Debt collection

Three companies that resell consumers’ credit reports settled Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that they did not take reasonable steps to protect consumers' personal information, failures that allowed computer hackers to access that data, the FTC announced Thursday.

SunGard officials announced Thursday that the company has acquired PredictiveMetrics, a company that provides predictive scoring and analytical services for collections, credit, utilities and other markets.

ACA International, the largest association representing collection agencies, debt buyers and collection attorneys, has responded to a report from the Consumers Union and East Bay Community Law Center called "Past Due: Why Debt Collection Practices and the Debt Buying Industry Need Reform Now."

A federal judge has shut down an operation that allegedly posed as the U.S. government, then duped consumers into paying fees ranging from $200 to $2,500 by claiming the fees would cover processing by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

A federal court has frozen the assets of corporations and an individual behind a vast Internet enterprise that allegedly made more than $275 million after luring consumers into “trial” memberships, and bogus government-grant and money-making schemes.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's office last week banned a foreclosure assistance company from offering loan modification and foreclosure assistance services in the state.

Three companies and their owner, who allegedly falsely claimed they could help consumers quickly eliminate their credit card debts and stop calls from debt collectors, have been banned from the debt relief business under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The collection business has an exceptionally high churn rate compared with other industries, approximately 90% annually, according to industry sources.

The face value of business-to-business accounts placed in collections totaled $3.6 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up nearly 3.4% from $3.5 billion in the third quarter, according to the Commercial Collection Agency Association, which tracks accounts placed with its members. The total face value increase was an estimated $119.3 million.

A total of 3,825,637 foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on a record 2,871,891 U.S. properties in 2010, an increase of nearly 2% from 2009 and an increase of 23% from 2008, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, in its Year-End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released Thursday.

U.S. consumers' average credit scores slipped one point in the past year, and credit card debt fell by 8% to $7,404 during the same period, according to data released by Credit Karma on Wednesday.

U.S. consumers filed an estimated 13,901 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors last year, including 10,914 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases.

DBA International has named Jan P. Stieger as its executive director, the debt-buying industry association's board of directors announced Monday. She was previously executive director at the California Association of Collectors (CAC).

A man accused of running an illegal collection business pleaded guilty Friday to felony charges of mail fraud and tax evasion at federal court.

Consumer borrowing rose in November for a second consecutive month, led by an increase in non-revolving credit - including student loans held by the government, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released Friday.

Bank fraud comes with a heavy price tag to financial institutions and their customers. As the nature of banking changes, the methods of combating fraud must also evolve.

Rozanne Andersen, formerly CEO at ACA International, has joined Minnesota-based law firm Morrison Fenske & Sund to lead the firm's national compliance and reputation management practice for the accounts receivable management industry.

Credit Karma announced Thursday it is offering consumers two additional credit scores for free through its Web site, CreditKarma.com.

U.S. consumers and businesses likely increased spending in November, a possible sign that the economy began gaining strength at the end of last year, according to recent forecasts from economists.

The number of U.S. consumers who filed for bankruptcy in 2010 topped 1.5 million last year, up 9% compared with 2009 as high long-term jobless rates and depressed home prices drove more households to seek court protection, according to both the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the National Bankruptcy Research Center.