Debt collection

ACA International officials on Monday introduced "The Path Forward: A Blueprint for Modernizing America’s Debt Collection System" - a five-point plan it hopes will improve collections by reducing, preventing and better resolving consumer complaints.

U.S. consumers average credit scores dropped three points to 667 since May 2010, while credit card debt plunged by 15% to $6,740 in the same period, according to data Credit Karma released Thursday.

Consumer credit jumped by a seasonally adjusted 3.1% annual rate in April, the seventh consecutive monthly gain, according to the Federal Reserve's monthly G.19 report released Tuesday.

Debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. (PRA), based in Norfolk, Va., has announced the launch of a program designed to help individuals who have been victims of identity theft.

The CEO and founder of the company behind the "wealth-building" program “Winning in the Cash Flow Business,” has been charged by the Federal Trade Commission with defrauding consumers.

U.S. consumers filed an estimated 568 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors between May 1-15, according to statistics from U.S. District Court branches.

A federal district court judge ordered a marketing operation to pay more than $3.7 million as part of a contempt case for violating a 2008 court order.

The estimated number of collection agencies and creditors that were sued in the April 16-30 period jumped to 540 compared with 504 in the first half of April, according to data from U.S. District Courts.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson's office on Thursday sued collection industry giant Encore Capital Group Inc. for allegedly using fraudulent "robo-signed" affidavits in collection cases.

NCO Group Inc., a debt buyer and global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO), announced Thursday the acquisition of Protocol Global Solutions Inc., a company that specializes in contact center services for the health care, energy, government and insurance markets.

The Federal Trade Commission has brought a legal action against an online operation that allegedly scammed more than $450 million from consumers in five countries.

Fraud comes in many forms, with many faces and isn’t always what it seems. Almost every day you read about the latest card skimming scams at gas stations and stolen identity horror stories.

The Federal Trade Commission has mailed 1,410 refund checks totaling an estimated $2.3 million to consumers allegedly defrauded by Home Assure LLC, a so-called mortgage foreclosure rescue service.

The Federal Trade Commission has charged two men and their companies with billing consumers without their consent, and not providing promised refunds, in violation of federal law.

An estimated 515 different collection agencies and creditors were sued between March 16-31, the highest half-month period thus far in 2011 and up from 417 sued between March 1-15, according to data from U.S. District Courts.

Two companies and three individuals are banned from the mortgage-relief services business and must relinquish $2.2 million in assets for consumer refunds, according to a settlement reached with the Federal Trade Commission.

An estimated 417 different collection agencies and creditors were sued between March 1-15, down from 444 in the Feb. 1-15 period, according to data from U.S. District Courts.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson alleged in a legal action filed Monday that Midland Funding LLC defrauded consumers and the courts by filing false "robo-signed" affidavits to try to prove that consumers owed debts.

In at least one important respect, the term "collections" is a bit of a misnomer.

The operator of a defunct money-making scam has agreed to settle a federal court judgment the Federal Trade Commission obtained against him in 2007 for falsely claiming his “wealth building” program would teach consumers how to make substantial income in a short time by buying and selling privately held mortgages.