Debt collection

Total mortgage origination balances hit $466 billion in the first quarter, a 74.4% increase from the same time a year ago, according to the latest Equifax National Consumer Credit Trends Report.

PRA Government Services, an arm of debt-buying giant PRA Group, has launched an interactive tool designed to aid the understanding of complex city and county budgets.

Credit Protection Association LP has won a jury verdict in a case involving both the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The issue of "credit invisibility" has attracted a great deal of attention in recent months. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released in May a study finding that 26 million Americans do not have a credit history, and another 18 million are unscorable because their histories are too limited.

A federal district court temporarily halted an Orlando, Fla.-based operation for credit card robocall campaigns dating to 2011.

The CFPB updated database includes more than 7,700 consumer narratives of problems faced when dealing with financial companies - including collection agencies and credit card issuers. More than half of consumers who have complained since March chose to share details.

ITT Educational Services, under fire for more than a year from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, responded Thursday to comments from a former bureau official.

TransUnion said on Thursday that its initial public offering was priced at $22.50 per share, meaning the company is valued at an estimated $4 billion.

Credit Karma in San Francisco has raised $175 million in venture capital to expand its product offerings for consumers' personal finances.

Debt collection litigation is not following any particular pattern this year. The only certainty is that Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation is having a really bad (or, good, depending on your perspective) year.

U.S. v. Adrian Rubin, filed recently in federal court in Pennsylvania, ought to be required reading for anyone studying the history of online payday lending.

CashPoint will forgive more than $2.36 million in consumer loan debt after reaching a settlement Tuesday with the West Virginia Attorney General’s office over alleged illegal collection practices.

Companies offering loan assistance and credit improvement services, and their owner, agreed Monday to settle charges brought by regulators in Maryland.

WASHINGTON — A House Financial Services subcommittee will hold a hearing Thursday on employee allegations of discrimination and retaliation at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released letters Monday asking major search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing to work with state and federal regulators to crack down on scammers targeting student loan debtors.

A national publication on Monday published an article with strategies for consumers dealing with debt collectors. Collections & Credit Risk encourages readers to tell us what you think of the story as well as the mainstream media's recent overall portrayal of the collection industry.

A judge ordered a Michigan hospital to pay more than $2.7 million as a result of a lawsuit involving plaintiffs who loaned the hospital money.

A lawsuit filed by Indiana’s attorney general accuses a test preparation company of deceptive practices. Unlike a separate New York lawsuit filed against the firm this month, the complaint does not name an affiliate collection agency.

Since the start of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the debt collection industry has lived in a box of great unknowns.

Ally Financial and Ally Bank is starting to pay back $80 million to minority borrowers that the federal government found were victims of discrimination as a result of the companies’ indirect auto lending business.