Darren Waggoner

For-profit companies that sell debt relief services by telephone, as of Oct. 27, will not be able to charge a fee before they settle or reduce a customer's credit card or other unsecured debt, according to a rule announced last week by the Federal Trade Commission.

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., a Warren, Mich., debt buyer that is under federal investigation for its collection practices, said lenders have agreed to loosen some restrictions in its credit facility and increase its borrowing limit.

An estimated 425 collection agencies and creditors were named in 495 consumer statute lawsuits filed nationwide in the first half of May, according to data from district court dockets.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued three national lenders and their affiliates for targeting members of the military by selling them high-priced electronics, then luring them into illegal credit plans.

The Ohio General Assembly is considering legislation to keep payday lenders from trying to make up revenue shortfalls by hitting consumers with various fees.

To improve earnings from the sale of charged-off debt, many consumer lenders are putting less of it on the market. The strategy is working as prices have inched up since late 2009.

A lawyer in upstate New York sold a collection agency the use of his and his firm's name, which the agency used to threaten bogus legal action against consumers across the country, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said.

Lawsuits filed in federal courts involving collection and credit issues surged in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 as more Americans struggled with foreclosures and consumer debt.

Here's a sobering economic indicator: Freshly charged-off consumer debts are now selling for what tertiary debts commanded just a few years ago.

A Federal Trade Commission study of nine of the largest buyers of delinquent consumer debt has participants in this industry worried that a clampdown is coming.

A Federal Trade Commission study of nine of the largest buyers of delinquent consumer debt has participants in this industry worried that a clampdown is coming.

Lawmakers, consumer groups and the debt collection industry agree on at least one thing: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the key law governing how collectors behave, needs updating.

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]