Debt collection

Last year marked another strong year for the auto loan market as originations increased compared to 2014, while the mix of loans across the entire credit spectrum held for the fourth year in a row, according to Equifax.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated enforcement actions issued in 2010 against American Bank of Baxter Springs in Kansas and CB Financial in Wilson, N.C., and issued one against Hazard Bancorp in Kentucky.

A California federal judge has ordered debt relief company Morgan Drexen Inc. to pay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau more than $173 million to resolve an August 2013 lawsuit claiming the company collected illegal upfront fees for debt settlement service and ran deceptive advertisements.

An Illinois appeals panel found that collection agency HBLC may have broken federal collection laws by suing a man over a contested debt after the statute of limitations had expired.

Payday loan customers in Alabama would pay less under a bill that won approval Wednesday from the Alabama House Financial Services Committee.

Rising delinquencies in subprime auto lending predictably have drawn comparisons to the mortgage meltdown of nearly a decade ago.

A lawsuit concerning how the court system in Biloxi, Miss. treats poor people who can’t pay fine won’t continue after the city, the American Civil Liberties Union and a private probation service agreed Tuesday to settle the case.

Signs of the subprime mortgage crisis were obvious long before the 2008 meltdown. Some recognized the danger but most dismissed the threats, arguing that a decline in home values would never happen. Other signs of distress went unnoticed or unappreciated.

Many people - across all age groups - lack retirement savings.

The Russian cabinet has reportedly approved a bill that would impose restrictions on collection agencies, including banning "psychological pressure" and the disclosure of debtors' personal information to a third party.