President and Founder of Credit Counsel, Inc.

Chris Mihoulides has been in the debt collection industry for over 20 years. He was born in Long Island, New York, and then moved to Miami to attend St. Thomas University to earn his business degree. During this time he was a participating member of the Men’s Tennis Roster. In 1997 Chris founded Credit Counsel, Inc., where as President, he personally handles all large debt collection matters.

Chris is a driven and skilled professional in the debt collection industry and has negotiated more than $500 million in business transactions. He expertly creates customized strategies to meet client needs with a strong analytical capacity and organizational skills. His 20+ years of business experience equips him to solve problems and negotiate transactions between companies in hundreds of industries in every region of the world. He knows the inner workings of large corporations, small mom & pop companies, and everything in between.

Chris is an avid follower of sports being a fan of the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Florida Panthers.

Credit Counsel, Inc. 

Health Survey Shows Decline in Consumers Having Trouble With Medical Bills

Data from the first six months of this year show a decrease in the percentage of consumers having problems paying medical bills, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Overall, the percentage of consumers under age 65 in families having problems paying medical bills declined from 21.3 percent (56.5 million) in 2011 to 16.2 percent (43.8 million) in the first half of this year, according to the survey.

Changes in the insured rate also occurred during this time period. In the first six months of 2016, 28.1 million persons under age 65 were uninsured at the time of interview—17.8 million fewer persons than in 2011 (17.3 percent) but only 0.3 million fewer persons than in 2015.
http://bit.ly/2g7FnyV

Credit Cards, Auto and Student Loans Cause ‘Modest’ Increase in Household Debt

Total household debt reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York increased slightly in the third quarter this year, influenced by an uptick in credit card, student loan and auto loan balances while mortgage balances declined.

The Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit is based on data from the Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel, which includes a group of individual and household debt and credit reports from anonymized Equifax data.

Overall, total household debt increased “modestly” by 0.5 percent, or $63 billion, to $12.35 trillion in the third quarter, according to a news release from the Fed.

Credit card balances increased 2.5 percent, or by $18 billion, to $747 billion and student loans increased 1.6 percent, by $20 billion, to $1.28 trillion. Auto loan balances increased the most among non-housing debt by 2.9 percent, or $32 billion, to $1.14 trillion, according to the report.

http://nyfed.org/2gu3S9C

Federal Appeals Court Hears Oral Arguments in ACA Lawsuit against the FCC

In a hearing that just concluded this afternoon in Washington DC, a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Circuit of the Federal Court of Appeals, composed of Judges Sri Srinivasan, Nina Pillard, and Senior Circuit Judge and Chief Judge Emeritus Harry Edwards, heard the much-anticipated oral arguments in ACA International, et al. v. FCC. The ACA Int’l consolidated appeal challenges the validity of the Federal Communication Commission’s oft-criticized rule changes and interpretations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in its July 10, 2015 Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order.

ACA and the other petitioners strategically focused critical arguments on three core areas related to the FCC’s Order – the definition of an “automatic telephone dialing system,” the identity of the “called party,” and the means by which consent can be revoked. During the oral arguments, which lasted nearly three hours, there were a number of questions raised by the judges related to these important issues.

ACA’s CEO, Pat Morris, Vice President and General Counsel, Robert L. Föehl, and Regulatory Counsel, Maria Wolvin, attended oral arguments. “The oral arguments in our case against the FCC are the culmination of 15 months of intense work and preparation,” Föehl stated. “We made powerful arguments before a panel of engaged judges who appeared to understand the complexity of the TCPA and the issues resulting from the FCC’s 2015 ruling. Now we wait patiently for their informed decision.”

The oral arguments were the next step in the legal process for this case. ACA filed the first petition for review within hours after the FCC issued the TCPA Order in July, 2015. ACA argued in its petition that the FCC’s exercise of regulatory authority expanded the scope and reach of the TCPA in a way that Congress never intended – leaving a law in place that hurts legitimate, law-abiding business. ACA’s appeal, as well as the subsequent appeals filed by nine other businesses and organizations, were later centralized in the D.C. Circuit by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

Federal Appeals Court Rules CFPB is Unconstitutionally Structured

The D.C. Circuit Court found that the CFPB’s concentration of enormous power in a single, unaccountable, unchecked Director is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure is unconstitutional because its director retains too much power. In its 110-page ruling in the case PHH Corporation, et al. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, No. 15-1177, 2016 WL (D.C.Cir. Oct. 11, 2016), the court threw out the CFPB’s $109 million fine against PHH Corp., but said the bureau can continue to operate under the president’s supervision.

The case stemmed from a 2014 enforcement action in which the CFPB claimed that PHH Corp. violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act by participating in a mortgage insurance kickback scheme for more than a decade. When the D.C. Circuit Court heard the case in April 2016, judges asked the CFPB’s lawyers to prepare to answer questions about the bureau’s leadership such as “What independent agencies now or historically have been headed by a single person?” and “If an independent agency headed by a single person violates Article II [of the Constitution] … what would the appropriate remedy be?”
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau survived a constitutional challenge and will remain in business.

Credit Card Balances Influence Increase in Household Debt

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Household Debt and Credit report shows credit card debt is increasing while overall credit card use and delinquency rates decline. Household debt increased in the second quarter 2016, primarily due to a rise in auto loan and credit card debt as of June 30. Overall household debt increased by $35 billion to $12.29 trillion in the second quarter. Total household debt remains at 3.1 percent below its peak of $12.68 trillion in third quarter 2008, but it is 10.2 percent above reports from second quarter 2013.

Credit card debt increased $17 billion to $729 billion; however it is still lagging behind the high of $866 billion reached in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a blog post by the Fed accompanying the report. While credit card balances increased, credit card delinquency rates improved to 7.2 percent in the second quarter compared to 7.6 percent in the first quarter. More info here: http://nyfed.org/2bjo8tl

Total Bankruptcy Filings Decline in July

Despite the overall decline, commercial filings continue to increase, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Total bankruptcy filings declined in July compared to July 2015 as well as to figures in June this year, according to a news release from the American Bankruptcy Institute and data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc.
The total bankruptcy filings declined 15 percent to 61,308 in July this year, compared to 71,875 in July 2015. There were 53,386 consumer filings in July, a 16 percent from 69,214 in July 2015.
Total commercial bankruptcy filings, however, increased 10 percent to 2,922 in July 2016 compared to 2,661 in July 2015.“July is the ninth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in commercial filings. However, total commercial chapter 11 filings decreased in July 2016, as the 355 filings were 45 percent less than the 645 commercial chapter 11 filings registered in July 2015,” according to the news release.
“Businesses facing financial headwinds continue to turn to the financial fresh start of bankruptcy,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “Driven by distress in the energy and retail sectors, commercial bankruptcy filings for 2016 will likely total close to 40,000.”
The American Bankruptcy Institute also reports that the average nationwide per capita bankruptcy-filing rate in July was 2.53 (total filings per 1,000 per population); a slight decrease from the filing rate of 2.56 percent recorded in the first half of this year. There were 1,978 average total filings per day in July 2016, a 15 percent decrease from 2,319 per day in July 2015.
States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) through the first six months of 2016 include: Tennessee (5.56); Alabama (5.34); Georgia (4.62); Illinois (4.21); and Utah (4.10.)

Debt Collection Litigation, Except FDCPA cases, Increases in December

Consumer litigation cases and complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in December 2015 contributed to record highs for both last year, but the month-to-month results did not surpass those from November. 
From November to December 2015, TCPA and FCRA cases increased by 5.9 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively; FDCPA case filings declined by 3.5 percent. There were 273 TCPA cases in November, compared to 289 in December, and 377 and 398 FCRA cases, respectively, during the same time period. There were 827 FDCPA cases in December, compared to 857 in November.
Of all the cases in December, there were about 1,275 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit.) Of those plaintiffs, about 496 (39 percent) had sued under consumer statutes before.
 There were 2,686 complaints filed against debt collectors to the CFPB in December, and collection agencies responded to 93 percent (2,503) of those complaints in a timely manner. 
The most reported consumer concern continues to be contact about a debt they do not believe they owe (43 percent), followed by disclosure verification of debt (19 percent) and communications tactics (17 percent.)
The top five sub-issues in debt collection complaints were:

• Debt is not mine (26 percent)
• Frequent or repeated calls (12 percent)
• Not given enough information to verify debt (11 percent)
• Debt was paid (11 percent)
• Right to dispute notice not received (7 percent)

The highest number of identifiable complaints also continues to be in the “other” category for expenses such as phone bills or health club memberships, with 791 complaints (29 percent) in that category last month, according to the report. Credit card debt resulted in 565 complaints (21 percent) and 541 consumers reported they did not know about the type of debt (20 percent) followed by 438 complaints (16 percent) about medical debt.

Bankruptcy Filings Declined 10 Percent in 2015

Total bankruptcy filings in the U.S. reached 819,240 for calendar year 2015, a 10 percent decrease from the 910,397 total filings during the same period a year ago, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. and a news release from the American Bankruptcy Institute.
The 789,222 total noncommercial filings during calendar year 2015 also represented a 10 percent drop from the noncommercial filing total of 875,648 during calendar year 2014, according to the news release.
“Total commercial filings during calendar year 2015 were 30,018, a 14 percent drop from the 34,749 filings during the same period in 2014. Conversely, commercial chapter 11s registered their first year-over-year percentage increase since 2009 as the 5,309 filings during calendar year 2015 represented a 2 percent increase over the 5,188 commercial chapter 11s filed the previous year,” according to the release.
“While commercial chapter 11 filings increased slightly last year, total filings fell for the sixth consecutive year and bankruptcies decreased to their lowest number recorded since 2006,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano in the news release. “However, as interest rates increase the cost of borrowing, more debt-burdened consumers and businesses may turn to the financial fresh start of the Bankruptcy Code in 2016.”
There were 53,806 total bankruptcy filings in December 2015, which represents a 15 percent decrease when compared to the 63,202 filings in December 2014, according to the news release.
“The 51,171 total noncommercial filings for December represented a 16 percent drop from the December 2014 noncommercial filing total of 60,700. Conversely, total commercial filings for December 2015 were 2,635, representing a 5 percent increase from the 2,502 filings during the same period in 2014,” it states.
There was an average of 1,736 total filings per day in December 2015, which compared to 2,039 total daily filings in December 2014 is a 15 percent decrease.
States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) through 2015 were: Tennessee (5.73); Alabama (5.36); Georgia (5.02); Illinois (4.34) and Utah (4.28).

Consumers With Tax Debt Could See Restrictions on Passport Use

The FAST Act requires the IRS to use private collection agencies for some debts and strict rules are in place to ensure the collection efforts follow the new law. Tax debt collected by the IRS could impact consumers’ access or use of their passport. The Fixing American’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act includes a provision for the IRS to revoke, deny or limit passports for anyone it certifies as having a seriously delinquent tax debt that is more than $50,000. It could mean no new passport and no renewal. It could even mean the State Department will rescind existing passports. Under the new law, the IRS must use private collection agencies to collect inactive tax receivables, which often amounts to tax debt the IRS hasn’t collected in the past due to lack of time or resources. Currently, the IRS is unable to collect $380 billion in tax debt – a 23 percent increase since 2009–according to a July report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. 

Millennials With Money: How Younger Consumers are Managing Their Finances

Millennials with high incomes, or consumers ages 18 to 32 who earn $100,000 or more each year, are increasing their use of general purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid cards while continuing to use traditional banking products such as debit cards and checking accounts for their finances. Sixty percent of high-income Millennials reported having a GPR card in 2014, compared to 49 percent in 2013. Overall, 25 percent of households used  GPR cards in 2013 and 2014 and overall ownership rates did not increase as much as they had between 2012 and 2013 (4 percent.) However, there was a jump from 49 percent of Millennials with household incomes of $100,000 or more and GPR cards in 2013 to 60 percent with GPR cards in 2014. Two other segments—Generation X with household incomes of $50,000 to $99,900 and those ages 68 and older—were the only other groups to own GPR cards in 2014 at proportionately higher rates than in 2013. In 2013 and 2014, 71 percent of consumers who owned GPR cards were younger than 49.

BEWARE: Credit Card Issuers Continue to Focus on Consumers with Existing Debt

CardHub’s 2015 Credit Card Landscape report shows debt accumulation decreased last year, but delinquency rates increased even as the unemployment rate declines.

CardHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape report for 2015, released Monday, shows interest rates and cash advance fees continue to increase and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increase will cost consumers about $1.3 billion in additional credit card debt payments through this year.

http://bit.ly/1MQLOy1