ACA International members, leaders and accounts receivable management industry professionals from across the U.S. gathered in Chicago for the annual conference focused on targeted educational curriculum, regulatory updates and more.
11/9/2018 9:00
Education and solutions to advance businesses in the accounts receivable management industry dominated ACA International’s three-day Fall Forum & Expo Nov. 7-9 in Chicago.
Before the official kickoff, creditor professionals joined ACA International at The Drake Hotel for the brand-new 2018 Creditor Conference Nov. 7 with education tailored to creditors in the accounts receivable management industry. In person and online livestream sessions provided attendees the perfect opportunities to learn about credit and accounts receivable related trends.
The creditor conference turned a new leaf for educational offerings available from ACA, and attendees said they look forward to future opportunities tailored for creditors.
ACA also developed more than 20 sessions as part of the business intelligence, health care and legal curriculums at Fall Forum centered on timely topics and addressing challenges for the accounts receivable management industry.
Setting the stage for the event and year ahead, ACA CEO Mark Neeb engaged with keynote speaker Tom Pahl, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s policy director for research, markets and regulation, in a one-on-one conversation focused on the importance of ACA members making their voices heard as the BCFP moves forward with the debt collection notice of proposed rulemaking expected in March 2019.
“I want to encourage ACA to comment on every issue on which you have interest, concerns [and] things you wish to support,” Pahl said.
Read more on the opening general session with Pahl here.
Highlights from additional sessions include:
Exploring Agentless and Electronic Methods for Communicating with Consumers—Recognizing the Guardrails-E-Sign and Other Considerations with Rozanne Andersen, vice president, chief compliance officer at Ontario Systems LLC, and Kevin Underwood, senior vice president, legal affairs, Alliance Once Receivables Management Inc.
- Implementing disclosures into your terms and conditions avoids a lot of risk; don’t abandon communication requirements as a debt collector when using email to contact a consumer—for example, including your company name in the subject of an email could be identified as third-party disclosure.
Defense Tactics- From the Industry Defense with Michael Klutho, shareholder at Bassford Remele, David Schultz, partner at Hinshaw Culbertson LLP and Jeffrey Turner, president of Surdyk, Dowd and Turner & Co LPA.
- If your company is subject to a lawsuit, do your due diligence when deciding with your attorney if it makes sense to litigate the case and how to win or pursue a settlement. Many consumer cases are settled or dismissed at the early stages. However, some cases cannot be resolved early. Instead, they are litigated through the motion to dismiss, or summary judgment or even the trial and appeal stages. Make sure to evaluate the moving parts in cases, who is the judge, what is the court jurisdiction for the case, who is the opposing counsel?
Primer of Medical Debt Reporting: Focus on Rhone V. Medical Business Bureau (Pending in the Seventh Circuit) with Karen Scheibe Eliason, ACA’s vice president and senior counsel, and Eric Mock, president of Medical Business Bureau.
- Do you report medical debts to credit bureaus, if so, how do you report medical debts? Scheibe Eliason and Mock reviewed legal cases that could create precedent and impact reporting medical debt to credit bureaus; the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s and Federal Trade Commission’s authority to enforce reporting medical debt; liability statutes and state laws.
Making Sense from the ACA v. FCC aftermath – including a Q&A with Leslie Bender, IFCCE, chief strategy officer and general counsel at BCA Financial Services, and Eric Troutman, partner at Womble Bond Dickinson.
- Since the decision in ACA v. FCC, there is inconsistency in cases focused on what constitutes an autodialer. To mitigate risk, the speakers note that industry officials should keep disclosures specific, remain clear as to what you are going to be doing, and who you are calling and why. If you or your creditor clients are too flexible in the purpose of calls, it could be to the detriment of your company.
Insecure About Data Security? with Keith Barthold, CEO of DKBInnovative
- In planning a cyber defense, list the type of threats, determine your assets and then map what the threats are and your data security priorities; a lot of companies believe “it won’t happen to me” when it comes to data breaches, but 80 percent of data breaches happen to small businesses; creditors expect data security plans to be in place when they work with third-party partners.
The Fall Forum & Expo also featured a redesigned exhibit space for vendors working with businesses in the accounts receivable management industry, an important update on the elections from Vice President of Congressional and Political Affairs Rae Ann Bevington and the opportunity for members from across the U.S. to connect and discuss common industry concerns and ideas. To read more on highlights from the 2018 Fall Forum & Expo check out the upcoming January issue of Collector magazine.
ACA International also encourages attendees to share their Fall Forum & Expo experiences on social media using #ACAFallForum18.
Thank you to our Fall Forum sponsors! ACA International would like to acknowledge and thank the event sponsors Solutions by Text, Venable LLP, VoApps, Quantrax Corporation, Telrock and Tracers for their support of this important industry event.
Interested in becoming a sponsor at future ACA events? The 2019 Campus ACA Academy at Spring Forum & Expo is set for March 13-15 in Las Vegas and stay tuned for registration details coming soon. Check ACA International’s website and watch your email inboxes for updates. For more information, please contact Member Services at [email protected] or 800-269-1607.
