Debt collection

A text message spammer and his company settled federal charges of sending millions of text messages and trolling for personal financial information.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is facing criticism for his handling of collection contracts after a report found companies were giving campaign donations while the state was reviewing bids for the work.

A collection scam reported in Florida involves e-mails that appear to come from the state attorney's office but originate overseas.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has started fielding complaints about nonbank products such as debt settlement, credit repair and pawn and title loans.

A U.S. district court on Monday halted a Buffalo, N.Y.-based collection agency from doing business, froze the operation's assets and appointed a temporary receiver to take over the defendants' business pending trial.

Federal regulators hope hackers can help put a stop to automated telemarketing calls such as the well known "Rachel from Cardholder Services."

Missouri regulators are weighing whether to stop a practice in the state of allowing payday lenders to collect utility bill payments from customers.

The U.S. Department of Education has not properly overseen the collection agencies it hired to pursue delinquent federal student loans, according to an audit released by the department's inspector general.

A new report shows a total of 613,874 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings - default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - in the first half of 2014, a 19% drop from the previous six months.

New rules published by New York State regulators include better disclosures for collection communications, provisions for email, protections against time-barred collection and stronger verification procedures.

Expert Global Solutions, the holding firm for collections giant NCO Financial, is selling part of its accounts receivable management business to a private equity firm. Financial details of the pending deal were not disclosed.

The FTC and CFPB will co-host a roundtable in October to examine how debt collection issues affect Latino consumers, especially those who have limited English proficiency.

Debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates has acquired Aktiv Kapital AS, a Norway-based accounts receivable management company, in one of the largest deals in accounts receivable management history. The combined companies will be called PRA Group.

Frederick J. Hanna & Associates responded to a lawsuit filed Monday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The number of U.S. homes using only wireless telephones is growing, with two in every five households (41%) in the second half of 2013 reporting relying solely on cell phones, according to a National Health Interview Survey.

The CFPB filed a lawsuit Monday against Georgia-based Frederick J. Hanna & Associates and its three principal partners for operating a collection lawsuit mill that uses illegal tactics.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed lawsuits Monday against two student loan servicers, alleging the unlicensed companies imposed illegal fees on delinquent student loan borrowers and deceptively marketed debt solutions.

Brownsville, Texas is getting close to joining 18 other cities in Texas in passing a law regulating payday and auto title lenders, city officials report.

Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, will pay roughly $7 billion in fines and consumer relief to settle an investigation into risky subprime mortgages and resolve government claims that it misled investors about the quality of mortgage-backed bonds sold before the 2008 financial crisis.

In Pennsylvania, Montgomery County officials report they have collected more than $1.2 million in just 10 months in delinquent court fees and fines dating to 1986.