S. 2883, the "Small Business Fraud Protection Act"
To apply the provisions relating to consumer liability for unauthorized transfers to small business concerns, and for other purposes.
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S. 2884, the "Small Business Fair Debt Collection Protection Act"
To apply the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to small business debt to the same extent as such Act applies to consumers, and for other purposes.
Taxi Company Abruptly Closes, Files for Bankruptcy
Black and White Taxi in Troy, N.Y., notified all employees it would shut down operations on Friday, News10 reported. Owner David Manny partly blamed the sudden closure due to a drop in revenue because of ride-sharing and increased regulations. “This might be an indication that the traditional taxi program, irrespective of who is running the company, who owns the company, that traditional model is not going to work in the future,” said Assemblyman John McDonald. The company began operations around 70 years ago. McDonald said regulations are stronger on ride-sharing companies compared to taxi companies, but he added that with inconsistent pricing and, in some cases, inadequate services, customers have gone with a different option.
Sixers’ Owner Michael Rubin on When He Nearly Filed for Bankruptcy
When Michael Rubin was still in high school, he opened a ski shop near where he grew up in Lafayette Hill. And within two years, the now-billionaire owner of Fanatics and the 76ers was about to file for bankruptcy — at age 16, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “I tell that story to show that growth comes from failure,” he said. Rubin said he hated high school. He was the son of a veterinarian and a psychologist, but “I was a terrible athlete. The only sport I was good at was skiing.” So he opened a ski shop and was pulling in $125,000 in revenue his first year of high school. Then, he said, he got cocky. “I had $200,000 in bills and $100,000 in inventory, and a Porsche I bought when I turned 16,” but that year, “there was no snow. I had to hire a bankruptcy attorney." The lawyer told Rubin he wasn’t technically old enough to have to file for bankruptcy, so he ended up settling with creditors for $38,000. He had promised his father that he would try college, but Rubin dropped out of Villanova University after six weeks and went into the resale-closeouts business, starting with athletic footwear and expanding into apparel. The business grew to $100 million in revenues and $10 million in net profits by the time he was 21. By 1998, Rubin began hearing about the internet, but dismissed it. “I knew nothing about it, and I thought, ‘Screw these internet people, they lose a lot of money.’ Then I asked some of my biggest accounts and vendors, like Sports Authority, and they told me e-commerce was a big opportunity. They said, ‘You’re young, you’re 25, can you solve this problem for us?’ So I started GSI Commerce.”
Lawmakers Increase Criticism of ‘Opportunity Zone’ Tax Break
Lawmakers are voicing mounting concerns about a federal tax incentive, known as an “opportunity zone,” that is supposed to encourage investors to pump money into the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, the New York Times reported. Leading Democrats in the House and Senate have sent a flurry of letters demanding answers and action by federal agencies after recent New York Times articles detailed how wealthy investors and real estate developers, including those with ties to the Trump administration, are poised to profit on the initiative. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) said he was introducing legislation this week that would eliminate hundreds of opportunity zones in relatively wealthy neighborhoods. Other lawmakers have written letters to Mnuchin and called for investigations by the Treasury Department’s inspector general and the Government Accountability Office. The tax incentive is supposed to help struggling communities by attracting new businesses, housing and other real estate projects. If investors with capital gains — profits on stocks, real estate or other assets that have increased in value — invest them in one of nearly 8,800 opportunity zones, they get a discount on their capital gains tax bill, as well as the potential to avoid any future capital gains taxes if the new investment increases in value. While the incentive has driven money into economically ailing cities including Erie, Pa., and Birmingham, Ala., much of the money has gone to projects that were already planned or being built in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in places like Houston, Miami and New Orleans.
Kraninger Signals Caution on Controversial Small Business Lending Policy
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger has signaled a cautious approach in her plan to implement a controversial piece of Dodd-Frank, which requires the agency to collect data on minority- and women-owned small business lending, MorningConsult.com reported. The CFPB has, so far, delayed Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, frustrating consumer advocates who say the data is critical to studying unequal access to funds. A symposium on the topic hosted by the CFPB yesterday is a sign that the bureau intends to move forward on the issue. But Kraninger, in her opening remarks at the symposium, stressed critiques of implementing a rule too quickly, repeating arguments made by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a 2017 report when he recommended that the provision be repealed. Kraninger and others who have advocated for the rule to be delayed say they worry the requirement will impose “unnecessary and undue costs” on lenders that would be passed on to women and minority small business owners.
