Rozanne Andersen to Continue ARM Advocacy in New Position

Following a nearly 15 year career with ACA International as a prominent advocate for the accounts receivable management industry, Rozanne Andersen is hoping her new job will afford her the opportunity to continue to work on behalf of debt collectors and purchasers.

“I’ve always had a passion for the collection and debt buying industry,” Andersen told insideARM.com. “I decided that I wanted to stay in this industry.”

In November of last year, Andersen was removed from her CEO post at ACA International, the largest trade group for ARM professionals (“Rozanne Andersen Out as Head of ACA International,” Nov. 17, 2010). Andersen had served as the group’s CEO for only one year following stints as ACA’s general counsel and EVP.

Shortly after the announcement that Andersen would be replaced at ACA, she received interest from a number of law firms and other groups in the ARM industry. “That made me feel very…positive about my decision to stay in the industry,” Andersen noted.

One of the groups that reached out to her was Minnesota-based law firm Morrison Fenske & Sund, a 20-attorney practice that focuses on a number of corporate and business issues, including FDCPA compliance and defense.

Andersen said that David Fenske, one of the firm’s founding partners, contacted her soon after the ACA announcement, and the two began a dialog almost immediately. The conversations culminated with the announcement this week that Andersen would be joining the firm to drive its national compliance and reputation management practice for the ARM industry.

“We are pleased Rozanne has chosen Morrison Fenske & Sund as an attorney, lobbyist and advocate for the credit and collection industry,” said Fenske in a statement. “She has zealously represented members of the credit and collection industry during her 14 plus+ years of service at ACA International and brings an unparalleled level of expertise to our practice.”

Andersen will be focusing on expanding the national compliance practice of the firm.

“I’m going to be working with collection agencies on their public relations initiatives as well as complaint resolution,” said Andersen. She noted that she will also be representing ARM clients on transactional matters. Andersen has been a licensed attorney for 28 years.

Morrison Fenske & Sund already has a robust compliance practice for ARM clients. Andersen said that MFS attorney Wendy Badger, for example, “probably handles more letter reviews for collection agencies than any other lawyer in the country.” Andersen noted that the focus of the work will be preventative practice for collection agencies and debt buyers.

But the new position will also allow Andersen to pursue her real passion: government relations. She said that she will be representing clients in Washington, DC on an as-needed basis. “I’ll be going to Washington to represent individual clients and their interests on legislative and regulatory matters,” said Andersen. She said that she’s already received overtures from industry firms to serve in that capacity.

The micro-focus will be a change for Andersen, long used to advocating for an entire industry. But she feels it will be a nice shift to focus a narrow set of interests rather than speaking for thousands of professionals. “I definitely look forward to the flexibility the new positions will bring,” she said.