Daily Digest - August 3, 2026

🎂 Happy Birthday: F. Brett Baccari of Shark Law Offices. Happy belated Birthday to: Roger Lai of Avtal (August 2), Craig Killian of Belco Community Credit Union (August 1), and Chris Trunnell of Snap Finance (August 1).

🎉Congratulations for starting new positions: Cameron Bathe as Product Manager - MDM at U.S. Bank, Sarai Ramirez as Process Analyst at TrueAccord, Stella Parrott-Beassie as Collections Strategy & Risk Manager at Access Finance Inc., Jeff Berkson as Chief Banking Officer at Flex, Rohit Ranjan as Associate Director at Provana, Sheetal R. Shak-Jani as Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at Continental Finance Company, Matan Elmalam as Co-Founder and CEO at Pulse AI, Kiersten Bateman as Collections Manager at Cherry, and Jonathan Humphries as VP, Enterprise AI Solution Architect at First Hawaiian Bank.

New Digital Communications Report

The industry is optimistic. Placements are expected to climb. Consumers, it turns out, are more ready for digital than the businesses serving them.

New AI Event!

Have you checked out the speakers who are coming to brainstorm? It’s not just a who’s who of the people you have seen on webinars talking about AI, it’s software engineers, AI programmers, and executives who are all-in on the technology and will share their success stories, and not-so-successful stories to prevent you from making the same mistakes.

Buying Debt? In Illinois, That May Make You a Collection Agency, License Required

• An Illinois appeals court has revived a lawsuit accusing a company of operating as an unlicensed collection agency, and the reasoning should make every debt buyer sit up. The defendant argued it was merely enforcing its own security interests through foreclosure, leaning on the Supreme Court's Henson decision for cover. The court wasn't buying it, and one document from the defendant's own files may have sealed the outcome. Find out what it was, and why the court said any fix is the legislature's problem, not its own.

• More details here.

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY’S WEBINAR

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Michigan's Garnishment Rewrite Is Back, and It Goes Further Than You Remember

• The nine-bill package that died in a constitutional standoff between the House Speaker and the governor has returned, and the centerpiece bill would transform collections in Michigan: capped wage garnishments, an automatic $800 deposit account exemption, new bank obligations to shield recent deposits, and a homestead exemption jumping from $3,500 to $125,000. There's also a political price tag attached to getting it passed. See what's in the bill, and what Republicans want in exchange.

• More details here.

Rent Payment Company Just Paid $100,000 for Its Card Fees.

• Colorado's Attorney General has settled with a payment processor over percentage-based card fees, and the theory behind the case reaches beyond landlords and merchants to payment intermediaries themselves. Buried in the complaint: internal figures showing how much revenue jumped when tenants were pushed into fee-generating digital payments. If your operation charges convenience fees through a portal, this one deserves a close read.

• More details here.

Schakowsky Revives Bill to Undo Supreme Court’s Limits on FTC Monetary Relief

• Five years after the Supreme Court unanimously stripped the FTC of its go-to tool for clawing back money from companies it sued, a group of House Democrats is trying again to restore it. The bill would hand the agency explicit authority to seek restitution, refunds, and disgorgement in federal court, with a few new guardrails attached. Its odds in this Congress are one question; what it signals about enforcement priorities heading into 2027 is another.

• More details here.

The Payment Portal Blind Spot: Language Barriers

• A new pair of studies has identified a barrier to digital payment adoption that has nothing to do with technology, and everything to do with something far cheaper to fix. The research found 41% of consumers have struggled with or abandoned an online payment because of it, and 13% say it cost them a service shutoff or cancelled coverage. For anyone managing receivables, the findings carry both a revenue angle and a compliance one regulators have been signaling about for years.

• More details here.

Ind. Appeals Court Rejects Same Defendant’s Second Bid to Undo a Default Judgment

• An Indiana appeals court has rejected a defendant's bid to undo a default judgment obtained by a debt buyer, the second loss for the same defendant against the same plaintiff in two months. The defendant claimed he'd moved out before service and blasted the plaintiff for taking "nearly seven years" to garnish his wages. The court's response, and the contradiction it found in his own motions, is a useful reminder of how these challenges tend to unravel.

• More details here.

Compliance Digest – August 3

• This week's expert commentary covers a lot of ground: an Arizona court sanctioning a litigant for AI-generated fake case citations regardless of intent, a Ninth Circuit ruling on whether e-filing a counterclaim "communicates" it to the world, the CFPB nominee's carefully noncommittal confirmation hearing, new FCC robocall database rules, and a Pennsylvania judge who refused to hunt for truffles in 237 pages of exhibits. Hear what the industry's top compliance minds make of it all.

• More details here

• This series is sponsored by Frost Echols

WORTH NOTING: A look at the five most common scams on social media today ... The conflicting emotions being felt by many parents as a new school year begins ... How one professor caught most of his students using AI on their midterms ... Could Myspace be making a comeback? ... A quick daily exercise to improve your brain at any age ... Careful. There are a lot of people out there trying to sabotage their company's AI ... The vehicles that put consumers the most into debt ... Tips to help you choose the right hobby.

Music Monday, part I

Music Monday, Part II

Webinar Recap: What's Actually Getting Companies Sued Right Now

In a recent webinar, legal experts highlighted the evolving risks driving lawsuits and regulatory actions against creditors and collectors. Technology - particularly AI and automation, has amplified compliance challenges, while digital communication practices and FCRA disputes are becoming major litigation drivers. Panelists stressed that while innovation streamlines operations, it also creates new traps for agencies, debt buyers, and financial institutions. As one panelist noted, “Technology solves a lot of problems, but it creates a lot of new ones.”

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Audit automation and AI systems: Errors in texting or dialing platforms can quickly escalate into systemic compliance failures. Agencies must monitor opt-outs and cease requests beyond simple keywords like “stop.”

• Strengthen dispute investigations under FCRA: Identity theft claims and inaccurate reporting are leading to six-figure demands. Agencies must allocate resources for thorough, individualized reviews rather than relying solely on automated rules.

• Stay ahead of state-specific medical debt laws: Statutes in states like Colorado and Texas can void debts based on provider noncompliance, exposing collectors to class actions. Robust intake and documentation processes are essential.

The litigation landscape is shifting from traditional TCPA claims toward complex FCRA disputes and compliance traps tied to digital communication and medical debt. Agencies and financial institutions must balance efficiency with vigilance, ensuring that automation, training, and compliance frameworks evolve alongside technology. As Kathryn Johnson emphasized, “Maybe training for collectors and our employees is more important now than ever.”

Did you know you can get full access to all of my past webinars, along with transcripts and summaries of each, for only $29/month? Sign up to be a premium subscriber today!

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN