Debt collection

Indiana University notified the Indiana attorney general’s office Tuesday of the potential exposure of personal data for approximately 146,00 students and recent graduates.

Debt buyer Encore Capital Group Inc. announced Tuesday the acquisitions of two companies in separate transactions in the United Kingdom and Latin America.

Auto loan debt per borrower increased for the 11th straight quarter, rising 4.4 percent from $16,060 in Q4 2012 to $16,769 in Q4 2013.

In West Virginia this week, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office reports a new scam involves callers pretending to be FBI agents attempting to collect debts.

Complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about collectors totaled 2,975 in January, more than double the 1,254 in December. In 2013, starting in July when the CFPB began tracking the data, 11,043 complaints were filed against collectors.

A federal court has entered a temporary restraining order halting a deceptive work-from-home scheme that conned millions of dollars from consumers by falsely telling them they could easily earn thousands of dollars a month by purchasing bogus business coaching services and establishing their own Internet businesses.

A federal judge ordered the arrest and incarceration of Paul Navestad, known legally as Paul Richard Jones, for violating an April 2012 court order requiring him to pay more than $20 million for his role in a phony government grant scheme.

An industry leader discusses advances in collections methodologies - including the creation of effective collections infrastructure, innovations in the field and the major factors driving change in collections strategies.

Experian Automotive announced Thursday that consumers continued to make their loan payments on time in Q4 2013. Automotive loan 30-day delinquencies were down 3.5 percent (going from 2.72 percent in Q4 2012 to 2.63 percent in Q4 2013), and 60-day delinquencies remained flat at 0.74 percent.

Several companies and individuals have agreed to settlements with the Federal Trade Commission that ban them from selling business or work-at-home opportunities and require them to surrender assets to the FTC.

Debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA) Inc. announced Wednesday it has agreed to acquire Aktiv Kapital AS, an Oslo Norway-based accounts receivable management company in one of the largest deals in accounts receivable management history.

Twelve defendants that allegedly operated Web sites enticing consumers with bogus offers of "free $1,000 gift cards" for major retailers have agreed to pay $2.5 million in settlements with the Federal Trade Commission.

The credit card delinquency rate (the ratio of borrowers 90 days or more delinquent on their general purpose credit cards) dropped on a yearly basis from 1.61 percent in Q4 2012 to 1.48 percent in Q4 2013.

A South Dakota lawmaker has proposed a bill he hopes the state's legislature will pass to put restrictions on short-term payday loans.

A Maine bill to thwart predatory online lenders is moving to the full state legislature with the unanimous support of the state's Insurance and Financial Services Committee.

Oregon lawmakers held a public hearing Wednesday on a bill that would prevent the state's Department of Revenue from hiring private collection agencies to help collect unpaid state taxes.

The mortgage delinquency rate (the rate of borrowers 60 days or more delinquent on their mortgages) dropped below 4 percent for the first time since 2008, ending Q4 2013 at 3.85 percent, according to TransUnion's Industry Insights Report.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's office has reached a settlement with Union Workers Credit Services Inc. (UWCS) and its president, Joe Malazzo, banning the company from offering credit or financial services or products in New York.

Encore Capital Group Inc., a large U.S.-based debt buyer, announced Monday that it will acquire UK-based debt buyer Marlin Financial Services for approximately $481 million through Cabot Credit Management, a UK subsidiary of Encore acquired last year.

DBA International elected Bryan Faliero as president during the association’s annual conference last week.