Daily Digest - June 30, 2025

Brought to you by: TCN | By Mike Gibb

Author

Mike Gibb
June 30, 2025

📝 EDITOR’S NOTE: Scroll down to the bottom for a recap and highlights from Friday’s webinars.

🥳 🎂 Happy belated Birthday to: Mark Russell of Corporate Advisory Solutions (Sunday), Marie St. James of Gulf Coast RCM (Sunday), Kim Phan of Troutman Pepper Locke (Saturday), and Andrew Roskam of Acctcorp International (Saturday).

🙌 🎉 Congratulations to: Bruce Godley, the new Operations Manager at Credit Control, and James Jarzynski, who was promoted to SVP of Collections at FORUM Credit Union

The early bird registration deadline for ComplianceCon expires this week! Sign up now and save $100 off the registration price!

💬 Bringing the Industry Closer Together, One Text at a Time

Last Day to Sign Up - New Groups Launch Tomorrow!

I launched a new idea this month — group text chats. We have four groups of 11 going this month and it’s been great watching them get to know each other better and help each other. I will be starting new groups on July 1. If you are interested in participating, please click here.

Logo Madness!

We have a winner!

After thousands of votes, we finally have a winner! Congratulations to Northwest Collectors for winning this year’s Logo Madness tournament! You can see the entire bracket here. Thanks to Drop Cowboy for sponsoring this year’s contest!

Judge Reduces Attorney Fee Award in FDCPA Case by More than 50%

  • A District Court judge in Minnesota has reduced the amount of attorney’s fees awarded to a pair of lawyers representing a plaintiff in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case by more than 50%, pointing out that the only major issue in the case was figuring out how much the lawyers should get paid.

  • More details here.

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY‘S WEBINARS

UPCOMING WEBINARS

AI’s Next Frontier: Emotional Intelligence Becoming Key to Collection-Focused Bots

  • As debt collectors explore using AI to engage consumers, emotional intelligence, not just automation, is becoming the next competitive battleground. New data and tools show a growing emphasis on creating emotionally aware models that can mimic the empathy of human agents.

  • More details here.

CFPB Publishes Plan for Handling Criminal Regulatory Offenses

  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday published a policy statement in the Federal Register describing how it will address criminally liable regulatory offenses, in response to an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump last month. Criminal referrals for violations of consumer finance laws have historically been rare.

  • More details here.

Compliance Digest – June 30

  • Get into the details on the veto of a medical debt collection bill in Nevada and New York expanding its definition of UDAAP and why a law firm didn't meet the definition of a debt collector in this week's Compliance Digest. Expert insights from David Grassi, Heath Morgan, and Jonathan Robbin.

  • More details here.

  • This series is sponsored by Bedard Law Group

WORTH NOTING: A lot of young people admit to not doing this for at least six months ... It's not just you; book covers are all starting to look alike ... If you are looking for a cheap laptop, here is a list of the best that are available right now ... How tariffs may rain on your fireworks parade this week ... Fewer young people at bars want to open tabs, and that is annoying bartenders nationwide ... How Americans are cutting back on their spending when celebrating Independence Day ... What you need to embrace as a replacement to business planning ... Is there a double standard when it comes to who gets to work from home?

Music Monday, part I

Music Monday, Part II

Webinar Recap: Everything You Need to Know About Texas's New Mini-TCPA

🧠 The big picture:
Texas has significantly expanded its mini-TCPA law, increasing the legal risk for companies making marketing calls or sending marketing texts to consumers in the state. The key changes include a new private right of action, broader definitions for what constitutes a “telephone solicitation,” and significantly higher potential damages — as high as $7,500 per call.

⚠️ Why it matters:
Texas is now on the map as a high-risk litigation state for telemarketing activity. While the law technically applies to the sale of goods or services — not to debt collection or purely informational messages — the broad definitions, coupled with the state’s allowance for stacking multiple penalties, mean companies should revisit their current compliance policies immediately.

3 Takeaways for Industry Professionals:

  1. The law now allows lawsuits without agency involvement.
    Previously, consumers had to file complaints through the Texas Attorney General or other agencies before suing. That hurdle is gone. Consumers (and plaintiff’s attorneys) can now file directly in court — expect an uptick in serial filers.

  2. One call could lead to stacked fines.
    Violators face up to $5,000 per call under the Texas statute, plus $1,000 under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and up to $1,500 under the federal TCPA — totaling $7,500 per call. Emotional distress damages may push verdicts even higher.

  3. Marketing messages via text are included.
    The updated definition of “telephone solicitation” now includes texts and MMS messages — if they promote a good or service. Even an image or graphic with a price or call-to-action could trigger liability. Informational messages (like debt collection) are generally excluded but still require consent when using autodialers or prerecorded voices.

📌 Bottom line:
Texas’s new law isn’t just a patch — it’s a signal to other states. Companies marketing to Texas residents should revisit consent policies, scrub lead lists (especially for serial litigators), and vet all vendors carefully.

Did you know that premium subscribers get full access to transcripts, summaries, more highlights, and full recordings of every webinar? That’s thousands of hours of content, available for just $29/month for an individual subscription or $99/month for a company subscription. Click here to subscribe as an individual or email me to sign up your company.

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN