Liability of Being Sued 2

New Address 2

New Code of Conduct 3

Credit Bureau Changes 3

SOCS Anniversaries 4

Southern “Re-Org” 4

CFPB New Rules 4

Hot topics in this issue

Our Mission:

“Betterment”

Our Values:

Respect People

Exceed Expectations

Be a Great Neighbor

Maximize our Client’s ROI

Three locations in Oregon:

2400 Poplar Dr. Medford

541-773-6238

785 NE 7th St. Grants Pass

541-479-9390

536 NE Winchester, Ste D

Roseburg

541-464-8414

800-283-0222

www.socredit.com

Southern's New Medford Office has Drive-

through Service

Southern's new Medford office is a former bank building, equipped with vaults and

drive-through windows. We have been letting customers know about this new option at

our 2400 Poplar Drive. You can assist by letting customers know they can find our of-

fice at the corner of Hwy. 62 and Poplar Drive, near the North Fred Meyer and across

from Best Buy. The response has been significantly positive, as many people are coming

or going to and from work, school, and other appointments and need just a few moments

to drop their payment or pickup some paperwork, all of which can be accomplished at

our new location from the convenience of their vehicle!

Many of our clients are surprised to find out how many people make their payments in-

person in our offices each week. Although we

live in the "digital age" where everything seems to

be at your fingertips and in your smart phone,

many people we work with are paying cash, want

to make sure they get a receipt, or need to talk to

someone about their bills. We often see people

come in with their small children, and we believe this new service will make it much eas-

ier and more convenient for these customers to take care of their business without the

concerns of kids in car seats, napping, or just in a rush to their next appointment. We

hope to announce an Open House at the new office after the first of the year for our cli-

ents to come and visit the office. December 13th was our first day in the new location!

NEWS FOR OREGON’S COLLECTORS AND CREDITORS : WINTER 2016

SO COLLECTION NEWS, WINTER 2016 PAGE 2

Liability of Being Sued for Incorrect Fees and Interest

It is increasingly important to be aware of the interest, fees and finance charges you or your system may be

charging consumers. Creditors need to take a good look at what their financial responsibility forms require com-

pared to what their software programs charge. We have encountered a number of problems in the last year or so, and

plaintiff attorneys are going to get their fee no matter how insignificant the damage. Here are some questions to ask

yourself on how your systems and processes work:

Do you have a signed financial form that charges fees, interest, finance charges for late or non-payment?

Does your software automatically add fees or interest?

Does your office charge fees to non-signors?

Do you rely on signs in your lobby or pre-printed language at the bottom of your invoice or statement to charge

fees or interest?

These are some very important questions to consider when reviewing your

financial policy. Failure to comply with Oregon law on these items can

result in a lawsuit or fine against your company, as well as a lawsuit

against your debt collection company which you may have to pay

for! Here are some important tips to help keep us all in compliance:

Do not charge more than 9% simple interest on defaulted accounts unless you have a written agreement for

more. Only the signor will be responsible for the additional interest.

It doesn't matter if you call it interest, late fees, billing fees, collection costs, or anything else; you MUST have a

signature to charge more than the statutory amount of 9% simple interest.

Is your software putting late fees on your statements when you do not have signed authorization?

If you have a signature, is it the same as what is on your statements?

These are critical issue and all creditors need to make some time to review their processes, forms and software. One

plaintiff lawyer can cost thousands of dollars in fees, even if there are no actual damages.

Southern’s new office in Medford at 2400 Poplar Dr.

Mailing address remains the same at PO Box 4070 Medford OR 97501

PAGE 3 SO COLLECTION NEWS, WINTER 2016

Southern is in the top 2% of collection companies in the U.S.! Since 2008, our firm has been certified as

a Professional Practices Management Systems (PPMS) agency by ACA International. Less than 2% of all

collection companies have earned this certification. This Compliance Management System was created

with a combination of the SAS70 accounting compliance certification plus the SIGMA-6 Continuous

Improvement program created by Motorola in the 1980’s. Add in our A+ rating from the BBB and you

can see that Southern is truly at the very pinnacle of the industry for compliance, security, and service!

ACA International Changes and Updates it's Members Code of Conduct -

Interstate Collections Impacted

ACA International, the largest trade association for debt collectors in the U.S. recently updated it's Code of Conduct for it's members, which changes the way companies interact on interstate collections.

You may be aware that Southern has long used other agencies throughout the country to assist in collecting your bills as customers move from place to place. You may not be aware that each state usually has it's own collection laws and

licensing requirements, thereby limiting the cost-effectiveness for many companies to try to legally collect themselves. For example, Utah prohibits any collecting activity, including credit reporting on Utah residents, unless the collection firm is licensed in Utah. That license requires a physical of-fice and bank account inside the state. Several other states have similar

requirements. ACA's recent change makes it imperative for Southern to get new contracts and agreements with our out-of-state partners in order to put the proper and adequate liability and indemnification limits in place for us

and our clients. One more difficulty we encounter in trying to hire agencies in other states is our commission rates. Southern offers rates that are generally much lower than other companies are willing to work for. Between commission rates,

licensing requirements, compliance standards, and liability concerns, finding partners willing to accept accounts for col-lection is just getting harder every day.

These are some of the reasons Southern added state licenses for Washington and Idaho this year.

Credit Bureaus Limit Information on Con-

sumer Reports

The three major Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA’s) Equifax, Ex-

perian and Trans Union have announced they will significantly limit

or reduce the information placed on a consumer credit report starting

July, 2017. As part of the National Consumer Assistance Plan

(NACP), the CRA’s will no longer report debts that did not originate

with a consumer contract or agreement to pay. This means debts like

fines, tickets, tax liens and many judgments will be removed from

credit reports for millions of consumers.

The NACP also requires at least 180 days from the date of delinquency before a medical debt can be placed

on a consumer’s credit report. Beginning July 2017, all medical debts (including dental debts) will not be

placed on credit bureaus until the account is more than 180 days from the date of charge-off (or delinquency)

according to the primary creditor. That can be an additional 30 – 90 days, depending on the organization’s

policies.

Other aspects of the NACP include higher reporting standards for data furnishers (such as Southern and

other collection agencies), limits to direct marketers, and added protections for consumers who dispute credit

reporting information. The NACP is the result of a settlement between 31 states and the CRA’s.

SO COLLECTION NEWS, WINTER 2016 PAGE 4

Southern’s Anniversaries for 3rd & 4th Quarters —2016

Linda Collins, Operations Manager—34 years

Cheryl Kubik, Legal Dept. Manager—28 years

Gene Obie, Collection Supervisor—23 years

Valerie Brown, Collector—16 years

Justin Watkins, Director of Quality Assurance—15 years

Amanda Knox, Legal Collector—5 years

Kim Gaither, Legal Collector—4 years

T’Nisha Spence, Support Clerk—1 year

Southern does a minor “Re-Org”!

The main reason we moved to a new place is space.

We needed more room for our growing staff and places

to park. Some might think if the collection company is

growing, things in the local economy aren’t going well.

Actually, our recent growth comes from new contracts

and projects by new and existing clients, not from an

increase in local placements.

One of our new contracts is for collections in the north-

ern part of the state, while another major contract is a

local municipality. Compliance and data security are

other reasons we have added staff in recent months.

With the advent of the Consumer Financial Protection

Bureau (CFPB) as well as additional oversight by the

Oregon AG in recent years, compliance has become the

main buzz-word for collection firms and their staff.

To continue to fulfill our

Mission of “Betterment”,

we have taken advantage

of the new space and reor-

ganized a few of our de-

partments and staffing to

better meet these de-

mands. Justin Watkins

has been promoted to Di-

rector of Quality Assur-

ance, moving from his role

in ISD as a web program-

mer. Justin has literally

“grown up” at Southern,

celebrating his 15th anni-

versary this year. We needed someone who knew our

operations, client requirements, systems analysis, as

well as the outside compliance requirements, and he

checked every box! His duties will include overall Qual-

ity Assurance, compliance, vendor management, as well

as Q/A on internal systems and programming.

Also “on the move” with our re-org is Carolyn Thomas,

moving from her role in Client Support and Resolution

Resource to serve fulltime as a Support Clerk. Suzie

Aguilar has moved into the Support Department but

continues to serve as our primary Account Coordinator

for Resolution Resource. Moving staff on the Organiza-

tional Chart as well as physically inside the building has

allowed us to have fulltime staff for walk-in and drive-

through customers at our new office.

CFPB Announces Outline for Debt Collection

Rules

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

announced at a field hearing in Sacramento, California

July 28, 2016 they plan to make it much easier for con-

sumers to dispute their debts with collectors. This was

one of their major themes as they finally announced

what they have been

working on for about 4

years.

In addition to creating

a new form all debt

collectors may have to

use, the CFPB also

wants to make certain

all collectors have the

ability to verify debts

with primary documentation before trying to collect. It

seems a good deal of consumer complaints about debt

collectors focuses on collectors who do not or cannot ver-

ify debts with primary documentation when asked for

it. Although it is already against the law (Fair Debt

Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA) and has been since

1978 to fail to respond to a verification of debt request,

there are too many consumers complaining and not

enough collectors providing these documents (referred

to as an “itemized statement”). Now the CFPB may

require a “scrub” prior to trying to collect a debt.

To see the rest of this article, please go to our website at

www.socredit.com/blog. A link to the CFPB information

is included there as well.