Debt collection

Overall household debt rises while consumer repayment rates improve, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's latest Household Debt and Credit report.

Two operations that allegedly ran student loan debt relief schemes are being targeted by the FTC and regulators in Florida while defendants in a similar action brought earlier this year agreed to a ban.

Bridgepoint Education, the parent company of Ashford University, announced in a corporate filing that it has received a second subpoena related to investigations by the California attorney general's office and the CFPB.

A Maryland jury delivered a verdict and $38 million judgment against a collection agency in a class-action lawsuit. It is the largest judgment against a collection agency in the state's history.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is making an end run around existing regulations to collect data on overdraft programs, according to the American Bankers Association.

El Paso, Texas recently changed collection agencies pursuing unpaid traffic tickets, which has reportedly resulted in several thousand additional mailing contacts - and more complaints from irate consumers.

Two Michigan residents have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that debt servicer Money Recovery Nationwide is unlawfully collecting additional fees.

While the CFPB has not set specific deadlines to issue proposals on debt collection, analysts expect so-called pre-rulemaking activities - typically a report or a small-business review panel - to occur this summer.

A new economic report showed little movement in consumer spending in March, despite lower gasoline prices, growth in real disposable income and a labor market showing steady improvement.

As Columbia Law School professor Robert Jackson noted in an op-ed on Thursday, there needs to be a source of real competition for the credit-card pushers, namely online marketplace lenders, so consumers with below-average credit scores can have access to credit at somewhat reasonable rates.