The Echols Firm, LLC is a proud supporter for the Back the Pack program here in Rock Hill! The team enjoyed another year of helping fill the packs for many Rock Hill area school children.

Back the Pack is a charitable program affiliated with the Rock Hill School District Education Foundation which provides children in need with nutritious, nonperishable food. This program feeds around 600 hungry students per week in our community. The Echols Firm, LLC will continue to support causes which strengthen our local community and offer help to those in need.

Chad Echols was excited to support NACUBO again this year by speaking at their conference in New Orleans. He presented the most recent updates regarding bankruptcy and student agreements, along with the most recent hot topics in the industry.

Chad Echols was excited to support Receivables Management Association International by speaking in their 2019 webinar regarding demand letters and disclosure requirements.

Chad Echols is honored to support the credit and collection industry as ACA International’s selection for Attorney State Chair for the state of South Carolina. This role provides ACA Association Units and ACA members with a legal resource and referral attorney licensed to practice in South Carolina.

The 2018-2019 term marks Chad’s seventh consecutive year serving as ACA International’s South Carolina Attorney State Chair.

The Echols Firm, LLC looks forward to supporting Willaims & Fudge, Inc. at the upcoming Student Loans & Receivables Collection Conference! For more information on registration visit the SLRCC website.

This year we are thrilled to bring back Chad Echols!

A Rock Hill native, Chad graduated in 1998 from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resource Management. He received his law degree in 2002 from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal. Following law school, Chad was a law clerk for the Honorable John C. Hayes III in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina.

Before forming The Echols Firm, LLC, Chad served as Vice President and General Counsel for Williams & Fudge, Inc., a national student loan collection agency located in Rock Hill, and was an attorney with the law firm Hamilton, Martens & Ballou, LLC. He continues to serve as outside general counsel to Williams & Fudge, Inc.

The firm’s practice focuses on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, compliance for collection agencies and debt purchasers, business law, litigation, and commercial collections. He is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association.

A BIG thank you to our Supporting Sponsor, Williams & Fudge and all of our vendors for helping make this possible!

On July 18th & 19th the WSFS conference will return to Portland, Oregon hosted by Portland Community College & Portland State University. The PCC Rock Creek Campus is 12 miles west of downtown Portland in the growing Beaverton-Hillsboro area. The 2018 WSFS Conference agenda will cover a number of higher education hot topics and will provide ample opportunity for professionals in the field to converse and connect.

The WSFS event began as a gathering for PAC-10 schools to come together and discuss common challenges, share ideas, and solutions. Eventually, this 30 year tradition evolved into what it is today; incorporating additional financial services departments from western state schools and partnering with business from all over the U.S. creating a unique and collaborative networking event.

PCC Rock Creek ~ 17705 NW Springville Rd. Portland, OR 97229

Source: https://sites.google.com/a/pdx.edu/western-states-conference/

When you think of the Come-See-Me Festival, you think of spring—but it takes a year-long effort to make this ten-day event happen. Even though the 2018 festival won’t kick off for two weeks, plans are already being made for the 2019 festival, including the official announcement of next year’s chair. On Wednesday, March 28, Chad Echols was introduced as the 2019 Come-See-Me Festival Chair at the Past Chairs’ Breakfast. The event, held at Manchester Meadows, is a time for former chairs and other festival and community leaders to come together and celebrate the past, present, and future of Come-See-Me.

Chad is a second-generation festival chair. His father, Doug Echols, chaired the Come-See-Me Festival in 1985. Chad’s involvement with the festival began eight years ago. Prior to serving as festival vice-chair the past two years, he served as a Team Leader for Tailgate Party & Fireworks, Gourmet Gardens, and the Come-See-Me Road Races.

A graduate of Clemson University and the University of South Carolina School of Law, Chad is a member of the South Carolina Bar and is the founding partner of The Echols Firm in Rock Hill. He currently serves on the York County Clemson Club Board and the Advisory Board for the Upper Palmetto YMCA Camp Cherokee. He also helped found the Cherokee Conservation Corps, a group working to support the capital needs of Camp Cherokee. He previously served in leadership positions with the Good Folks of York County, The Palmetto School at the Children’s Attention Home, Family Promise of York County, the York County Board of Disabilities and Special Needs, and as an Elder at Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Chad and his wife, Anna, live in Rock Hill and have two children, Guy and Liza.

Please join us in congratulating Chad on this honor!

Source: https://www.comeseeme.org/chad-echols-2019-festival-chair/

Chad continues to support the Collection Industry through various speaking engagements at conferences around the country.

