Debt collection

The New York Times Magazine is exploring the business of buying and collecting debt in a lengthy feature article looking at two companies and the collection professionals behind them.

U.S. consumer debt dropped in the last quarter for the first time in a year as mortgage originations fell to the lowest mark since 2000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's latest quarterly report.

Forster & Garbus, a Commack, N.Y.-based collection law firm, agreed Friday to settle charges that it illegally sued to collect on payday loans from New Yorkers.

U.S. foreclosure activity increased in July for the first time in four months as lenders scheduled more properties for auction, according to RealtyTrac, which compiles housing market data.

Federal lawmakers are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Defense to investigate a report that some retailers have filed debt collection lawsuits against active duty military.

An email spammer and his company have settled federal charges that they sent deceptive emails in advance of the Affordable Care Act roll-out, claiming consumers would be violating the law if they did not click a link to enroll in health insurance.

The guidance, issued to help licensed collection agencies comply with the Idaho Collection Agency Act, is a response to an Idaho Supreme Court decision that impacts the way collection agencies must operate.

Tuesday's action against the alleged bait-and-switch mortgage-lending scheme includes two companies and the owner of both of them.

ITT Educational Services Inc. has seen a large drop in its stock price and other woes amid a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lawsuit and tightening regulatory scrutiny of for-profit colleges nationwide.

Security concerns are commonly cited as the reason for the lack of widespread adoption of mobile banking. But there is risk with every type of payment - lest we forget the growing list of recent major retailer and restaurant card data breaches.

Scammers in Ohio are posing as government and law enforcement officials demanding that consumers pay money immediately, according to state regulators.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week sent letters to 10 of the country’s largest universities urging them to publish the terms of prepaid cards, debit cards and checking accounts that banks are promoting on their campuses.

Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, P.C., an Atlanta-based creditors’ rights and collection law firm, has expanded its legal collection footprint by opening an office in Greenville, S.C., that will service the entire state.

Local officials in Daly City, Calif. will review Monday whether to approve legislation that will prohibit new payday lending businesses from opening within 2,000 feet of existing payday lenders.

Fair Isaac Co. revealed Thursday that its revamped credit score model will not weigh medical debt as heavily as previous versions, a key change given that medical debt accounts for nearly half of all unpaid collections on consumers' credit reports.

More than 1,300 consumers victimized by two related mortgage relief scams will be getting approximately $800,000 as a result of a settlement announced Friday by the federal government.

The deal is for approximately $70 million in cash with Encore Capital making additional payments totaling $126 million to retire some of Atlantic Credit & Finance's debts and obligations.

Two separate cases involving collection agencies that allegedly violated federal debt collection laws were closed Thursday in settlements announced by the Federal Trade Commission.

FICO has launched a credit risk prognosis tool financial institutions can use to stress-test their consumer loan portfolios.

A federal court has halted, pending litigation, an operation that allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from small businesses, doctors’ offices, retirement homes and religious schools by charging them for unwanted listings in an online directory.