Debt collection

Banks are still holding on to scores of delinquent mortgages that date to the real estate crash, but a surge in home values across the country is motivating them to move the most troublesome loans off their books more quickly.

A group of defendants have settled FTC charges that they provided scammers with hundreds of thousands of consumers’ sensitive personal information – including Social Security and bank account numbers.

The FTC sent a summary of its 2015 work on debt collection practices to the CFPB to include in the CFPB’s annual report to Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FTC and the CFPB share enforcement responsibilities under the FDCPA.

FCRA and TCPA cases were much higher in January compared with January 2015 (+31.4% and +39.8% respectively) but that follows a multi-year trend for the two statutes that doesn’t seem to be easing, according to data collected from U.S. district courts.

For the last nine months, marketplace lenders have been hoping the Supreme Court would save them from a lower-court ruling that raised fundamental questions about their business model.

A Pennsylvania federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing debt collector LMM Management of using the letterhead of an allegedly sham law firm to convince thousands of borrowers to pay delinquent debts.

In our first piece on collecting through litigation, we noted that the soft financial market and uneven regulatory landscape have led to a great deal of waste and loss of profitability in collecting unpaid debt. Now, we describe new systems that will employ technology to help litigation processes and return them to profitability.

The FTC and the State of Florida have obtained settlements with a group of defendants who participated in a tech support scheme that allegedly defrauded thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars.

Legal collections took a backseat to other financial processes in the wake of the recession. But with the job market showing strength and the related assumption that defaulting borrowers are regaining the capacity to pay back debt, it’s expected collection revenue via litigation will grow in 2016.

The IRS won't meet the March 1 deadline to sign contracts with private debt collection agencies to collect unpaid tax debt.

WASHINGTON — State regulators and House lawmakers warned the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau not to preempt state laws when the agency issues its proposal to regulate payday-type loans.

Capital Payments LLC, an Independent Sales Organization (ISO), has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it allowed a telemarketing scheme called The Tax Club to use merchant accounts to process consumers’ credit card payments.

TransUnion has acquired a 71% ownership interest in CIFIN (Central de Informacion Financiera), one of two primary credit bureaus in Colombia, for approximately $127 million.

The percentage of auto loans to buyers with the poorest credit ratings is growing faster than the rest of the auto finance market, according to an analysis from Experian Automotive.

U.S. authorities cracked down on two major payday lending empires Wednesday, arresting three people tied to the industry, including race car driver Scott Tucker.

WASHINGTON — The flood of new apartments will put upward pressure on vacancy rates in the next two years, but the multifamily market should stay strong, according to a new Freddie Mac forecast.

The CFPB is reporting on a financial scam targeting older consumers who previously were victims of fraudulent money-making schemes such as timeshare investments and in-home business opportunities.

Sen. Bernie Sanders' victory in the New Hampshire primary will undoubtedly provide fresh momentum for his campaign against Hillary Clinton, but is also likely to subject many of his proposals to a harsher spotlight as his credibility as a candidate grows.

Three in four lenders said it is increasingly difficult to find and acquire new customers and that they’re challenged by a low interest rate environment that’s spurring competition for a pool of consumers who receive multiple credit offers, according to a TransUnion survey.

Outstanding revolving debt, including ongoing lines of credit used by consumers, jumped to $935.6 billion as of December from $841 billion in 2010, according to data from the Federal Reserve and a report from ValuePenguin.