Debt collection

A South Dakota man pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of mail fraud for using the mail to steal more than $106,000 from his employer, AAA Collection Co., between 2009 and 2011.

U.S. Bancorp will repay customers $3.2 million to resolve Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claims that it misled military-service members who took part in an auto lending program.

Mounting medical bills are expected to push 1.7 million U.S. households into bankruptcy this year - making health expenses the largest cause of such filings.

Mortgage Investors Corp., one of the nation’s largest refinancers of veterans’ home loans, will pay $7.5 million to settle allegations it targeted veterans. It's the largest fine the FTC has ever collected for violating Do Not Call provisions of the agency’s Telemarketing Sales Rule.

One in five adults age 20 and older have student loan debt and more than half of them worry they may be unable to repay their obligations, according to a study from the Urban Institute's Opportunity and Ownership Project.

The Federal Trade Commission added eight new defendants to a credit card rate reduction case brought last year - including a payment processor that allegedly helped with the fraud.

Lawsuit filings dropped dramatically in May in all three key consumer statute categories - Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to WebRecon LLC, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company that tracks the data from U.S. district courts.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld a district court judgment in favor of the Federal Trade Commission and four state attorneys general against a woman involved in a scheme that deceived consumers by falsely promising them a “guaranteed” $25,000 grant from the federal government.

Former collection agency executive Patrick Pinto pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiring to commit bank bribery while he was an executive of Oxford Collection Agency, according to Deirdre M. Daly, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Two collection agencies in Western New York have announced a merger. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Debt buyer Encore Capital Group Inc. on Thursday closed its $200 million acquisition of Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. All subsidiaries of Asset Acceptance are part of Encore Capital and Asset Acceptance’s stock, NASDAQ ticker symbol AACC, has been delisted.

U.S. foreclosure activity increased 2% in May, even as the recovery in many local housing markets is showing gains, online marketplace RealtyTrac said.

Debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA), based in Norfolk, Va., reported Tuesday that its board approved a three-for-one-stock split by way of a dividend. The split is the first stock split in this manner since the company's initial public offering in 2002.

A new survey indicates people are starting retirement with record amounts of debt, while counting on borrowing to cover expenses in retirement.

A move to strengthen and centralize the collection of delinquent accounts owed to Louisiana state agencies received the support of state lawmakers Thursday and now heads to Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Identity theft continues to be the highest ranking consumer complaint, according to the Federal Trade Commission. With this in mind, Zoot Enterprises recently discussed the prevalence of identity theft and fabricated identities with Dr. Stephen Coggeshall, chief technology officer at ID Analytics.

A former leader of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday will announce the launch of Fenway Summer LLC, a startup mortgage lending and business advisory firm.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is pushing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray to tighten oversight of the collection industry, including possibly reforming the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The Federal Trade Commission has sued a payment processing business that allegedly assisted and facilitated a telemarketing credit card interest rate reduction scam.

Debt buyer Encore Capital Group Inc. set June 13 as the closing date for the $200 million merger with Asset Acceptance Capital Corp.