Debt collection

The South Florida-based defendants in an alleged mortgage relief scam will surrender their assets and be banned permanently from providing mortgage relief and debt relief to consumers under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

A Worcester, Mass. resident has notified the Better Business Bureau of Central New England about an unsolicited phone call involving a caller claiming to be from the FBI.

A U.S. district court has halted and frozen the assets of an Orlando, Fla.-based operation that used pre-recorded telephone calls, also known as robocalls, to pitch purportedly free medical alert devices to senior citizens by falsely stating the devices had been purchased for them by a relative or friend.

All of the typical measures of mortgage distress continue to improve, according to CoreLogic's National Foreclosure Report for November. The report contains a supplement featuring quarterly shadow inventory data as of October 2013.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office is warning residents in the state about a scam involving callers telling consumers they are late on their Frontier phone bill payments, then asking for personal information and demanding an immediate payment.

Gains in student and auto loans fueled an increase in consumer borrowing in November, according to the latest Federal Reserve G.19 report.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson sued collection agency Bradstreet and Associates on Wednesday for charging steep interest rates on overdrawn checking accounts at two big banks.

Convergys, based in Cincinnati, agreed Monday to buy rival call center giant Stream Global Services for $820 million.

A lawsuit filed by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office against Nevada debt settlement company Legal Helpers Debt Resolution alleges the firm collected advance fees from customers but provided no services or help.

A U.S. district court has temporarily shut down a telemarketing operation that allegedly targeted Hispanic consumers with false promises that they could make money by reselling high-end goods such as Gucci and Ralph Lauren, and then charged them between $400 and $490 upfront for off-brand products.

Maryland lawmakers are planning to discuss a bill that would cut the time collectors have to take homeowners to court for the leftover debt on foreclosed homes.

In the United Kingdom, the think tank Institute for Public Policy Research revealed the most popular uses for payday loans involve everyday expenses rather than unexpected emergencies.

A trio of lawsuits in West Virginia highlight the types of issues agencies are facing not just in the state but nationally.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice filed a joint complaint against National City Bank for charging higher prices on mortgage loans to African-American and Hispanic borrowers than similarly creditworthy white borrowers between the years 2002 and 2008.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its proposed $2.9 billion acquisition of Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) would substantially lessen competition by combining the firms’ title plant assets in several local markets in Oregon.

Consumer statute lawsuits in November were consistent with the trend seen throughout 2013. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation both declined while Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits expanded.

Time Warner Cable Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company violated the Risk-Based Pricing Rule, which requires creditors to give notice to consumers who are provided less favorable credit terms based on information in their credit reports.

The Federal Trade Commission provided information to Congress on Wednesday on the status of its work regarding data brokers - firms that collect and aggregate consumers’ information and then resell it.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's annual report on college credit card agreements showed a decline of 23 percent in college agreements from 2011 to 2012.

New Jersey legislators are pushing a measure that would prevent some identity theft victims from being hassled by debt collectors.