litigation Privilege Shields Collections Actions in Oregon FDCPA Case

• In a case that was originally filed nearly a decade ago and is finally seeing the light of day after other suits filed by the same plaintiffs were played out in District Court and before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a District Court judge in Oregon has adopted a Magistrate Court judge’s recommendation not to allow the plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case.

• More details here.

WORTH NOTING: How to prepare for a job interview that may be run by a chatbot or artificial intelligence ... Meet the man behind a $13 billion tech agenda at Bank of America ... How people in America are fighting back against the rising cost of living ... How to make sure you have enough access to electricity when you are on the road ... Something to try -- based on neuroscience -- if you want your kids to behave ... A former SWAT team commander with lessons on how to lead during a crisis ... Apparently, it's never too early to start making college football bowl predictions ... How families can save money during back-to-school season.

Music Monday, part I

Music Monday, Part II

Webinar Recap: Does Baiting Still Exists? How to Spot it in a Digital Engagement

In a recent webinar sponsored by TCN, industry experts explored the evolving risks of consumer “baiting” in the age of digital engagement. What was once primarily a phone-based issue has now spread to text messages, emails, chatbots, and AI-driven interactions—making it more complex for collection agencies to stay compliant.

Panelists John Bedard, Crystal Duplay, Meghan Jean, and McKay Bird discussed how baiting occurs when consumers or their representatives attempt to trap collectors into compliance mistakes—whether to erase debt, damage credit reporting, or pursue legal action. With the rise of social media tutorials and AI tools, baiting has become more prevalent, subtle, and sophisticated.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

1. Train Humans and Machines to Recognize Traps
   Collectors must receive ongoing training to spot baiting tactics, such as ambiguous refusals to pay or misleading identity confirmations. At the same time, chatbots and AI must be programmed with safeguards and “off ramps” to avoid being exploited.

2. Strengthen Compliance with Smarter Technology
   Consumers may manipulate digital channels by misspelling “STOP,” using emojis, or sending vague messages to trigger missteps. Agencies should involve IT teams in compliance processes to build logic and AI models capable of interpreting nonstandard inputs and preventing accidental violations.

3. Escalate and Document Suspected Baiting
   When baiting is suspected, agents should stop engagement, escalate the case to compliance, and thoroughly document the interaction. This helps mitigate legal risk and ensures higher-risk accounts are flagged for special handling.

As the panel emphasized, baiting hasn’t disappeared—it has simply evolved. Agencies must adapt by combining strong compliance practices, ongoing training, and advanced technology to protect their organizations and maintain consumer trust.

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN