Debt collection

The mortgage delinquency rate fell in the first quarter, marking the 13th consecutive quarterly drop.

WASHINGTON — The Education Department's plan to tighten restrictions on deals between banks and universities sparked a fierce debate Friday over whether such rules are long overdue or a significant overreach.

Interactive Intelligence Group Inc., a global provider of collaboration, communications and customer engagement software and cloud services, has released Interaction Collector for Student Loans.

European private equity firm Permira has agreed to buy German debt collection agency GFKL from Advent, the companies said Monday.

Debt buyer PRA Group announced Monday it will expand into the German debt purchase market.

A proposal issued Friday by the Department of Education would tighten rules on the types of deal that colleges can enter into with banks to disburse federally guaranteed loans to students.

A $10.2 million settlement of a class action involving JPMorgan Chase has stoked the interest of banking industry and consumer groups in new rules for placing robo-calls.

The FTC has settled a case against an operation that allegedly used deception and threats to convince people to pay debts they did not owe.

A Jackson County, Mo. jury awarded a woman $251,000 in damages and assessed $82 million in punitive damages against the collection agency that sued her for a debt she said was not hers.

Banks and consumer groups are both eagerly awaiting an FCC decision about whether to loosen federal restrictions on robo-calling consumers. A $10.2 million settlement announced this week involving JPMorgan Chase brought the issue back to the forefront.

On the same day the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a probe into student loan servicing practices, stakeholders ranging from the Department of Education to borrower advocates outlined their wish lists for reforms.

Former Wells Fargo & Co. customer Shahriar Jabbari filed a lawsuit against the bank Wednesday accusing it of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking a closer look at companies that service student loans to determine whether there are patterns of abuse and misinformation in the $1 trillion industry.

Two law firms and their lead attorney on Wednesday lost a default judgment in New York County Supreme Court after allegedly participating in a fraudulent mortgage rescue scheme.

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday received a letter from regulators in 11 states expressing concerns about information provided to students affected by the closure of campuses operated by Corinthian Colleges Inc.

U.S. consumers borrowed more in the first quarter to pay for education and automobiles but their overall debt burden remained mostly flat, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

A new study on student loans runs counter to the popular belief that rising student loan debt is hurting the ability of young adults to access credit.

Two mobile phone companies reached a $158 million settlement with federal and state regulators to resolve allegations that they added third-party service charges to consumers’ telephone bills that were not authorized by consumers.

Nationwide Biweekly Administration, Loan Payment Administration and Daniel Lipsky - the owner of both companies - are named as defendants in a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lawsuit that accuses the firms of deceptive mortgage practices.

Brad Blackwell, who heads portfolio lending at Wells Fargo, calls his bank's underwriters the "fighter pilots" of the lending industry — they belong to a force trained to attack very specific targets.