For banks looking to sell nonperforming assets, pricing realities are not ideal. But they have become increasingly tolerable.

Encore Capital Group Inc., a San Diego-based debt buyer, reported net income of $13.7 million in the quarter ended March 31, up 26% from the year-ago period.

Shares of Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. hit a 52-week high on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $87.78 during mid-day trading and last traded at $87.55. The stock previously closed at $85.17.

Debt buyer Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., based in Warren, Mich., on Thursday reported a drop in revenue and an uptick in cash collections for the first quarter ended March 31.

Debt buyer Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., based in Warren, Mich., on Thursday reported a drop in revenue and an uptick in cash collections for the first quarter ended March 31.

Are banks the Burger Kings of lending?

Five M&A deals were completed in the Accounts Receivable Management space in the first quarter for a total of $103 million in transaction value, making it the sixth consecutive quarter that has alternated between relatively high and low aggregate deal values, according to a report by Greenberg Advisors.

Steven Kusic, president and CEO at National Recovery Agency (NRA), announced this week that an agreement has been reached with the shareholder of ACA Receivables LLC - d/b/a American Agencies (AA) - to acquire the assets of the California-based consumer accounts receivable management firm.

Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA) is the defendant in a class action lawsuit filed in Florida on behalf of consumers who received a non-emergency call to a cell phone from an automatic dialing system, without having given prior consent for such calls during the transaction that resulted in the debt owed.

H.I.G. Capital announced Wednesday that its portfolio company, National Asset Recovery Services Inc. (NARS), has acquired Integrity Financial Partners, a third-party collection company. Greenberg Advisors represented H.I.G. Capital and NARS in the transaction.

Just more than half of consumers, 51%, surveyed in March by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) said they would shop for another bank if their current bank raised checking account fees.

NCO Group Inc., based in Horsham, Pa. and one of the nation's largest accounts receivable management companies, reported revenues of $390.3 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010. The company also reported a net loss of $155 million for the full year 2010 compared to a net loss of $84.2 million in 2009.

In response to Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson's allegations in a legal action announced Monday (see story), debt buyer Encore Capital Group sent the following statement to Collections & Credit Risk:

NCO Group, the largest collection agency based on revenue, announced Monday the appointment of Ronald A. Rittenmeyer as company president and chief executive, effective immediately.

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., a buyer of defaulted consumer debt, reported total revenue Thursday of $47.5 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 154% from $18.7 million a year earlier. The company’s net loss dropped 65.3%, to 7 million from $20.2 million.

DBA International, the largest trade association representing the debt buying industry, announced Thursday that it has formally adopted a "Statement of Principles and Guidelines for the Sale and Purchase of Consumer Debt."

First BanCorp, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is selling a loan portfolio with an unpaid principal balance of $516.7 million and a net book value of $438.5 million to a joint venture company owned by PRLP Ventures LLC - an investing company created by Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Caribbean Property Group.