ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION

Federal Court agrees, merchant cash advances are Not Loans or Usurious

By now, numerous judges in the New York Supreme Court have concurred that purchases of future receivables are not loans nor usurious, yet challenges to these contracts continue. In the latest landmark ruling, defendants/counterclaim plaintiffs Epazz, Inc., Cynergy Corporation, and Shaun Passley a/k/a Shaun A. Passley, moved to have the original action involving their merchant cash advance dispute transferred from state court to federal court, perhaps hoping for a different opinion on whether such agreements are usurious.

The law was not on their side. In the Southern District of New York, a federal court, the Honorable Louis L. Stanton echoed on May 9th, 2017, what state judges have been saying all along, that a purchase is not a loan because the purchased receipts are not payable absolutely.

The decision relies heavily on the reconciliation clause common to merchant cash advance agreements, whereby merchants can adjust their daily ACH amounts to correlate with their actual sales activity. This concept is explained at length in the Merchant Cash Advance Basics training course.

Furthermore, the court was incredulous over the defendants' claim that they actually wanted loans but were instead fraudulently induced into purchase agreements. Read more at deBANKED

Simple things you can do to protect against ransomware attacks

In the wake of a worldwide cyber attack that has debilitated more than 200,000 organizations in over 150 countries, experts shared tips with ABC News on simple things you can do to help protect yourself against a ransomware attack.

Ransomware is defined as "a type of malicious software, or malware, designed to block access to a computer system until a ransom is paid," according to a 2016 U.S. Department of Homeland Security blog post.

This weekend's unprecedented ransomware attack started Friday, but authorities said Sunday that the worst may be yet to come as many people return to work on Monday .

The U.S. Computers Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) issued specific advice to protect against the recent WannaCry ransomware threat that spread this weekend, saying computer users should "Be careful when clicking directly on links in emails, even if the sender appears to be known."

The U.S. CERT also advised to use caution when opening attachments, and to be "particularly wary of compressed or ZIP file attachments."

Quincy Larson, a software engineer and the founder of freecodecamp.com told ABC News that ransomware is usually spread through your email.

"If you are going to be infected by ransomware, it will happen when you get an email or some other form of message that's asking you to download and run it, and when that file runs, then usually, the attacker will encrypt your hard drive, or encrypt part of your hard drive so that your computer is still operable and you can continue to use it, but you can't access all your files," Larson explained.

Read more at GOOD MORNING AMERICA

Can the consumer watchdog Trump loathes win an Ohio election?

President Donald Trump wants to fire CFPB head Richard Cordray.

Gary Cohn gave Richard Cordray, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an ultimatum over dinner a few weeks ago: Go the easy way, or go the hard way.

Cohn, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, had heard the rumors that Cordray wanted to run for governor in Ohio. He left dinner that night thinking that they were true, according to people familiar with the meeting. So the White House decided to hold off on firing Cordray. Trump didn't want to cause a sensation that could boost his candidacy and juice his fundraising.

Few inside the Beltway provoke as much hostility and condemnation as the pioneering consumer watchdog, who was appointed by President Barack Obama. House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), like Trump, wants him removed. Financial lobbyists fume that he's abusing his power. Even some Democrats are unhappy that he took so long to get wise to the bad behavior of banks like Wells Fargo.

Cordray - whose five-year term expires in July 2018 - has yet to announce his political intentions, and his window for launching a gubernatorial campaign is starting to close. But whether or not Trump ultimately decides to fire him, he may already have enough political support to lead the field to replace Republican Gov. John Kasich in 2018.

While Cordray might look unpopular in Washington, in Ohio he has a far different reputation. If he does run, he could be the only Democratic candidate with the chops to defeat a strong Republican opponent. Read more at POLITICO

Check Into Cash Launched Love Your Heart Campaign for American Heart Month

Check Into Cash's Social Campaign Raises Awareness of America's Number One Killer

CLEVELAND, TN:  Check Into Cash, a national leader in alternative financial services, launched its #LoveYourHeart campaign. February is American Heart Month and Check Into Cash is proud to join the fight against cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

We encourage you to educate yourself about cardiovascular diseases. Heart Disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, and knowledge is the key to prevention and getting treatment. This campaign, which will run throughout February, features the CheckIntoCash.com/LoveYourHeart educational webpage. This page contains vital data, including information about understanding the risks, recognizing the signs, and lowering the threat of heart disease.

"We are proud to support the fight against heart diseases and stroke," said Check Into Cash President Steve Scoggins. "When we're educated about heart disease, we can recognize the signs and limit the risks."

The #LoveYourHeart campaign includes helpful links and resources about heart disease prevention and detection. Visitors are encouraged to share the resources on social media to help spread awareness. Read more at Check Into Cash

Congress Not Using Law to Wipe Out CFPB Prepaid Card Rules

Congress will not use the Congressional Review Act to prohibit the CFPB from issuing rules governing prepaid cards.

The deadline for the House and Senate using the law to affect the rulemaking process expired Thursday.

"When the CFPB originally released its 1,689-page rule, it was entirely too broad and would negatively impact financial products millions of consumers use every day," said Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), in explaining why he didn't push the needed congressional resolution. He went on to say, "Ultimately, the CFPB should have scrapped this rule altogether but we were able to extract significant concessions to narrow its scope."

Congress used the law to eliminate 14 other rules that had been finalized during the closing months of the Obama Administration.

The prepaid rules, which the CFPB finalized in October, would require financial institutions issuing prepaid cards to give consumers upfront information about fees and other details, limit consumer losses when cards are lost or stolen, investigate potential errors and provide other consumer protections.

Credit union groups have argued that the rules are too broad.

The rules were scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1, but the CFPB decided to delay the effective date until April 1, 2018. The delay, the agency said, would give industry participants more time to implement required changes and give the CFPB time to determine if it should change any provisions.

In finalizing that delay, the CFPB said that it already has identified issues that it must address before finalizing the rules. The agency said that some industry participants had said they would have trouble complying with the rules by the original Oct. 1 deadline. Read more at CREDIT UNION TIMES

Supreme Court rules against consumers in debt collection case

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that debt collection companies can't be sued for trying to recover years-old credit card debt from people who seek bankruptcy protection.

The 5-3 ruling is a blow to consumer groups that complain debt collectors are unfairly misleading people into repaying old debts even when they are not required to under the law.

The court sided with Midland Funding, which was trying to collect $1,879 in debt an Alabama woman had incurred more than 10 years earlier. Aleida Johnson argued that Midland was wrong to go after the debt because Alabama law has a six-year statute of limitations for a creditor to collect overdue payments.

While Johnson ultimately avoided paying the debt, a federal appeals court said she could sue Midland for trying to collect it as a violation the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. That law prohibits collection companies from making a "false, deceptive, or misleading representation" or trying to recover debt through "unfair or unconscionable means."

Writing for the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer broke with his liberal colleagues to say efforts to recoup old debt during the bankruptcy process do not violate the law. He said it wasn't false or misleading because bankruptcy law technically allows such claims.

And Breyer said it wasn't unfair or unconscionable since a bankruptcy trustee can object to any claims that are so old they don't have to be repaid. That's what happened in Johnson's case, and Breyer said that reduces any concern that consumers might unwittingly pay a debt that is too old.

Read more at ASSOCIATED PRESS

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