Please contact Chad about speaking at an upcoming event in your area.  In 2018 he will present at the following conferences:

National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) 2018 Student Financial Services Conference in Orlando, FL

March 11th through March 13th

Wisconsin Association of Student Business Office Personnel & Administrators (WASBOPA) 2018 Conference in Wisconsin Dells, WI

April 8th through April 10th

Colorado Association of Administrators of Student Loans and Account Receivables (CAASLAR) 2018 Conference in Estes Park, CO

April 11th through April 13th

PacWest Student Financial Services 2018 Conference in Newport Beach, CA

May 16th through May 18th

Western Student Financial Services 2018 Western Regional Conference in Portland, OR

July 17th through July 19th

Williams & Fudge, Inc. 2018 Student Loans and Receivables Collection Conference (SLRCC) in Myrtle Beach, SC

September 23rd through September 27th

Minnesota Collection Network 2018 Annual Mega Conference  in Minneapolis, MN

October 21st through October 24th

Many collection agencies have recently seen an uptick in litigation related to the wording included in their letters regarding interest. It is important to carefully review the law as it continues to rapidly develop since the consumer bar is aggressively filing suit in this arena.

Miller v. McCalla, Raymer, Padrick, Cobb, Nichols, and Clark, L.L.C. is a good starting point when reviewing the language in your letters. 214 F.3d 872 (7th Cir. June 5, 2000). The Miller Court suggested the use of safe-harbor language to prevent FDCPA violations related to the “amount of the debt” provision so long as the information provided is accurate and does not obscure it by adding other confusing information. The Court provided the following language for use:

“As of the date of this letter, you owe $___ [the exact amount due]. Because of interest, late charges, and other charges that may vary from day to day, the amount due on the day you pay may be greater. Hence, if you pay the amount shown above, an adjustment may be necessary after we receive your check, in which event we will inform you before depositing the check for collection. For further information, write the undersigned or call 1-800-[phone number].”

Courts do not require the exact use of this particular disclaimer, but its use provides protection to the entity utilizing it for the “amount of debt” provision.

Avila v. Riexinger & Associates, LLC supports the Miller decision (“…we hold that plaintiffs have stated a claim that the collection notices at issue here are misleading within the meaning of Section 1692e. A reasonable consumer could read the notice and be misled into believing that she could pay her debt in full by paying the amount listed on the notice. In fact, however, if interest is accruing daily, or if there are undisclosed late fees, a consumer who pays the “current balance” stated on the notice will not know whether the debt has been paid in full.”) Ultimately, the Avila court held:

that a debt collector will not be subject to liability under Section 1692e for failing to disclose that the consumer’s balance may increase due to the interest and fees if the collection notice either accurately informs the consumer that the amount of the debt stated in the letter will increase over time, or clearly states that the holder of the debt will accept payment of the amount set forth in full satisfaction of the debt if payment is made by a specified date.

The consumer bar is now pushing the envelope on this topic. They are bringing lawsuits based upon letters sent to debtors that include the safe-harbor language when interest is not actually accruing on the account. The attorneys theorize that the safe-harbor language leads the least sophisticated consumer to believe the account will accrue interest when, in fact, it will not. The consumer bar’s position is the alleged misstatement is made in an attempt to elicit payment from the consumer. The consumer bar is also taking issue with collectors itemizing “collection costs”, “interest”, and “fees” if the account is not actually accruing costs, interest, or fees.

Several courts recently provided rulings in favor of the collection industry. See Bryant v. Aargon Collection Agency, Inc., No. 17-cv-144096, 2017 WL 2955532 (S.D. Fla. June 30, 2017) and Jones v. Professional Finance Company, Inc., No. 17-cv-61435, 2017 WL 6033547 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 4, 2017). The Jones Court stated, in no uncertain terms, that the least sophisticated consumer would not be deceived by the letter at issue when the letter does not falsely state that there are fees associated with the debt; rather, the letter specifically shows no fees are associated with the debt. The Court cleverly pointed out that “the ordinary meaning of 0.00” is “none, zilch, nada.” Id. at *2.

The clearest compliance rule related to letters is to make sure every statement and every word is factually accurate for the specific consumer receiving a letter. While this is operationally difficult, it is not enough for your collection letters to apply to most of the consumers you contact. If you need additional information on this issue, please contact the firm.

Your initial communication with a consumer should not be a voicemail. You may be caught between a rock and a hard place if you do.

Hart v. Credit Control (11th circuit- September 2017) ruled that a Zortman-type voicemail falls within the FDCPA’s definition of a “communication.” That, in turn, triggers the mini-miranda requirement. A voicemail that includes the shortened mini-miranda allowed for subsequent communications is not Zortman compliant.

Under this line of reasoning, a debt collector’s initial communication with a consumer should not be a voicemail (Zortman compliant or otherwise). It creates an unsolvable dilemma between 1692d(6) (third party disclosure) and 1692e(11) (initial communication must have the full mini-miranda). In this ‘initial communication is a voicemail’ scenario, if you comply with 1692d(6), then you arguably violate 1692e(11) and vice versa.

Hart was out of the 11th circuit and every circuit is different, but our overall advice is to make sure the 1692g notice is mailed (and received in a perfect world) before starting calls or, at the very least, before leaving voicemail messages.