Debt collection

A new breed of tax refund anticipation loans is testing that age-old maxim, with supporters saying that free really does mean free and critics suggesting that the products' 0% interest rates are masking the actual costs.

U.S. consumers in December increased their borrowing at the fastest pace in three months. The result suggests that consumer spending should remain strong in the coming months.

Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles has recovered $22.5 million of the projected $444 million owed to the agency as a result of residents with lapsed auto insurance. But some drivers believe the state’s Office of Debt Recovery is being too aggressive.

U.S. bankruptcy filings reached 52,522 in January, 11% lower than 59,092 filings in January 2015, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, which used data from Epiq Systems Inc.

An ordinance in Killeen, Texas limiting payday lending businesses will be reviewed Tuesday by the Killeen City Council.

The FCC is reviewing possible rules to allow companies using modern dialing technologies to call consumers on their cell phones concerning government-related debts including student loans and mortgages.

Remember strategic defaulters, those homeowners who walked away from their underwater mortgages even though they could still afford their loans?

A class-action lawsuit against collection agency Delbert Services Corp., a Las Vegas-based firm working for online tribal lender Western Sky Financial, can proceed after a federal appeals court reversed a lower court’s decision that the dispute must be arbitrated.

The total amount of uncompensated care by hospitals in Minnesota rose from $573 million in 2013 to $589 million in 2014, despite a 26% drop in charity care for the uninsured, according to the Minnesota Hospital Association.

The CFPB stepped up efforts Wednesday to encourage banks to offer simple checking and savings accounts, but many institutions said they are already taking steps to try to reach the underbanked.

Home sellers realized an average price gain since purchase of 11% ($20,378) last year, the biggest average price gain since 2007, according to RealtyTrac's Year-End 2015 U.S. Home Sales Report.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in Baird v. Sabre Inc., et al. that a consumer provided prior express consent required by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when she provided her cellphone number on a contact sheet.

City officials in Hazard, Ky., are ramping up efforts to collect approximately $200,000 in back taxes after sending out 1,100 letters to delinquent taxpayers last week.

A senior equal employment opportunity specialist with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Civil Rights is alleging the bureau violated the Equal Pay Act.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday urged the 25 largest retail banks to make checking and saving accounts accessible to millions of unbanked Americans and help customers avoid overdraft fees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday urged the 25 largest retail banks to make checking and saving accounts accessible to millions of unbanked Americans and help customers avoid overdraft fees.

A Texas-based collections law firm announced Wednesday that it has helped communities across the state collect an estimated $2.2 million in property taxes from Radio Shack as the company works its way through bankruptcy proceedings.

Payday lending in Alabama hasn't declined in the last six months despite ongoing complaints last year from consumer advocates to rein in the practice in the state, according to the Alabama Banking Department.

Toyota Motor Credit Corp. will change its pricing and compensation system to reduce dealer discretion and financial incentives to mark up interest rates, under an enforcement action by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice.

Lawmakers in Connecticut want to curb deceptive and abusive collection tactics being used by banks and third-party collectors but details on how to proceed were sparse.