Collections & Credit Risk articles from October 2007

Collections & Credit Risk archives from October 2007

Heightened Drama in Housing.
October 1, 2007... The U.S. government, in all its permutations and on up to the White House, has been fixated on mortgage lending these past few months. CCR began covering the delinquency/default trend more than a year ago (September 2006). Doomsayers predict...

FHA Program to Help Homeowners in Default.
October 1, 2007... After noting that the government would not bail out lenders - because that "would only encourage a recurrence of the problem" - President Bush announced a new program recently that will help about 240,000 families avoid foreclosure on their...

Industry Briefs.
October 1, 2007... Transcom WorldWide S.A., a debt collection and customer relationship management firm based in Luxembourg, has acquired NuComm International, a Canadian call center operator, for U.S. $84.8 million. Transcom also acquired IS Inkasso Service...

M&A, IPO Activities Pepper the Healthcare Receivables Market.
October 1, 2007... When Mumbai, India-based giant Firstsource announced in late August it was acquiring healthcare revenue cycle management company MedAssist Holding Inc., the CEO told an Indian newspaper that it was the "inefficiencies prevailing in the...

Mortgage Market: Wave of Worry: The domino effect of lax lending standards has reached financial markets - aside from homeowners already bailing water - but some industry participants see creativity as a tool toward sunnier shores.
October 1, 2007... While the Dow bounces between 13,000 and the magical 14,000, news stories are breaking daily about the latest on the credit crunch. It seems the markets - not to mention lenders and collections agencies - just can't seem to shake worries over...

Proposed Legislation And Regulation Seek To Help Mortgage Borrowers.
October 1, 2007... According to an Experian/Gallup Personal Credit Index poll conducted in May 2007, 57% of consumers believe the federal government should pass new legislation to help subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure. At least a few policymakers in...

You Talkin' to Me?: Talk is not cheap, as it turns out. As communications tools become more sophisticated, users must fully integrate their communications platforms. Otherwise, they fail to maximize the technologies' capabilities while spending more for less.
October 1, 2007... Placing phone calls and sending letters to debtors has traditionally been the heart of any collections strategy. As a result, most agencies needed little more than a predictive dialer and software to manage their mailings. But in today's...

Bankruptcy Reform: Two Years Later: When Congress overhauled the bankruptcy code in 2005, it was with the intention of making consumers think twice before filing as well as pushing debtors toward Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7 plans. Two years later, the law is not quite working out the way Congress intended, say experts.
October 1, 2007... Sam Gerdano, president of the American Bankruptcy Institute, puts it this way: "The wave hasn't gone back into the ocean yet." The 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), a 500-page document that...

Viva la Oportunidad: Mexico has proven itself to be a vital and integral ally in U.S. business activities. That symbiosis, and its advantages, is reaching the credit risk and accounts receivable management markets.
October 1, 2007... The experience of Euler Hermes ACI, a global provider of credit insurance for domestic and export trade, is telling. It is the No. 2 credit insurance provider in Mexico with a 24% market share, according to Arjan Van de Wall, senior vice...

Juggling Act: Combining consumer and commercial collections under one roof does the trick for certain collection shops.
October 1, 2007... As the industry broadens, a growing number of agencies are increasing the scope of their opportunities by juggling both consumer and commercial collections. The dual approach doesn't appeal to the vast majority of agencies that are firmly...

Thinking Big: Diversified services, partnerships and flexibility have allowed a small agency to scale up and service blue-chip creditors.
October 1, 2007... There are agencies that cater to niche markets or narrowly focus on one service offering. Then there are those that strive for a broader approach. First Financial Asset Management Inc. is in the latter category. Founded in February 2002,...

A Family Affair.(First Financial)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... A majority of First Financial's management talent resides within one family. "On the one hand, we're a family-run business, while having an extremely broad range of experience," says Matthew Maloney, senior vice president. He's only 30 but...

Avoid FDCPA Violations: The only fish that gets caught is the one that goes for the bait.
October 1, 2007... There's been talk lately by collectors and debtors on ways to "set up" a collector for a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in order to avoid paying a debt. It is my opinion that a collector won't be set up for a violation...

Advertising and Service Contacts for Collections & Credit Risk and Credit & Collections World.(Directory)
October 1, 2007... Advertising Associate Publisher Brenda Schultheis 550 West Van Buren, Suite 1100 Chicago, Illinois 60607 Brenda.Schultheissourcemedia.com (847) 251-1588 Fax: (847) 251-0887 Advertising Sales Manager ...

Household Debt Service and Financial Obligations Ratios.
October 1, 2007... Key to Chart The household debt service ratio (DSR) is an estimate of the ratio of debt payments to Americans' disposable personal income. Debt payments consist of the estimated required payments on outstanding mortgage and consumer debt....