Daily Digest - September 12, 2025

 🎉🎂 Happy Birthday to: Kacey Rask of Phillips & Cohen Associates, Jeff Howell of The Cascade365 Family of Companies, Chris Speetzen of Goal Solutions, Denise Brooks of Discover Card, and Jeff Berkson of WebBank.

🎉 Congratulations to the following for starting their new positions: Richard Fernandes as Sales Team Lead at Arkan Financing Broker.

🚨New Training Bytes Video Released!

Check out the newest Training Bytes video! Each week, an expert from the accounts receivable management industry will share how he or she would handle different scenarios that collectors often face. This week, Candace Allen from Williams & Fudge breaks down the most important words that a collector should never use during a conversation with a consumer?. Thanks to Peak Revenue Learning for sponsoring this series! Click on the image below to view this week’s episode!

Fantasy Football!

🏈 🏅There was a good showing for the first week of the DraftKings fantasy contest. If you want to sign up for this week’s contest — the entry fee is $5 — click here.

I hope I am afforded one shameless plug for ComplianceCon. I've tried to provide value and entertainment and something useful with each of these posts, but I saw this one and it called out to me. It's been sitting in my queue for a while and it just felt like today was the day to do it. It was either this or a video of my kids holding empty bowls while laying under blankets in the backseat of my station wagon asking you why you haven't signed up to attend ComplianceCon yet because they are hungry and daddy says that he needs you to register so they can eat.

I am very proud of the line-up of speakers who will be at ComplianceCon and I think the topics are incredibly timely. If you are reading this, chances are you are in the credit and collection industry and you care about operating the right way. If both of those statements are true, then you or someone from your company should be at ComplianceCon. There has never been a broader or deeper collection of compliance expertise anywhere. Learn more at https://compliance-con.com. Hope to see you there.

🔖 🎓 Now with CLE Credits!

Suit Accuses Law Firm of Suing Wrong Consumer Twice

• Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice … the saying goes. A collection law firm is facing allegations that it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it twice served a summons and complaint in a collection lawsuit to an individual who claims she was not the individual who signed the agreement and that not only had she never owned the type of car in question or lived in the state in which the loan was signed, she became Victoria Mitchell two years after the contract was signed after marrying someone with that last name.

• More details here.

• This series is sponsored by WebRecon

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY‘S WEBINAR

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Credit Reporting of Paid Debt Constitutes ‘Discrete’ FDCPA Violations, Judge Rules

• A District Court judge in California has denied a defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case, even though the plaintiff filed this lawsuit two years after receiving a letter from the defendant attempting to collect a debt that had already been paid, ruling that reporting the inaccurate account information to the credit reporting agencies constituted “discrete” violations of the statute.

• More details here.

Judge Tosses FDCPA and TCPA Claims Over ‘Spoofed’ Calls

• A District Court judge in Oklahoma has granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and Oklahoma state law because it used phone numbers with the same area code as the plaintiff’s and because the plaintiff believes the calls were made using an autodialer.

• More details here.

FTC Secures Permanent Ban Against Operators of Student Loan Forgiveness Scam

• The Federal Trade Commission has reached settlements with two individuals accused of running a fraudulent student loan forgiveness scheme, permanently banning them from the debt relief industry and requiring them to turn over more than $2.1 million in assets.

• More details here.

WORTH NOTING: A group of high school seniors have created a chatbot that understands medical bills ... Seven signs it's time to call it quits ... A battle is brewing over whole milk ... Prices might be rising on a lot of things, but one thing that is getting cheaper is gas ... When it comes to your resume, honesty may not be the best policy ... Why you should hire the most experienced person you can afford ... Why it's important to have friends in the workplace ... What makes the difference between good and bad onboarding policies.

Funny Friday, part I

Funny Friday, Part II (definitely NSFW)

Webinar Recap: Using Data and AI to Predict and Prevent Delinquency

In a Prodigal-sponsored webinar, industry leaders explored how data and AI are transforming the way lenders, collection agencies, and financial institutions predict and prevent delinquency. The panel highlighted how traditional credit bureau data is increasingly insufficient and how behavioral, conversational, and real-time data can provide a more complete picture of consumer intent and ability to pay.

Key discussions centered on the importance of experimentation, the rise of conversational AI, and how smaller, more agile organizations can leverage AI as an equalizer despite limited resources. The panel also emphasized the need for compliance, data sharing from origination to collections, and personalized engagement strategies to maximize recovery while improving consumer experience.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Leverage behavioral data: Move beyond static credit bureau reports by incorporating transaction trends, payment behavior, and conversational data into your models.

• Adopt an experimentation mindset: Establish a “test and learn” culture to refine outreach strategies and uncover actionable insights from both known and unknown data.

• Start small with AI tools: Even without large data science teams, begin with accessible analytics or open-source AI tools to build practical, high-ROI use cases.

This webinar reinforced that the future of collections lies in smarter data orchestration, personalization, and AI-driven insights that allow agencies and lenders to engage consumers more effectively and prevent delinquency before it becomes unmanageable.

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN