Daily Digest - May 26, 2026

🎂 Happy Birthday to: Tonia Brown of Everchain, Nicolette V. Rozas of Midland Credit Management, Shazeen Mohammad of Orbita Capital Group, Jen Monteleone of Coast Professional, and Anna Garcia of Steel River Systems. Happy belated Birthday to: Corey Bush of Repay (May 25), Mark Hutchins of Credit One Bank (May 25), Christopher Witsil of Affirm (May 25), Mica Heavener of Goldman Sachs (May 25), Peter Lyons of Firstsource (May 25), Josh Albrecht of Slate (May 24), Tim Woudenberg of Creditors Bureau USA (May 24), Alissa Banks of CompuMail (May 23), and Laurie Christiansen of Santander (May 23).

🎉Congratulations for starting new positions: Jose Iregui as Principal Vice President Indirect lending at Lafayette Federal Credit Union, Ryan Henry as Probate Department Manager at SIMM Associates, and Chris Wydo as SVP of Business Development & Marketing at UCB.

Logo Madness!

It’s time to crown the best logo in the industry. Full bracket available here so you can track the competition. Click on the link underneath the logo to choose your winner. Voting is open for 24 hours.

Collector Facing FDCPA Class Action over Alleged Missing Interest Statement, Conflicting SOL Disclosures

• A collection operation is facing a class-action Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuit over a claim that was very popular years ago but hasn’t been seen much recently, while also being accused of making “conflicting” and “ambiguous” disclosures related to the age of the debt and what could happen if a payment was made.

• More details here.

• This series is sponsored by WebRecon

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY’S WEBINAR

UPCOMING WEBINARS

CU Wins Arbitration Confirmation After Court Rejects Claim of Unfair Hearing in FDCPA Case

• A District Court judge in Indiana has confirmed an arbitration award in favor of a credit union and denied a borrower’s motion to vacate, finding the arbitrator conducted a fair process and that an alleged verbal agreement to hold off on repossession was unenforceable under Indiana law.

• More details here.

CareCloud’s AI Front Desk Is Handling 80% of Calls. Doctors Are Asking to Talk to It.

• CareCloud, a health care technology company serving more than 45,000 providers across the U.S., is deploying an agentic AI voice agent called stratusAI that is intercepting and resolving the majority of inbound patient calls without human intervention, and early results from live customers suggest the technology is working well enough that some patients do not realize they are talking to a machine.

• More details here.

Banking Groups Push Regulators to Modernize Vendor Oversight Rules as AI Reshapes Third-Party Risk

• Four major financial services trade groups released a joint report last week calling on federal banking regulators to overhaul how they supervise banks’ relationships with technology vendors and third-party vendors. The report, produced by the Consumer Bankers Association, American Fintech Council, Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards, and Independent Community Bankers of America, argues that the supervisory framework governing third-party risk management (TPRM) is increasingly misaligned with how banks actually operate today.

• More details here.

Texas Appeals Court Affirms Summary Judgment for Creditor in Breach of Contract Case

• A Texas appellate court has affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment in favor of a credit card issuer on a breach of contract claim, finding the bank conclusively established its entitlement to judgment and the defendant failed to raise any genuine issue of material fact over a collection lawsuit that it filed to recover an unpaid debt.

• More details here.

Job Applicant Wrongly Marked Dead Loses FCRA Suit After Only Evidence Barred from Trial

• A District Court judge in Illinois has granted summary judgment in favor of a credit reporting agency in a Fair Credit Reporting Act case brought by a job applicant who was erroneously reported as deceased, after the judge found the plaintiff’s sole piece of supporting evidence was inadmissible at trial.

• More details here.

Compliance Digest – May 26

• Check out this week’s Compliance Digest, featuring Cooper Walker on Illinois courts applying standing requirements to FDCPA envelope disclosure claims, Monica Littman on a ruling allowing FDCPA validation notices to be delivered through text-message hyperlinks, and James Schultz on the growing importance of the “objectively and readily verifiable” standard in FCRA disputes. Additional insights came from Jason Tompkins on courts refusing to turn CRAs into tribunals for contractual disputes, Joann Needleman on California’s appointment of former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to lead its new consumer protection agency, Stacy Rodriguez on arbitration clauses and FDCPA litigation strategy, and Loraine Lyons and Nick Prola on courts pushing back against AI-generated fake legal citations in FCRA lawsuits. Also included are analyses from Akeela White on certified FCRA identity theft block class actions, Brit Suttell on the risks of informal settlement negotiations, Laurie Nelson on Vermont’s coerced debt legislation, John Marees on fraud disputes that fall outside the FCRA’s scope, Bill Marohn on Connecticut’s proposed joint-account exemption changes, Vaishali Rao on sweeping student loan rule changes, and Marty Stern on the FCC’s advancing KYC proposal for high-volume voice providers.

• More details here

• This series is sponsored by Frost Echols

WORTH NOTING: Eight different places in the United States that will pay you up to $19,000 to move there ... JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon on how AI is going to impact every role in financial services ... Breaking down the pope's 200-page document on artificial intelligence ... The hilarious history of the word "ok" ... Ranking all of the musical guests from this past season's episodes of "Saturday Night Live" ... Firing employees to fund automation is backfiring on corporate America ... Is it bad to use a laptop on your lap? ... Everyone wants transparency, until it's time to take responsibility.

Trailer Tuesday, part I

Trailer Tuesday, Part II

Webinar Recap: Confessions of a Tech Consultant: Ask us Anything (we'll invoice you later)!

In a lively webinar hosted by Mike Gibb of AccountsRecovery.net and sponsored by CSS Impact, a panel of technology consultants shared candid insights into the realities of system conversions, AI adoption, and vendor selection in the collections industry. The discussion highlighted both the opportunities and pitfalls agencies face when modernizing their technology stack.

Panelists emphasized that while many agencies are eager to embrace AI, most struggle with readiness. As Michael Dry noted, “People can want AI and think they need it, but actually is their wider organization set up for that?” Others pointed out that automation and robotic process automation (RPA) often deliver more immediate value than complex AI pilots. Mergers and acquisitions were also flagged as a driver of data conversions, with Chris Ball summing up: “Most of our projects this year are merging new acquisitions into existing business processes.”

The consultants urged agencies to stress-test vendor demos with real use cases rather than relying on polished presentations. As Matt Scott advised, “Provide the software vendor a use case… show me how your system solves these issues.” The conversation also touched on the ongoing debate between cloud and on-premise deployments, with panelists noting that “cloud” can mean very different things depending on vendor definitions and configurations.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Assess readiness before investing in AI or new systems: Ensure processes, documentation, and data integrity are in place to avoid costly failures.

• Focus on automation and RPA for efficiency gains: Many challenges attributed to AI can be solved more effectively with process automation.

• Demand proof beyond polished demos: Use real operational scenarios to evaluate whether a vendor’s system can truly meet your needs.

This session underscored that modernization is essential, but success depends on preparation, clarity of objectives, and disciplined vendor evaluation. For agencies navigating technology upgrades, the message was clear: readiness and strategy matter more than chasing the latest buzzword.

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