Debt collection

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday accusing debt-buying giant Portfolio Recovery Associates of abusing U.S. courts by filing collection lawsuits against tens of thousands of consumers based on false affidavits.

The Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act became law 10 years ago this week. The law was the culmination of a bipartisan push in Congress to change a system that seemed to encourage bankruptcy filings during a time of prosperity. It is reasonable to ask, a decade later, whether reform worked.

The changes made 10 years ago reduced abusive bankruptcies and made our nation's economy more resilient. If Congress had gone further by regulating attorney fees and increasing penalties for fraud, the economy would be that much stronger.

The reform has returned bankruptcy to its intended function as a last resort for consumers, rather than a way for the wealthy to game the system at everyone else's expense.

The CFPB on Thursday finalized a rule to improve information reported about the residential mortgage market, including updates that will reveal more about consumers’ access to mortgage credit.

The Senate Banking Committee’s top Democrat wants Experian to disclose more information about a data breach resulting in the theft of personal details on millions of T-Mobile customers.

While GOP presidential candidates have focused on repealing or drastically revising the Dodd-Frank Act, Democrats clashed over banking reform Tuesday night during the party's first primary debate.

A report on student loan complaints released by the CFPB on Wednesday reveals serious concerns about repayment problems for those with older federal student loans as servicing issues mount.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest regional look at debt in third-party collections, consumers’ delinquency rates and credit card and student loan debt focused on three Eastern states.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office is investigating Caliber Home Loans after receiving numerous consumers complaints about its loan servicing practices.

Strategies that help mortgage lenders get a handle on final Dodd-Frank Act implementation costs and better reach the next generation of homeowners will be among the hot topics discussed during the 2015 Mortgage Bankers Association's Annual Convention.

The Pew Charitable Trusts' Nick Bourke's recent observation that more competition in short-term credit would benefit consumers is correct. But in the relatively unregulated environment that existed before 2013, very few banks chose to enter this market.

A collection scam involving calls to consumers about alleged past payday loan debts has surfaced in Nebraska, just a week after a similar illegal operation was reported in Minnesota.

Fannie Mae’s latest sale of non-performing loans includes three pools of about seven thousand loans totaling $1.2 billion in unpaid principal balance.

A Georgia legislative panel hearing Thursday reviewed the issue of surprise billings for medical care, which can confound consumers and lead to difficult collection practices.

Consumer loan delinquencies fell sharply in the second quarter ended June 30, thanks to large drops in home loan-related delinquencies, according to the American Bankers Association.

Payday lenders in Alabama have issued 386,641 payday loans in the last two months, according to a database that started tracking the lending on Aug. 10.

An ACLU chapter sued Benton County, Wash., accusing it of sending people to jail or forcing them to toil on work crews if they fail to pay their court fines. The class-action case wants a ruling on the constitutionality of the county's collection strategies.

Minnesota’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that out-of-state payday lenders will have to follow the state’s strict lender law for Internet loans, rejecting an argument that the law is unconstitutional.

Consumer borrowing rose in August at the slowest pace in six months, reflecting a cooling in lending for student loans and autos, but still reached a record $3.47 trillion, according to Federal Reserve figures.