Debt collection

Consumer borrowing increased by the largest amount in more than three years in July, led by a gain in non-revolving credit that includes student loans.

A quarterly analysis of credit trends in Canada found that the average total debt for consumers ticked up in the second quarter ended June 30 to $25,603, a $6 increase from the first quarter total, which had marked the first decrease in nearly seven years. The total does not include mortgage debt.

Consumers have filed 7,923 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors this year through August 15, a record-setting pace that easily tops the 7,169 lawsuits filed through the year-ago period.

It really is a great time to be a credit risk officer, but many people might think that is an absurd statement.

Credit card delinquencies fell to their lowest mark in 17 years in the second quarter, the sixth consecutive quarterly decline, as consumers remained cautious about taking on more debt and issuers held on to their conservative approach to lending, according to TransUnion.

U.S. consumers sued an estimated 563 different collection agencies in the July 16-31 period, according to data pulled from U.S. District Courts. The half-month total is up from 539 in the July 1-15 period but down from 634 in June's second half.

Vehicle repossession is a costly, arduous and unpleasant task for financial institutions. But retaking possession of the vehicle is only part of the process.

Last month, our article focused on the Durbin amendment and what banks can control when faced with legislative mandates with which they must comply.

Much has been made on Capitol Hill of the “unchecked” powers of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the lack of oversight of its work. Actually, the agency’s powers are quite circumscribed by the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that created it.

A federal court has halted an online operation that allegedly debited consumers’ bank accounts without their consent when consumers visited the defendants’ Web sites seeking payday loans.

Consumers filed an estimated 524 consumer statute lawsuits in the first half of July, down from 567 in the second half of June.

Foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis in 178 out of the nation's 211 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

JK Harris Co., a tax representation firm based in Charleston, S.C., will pay to settle claims by West Virginia's attorney general's office that it misled consumers about its tax-dispute resolution services.

William Ferguson, the former owner of Bush & Kennedy Inc., a Baton Rouge, La.-based collection agency, has been charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft that allegedly cost Hancock Bank more than $126,000.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit against Diversified Real Estate Consultants LLC (DREC), a foreclosure rescue company based in Florida.

Consumer credit card debt fell 10% during the first half of the year and 17% from a year ago, and now totals $6,472, according to data Credit Karma released Wednesday. Credit scores held steady since the start of the year at 667, down two points from June 2010.

Lawsuits filed against collection agencies and creditors jumped to 614 in the June 16-30 period, up from 584 in the second half of May and 500 in the first half of June, according to data pulled from U.S. District Courts.

Consumer credit rose by $5.08 billion in May, marking the eighth straight monthly increase, as credit card debt had its largest gain in three years, according to the Federal Reserve's monthly G.19 report.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Friday charged debt buyer Encore Capital Group with robo-signing and falsifying affidavits, attempting to collect debts based on incomplete and inaccurate information and employing unlawful and deceptive collection tactics.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Board have made final changes to the Risk-Based Pricing Rule to require creditors to disclose credit score information to consumers when a credit score is used in setting or adjusting credit terms.