Debt collection

Big banks and institutional lenders approved small-business loans at record rates in May, according to data from Biz2Credit.

The Federal Trade Commission, in testimony before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, highlighted its approach to protecting consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls and illegal robocalls.

Community banks are facing tough choices when it comes to using outsourced labor or beefing up their own staff to handle risk-management tasks.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., the state’s top jobs agency, has written off $7.6 million in taxpayer-funded loans in the four years since it was created.

A California mortgage bank, Guarantee Mortgage Corp., must pay a civil penalty of $228,000 for paying its branch managers based, in part, on the interest rates of the loans they closed.

The FTC has provided its Annual Financial Acts Enforcement Report to the CFPB on enforcement and related activities regarding key industry regulations.

The sheriff of Wall Street is moving on — much to the elation of the financial services sector. Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, is departing from his position this June. But he is likely to leave a lasting impression on the culture and mission of the department.

Debt collector James A. Havassy and his company, Hamilton Law Group, are defendants in a lawsuit alleging they intimidated family members into paying medical bills.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined RPM Mortgage and CEO Rob Hirt $20 million for illegally paying bonuses and higher commissions to loan agents to lead people into more expensive loans. Hirt said the company did nothing wrong.

A letter sent to several large banks on Friday advised the banks to limit tellers' access to customer data and do more to detect signs of misbehavior.

Three years after the FTC won a judgment against mortgage relief defendants, duped consumers will receive checks in the mail.

Consumers are on pace to tally another $55.8 billion in credit card debt this year, despite paying off $34.7 billion in card debt during the first quarter, according to a study.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in New York accuses The College Network and its owner of scamming more than 2,000 New Yorkers, leaving them saddled in debt.

A group of 32 Senate Democrats on Thursday asked Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to issue the "strongest rules possible" against predatory lending.

Lenders are reporting stronger demand for commercial and private lending over the past two months, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Board, continuing a trend of mild-to-moderate improvement in banking fundamentals in recent quarters.

Regulators have made great strides in recent years in crafting responsible underwriting guidelines, developing servicing standards and eliminating products and practices to ensure long-term success for homeowners. But there is a debate as to how best to increase access to credit for qualified borrowers.

The link between debt in collections and local conditions such as access to health insurance and housing markets is strong, according to Signe-Mary McKernan, senior fellow and Co-Director Opportunity and Ownership Initiative at the Urban Institute.

The U.S. Department of Education has ramped up monitoring of ITT Educational Services Inc. after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges against the Indiana-based for-profit college giant and two executives, the company revealed.

Credit reports and credit scores are valuable tools in the financial services industry. But many consumers could use more education in this area.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has fined Bank of America $30 million for allegedly violating consumer protection rights of U.S. military service members while collecting debts.