An estimated 409 different collection agencies and creditors were sued in the Sept. 1-15 period, down from an estimated 534 sued in the second half of August and 426 sued in the first half of August, according to data from U.S. District Courts.

The $2.8 billion-asset company announced Friday that it had signed agreements with several institutional investors for a direct placement of $10 million of common equity. The shares are to be sold at $5.25 a share, a 7% discount to Thursday's closing price.

The National Credit Union Administration took under conservatorship three more troubled corporate credit unions Friday as part of is effort to shed the corporate system of toxic assets.

Two failures on opposite coasts Friday evening brought the year's toll to 127. Florida regulators closed the $148 million-asset Haven Trust Bank in Ponte Vedra Beach. Later, the $289 million-asset North County Bank in Arlington, Wash., was shuttered.

Issues that have hindered deals in the past few years have led some banks in the past few months to amend their agreements, while even more have terminated them.

Issues that have hindered deals in the past few years have led some banks in the past few months to amend their agreements, while even more have terminated them.

Charter Financial expects to raise up to $34.2 million of fresh capital through a public offering — barely half what it had hoped to raise initially.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA said it took under conservatorship three more troubled corporate credit unions this afternoon as part of is effort to shed the corporate system of toxic assets.

The NCUA Board's new corporate credit union rules will bar corporates from investing in a variety of risky investments.

Dave Widlak, the president and chief executive of Community Central Bank Corp. in Mount Clemens, Mich., has been missing for days.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed on behalf of shareholders by the former chairman of Nara Bancorp, a Los Angeles company serving the Korean-American community.

With problem real estate loans drying up earnings and diminishing capital at Cadence Financial, Trustmark is stepping in to rescue its longtime Mississippi rival.

The Brookfield, Wis., banking technology vendor said Thursday that the $3.6 billion-asset Patelco is planning to implement its Acumen software to help its expansion efforts.

Umpqua Bank said Wednesday that it is opening a commercial banking center in northern Nevada that will be led by a former US Bank commercial banking veteran in that market.

The $355.7 million-asset company announced Tuesday that it had completed its second-step conversion by selling 1.7 million shares of common stock at $10 a share.

Two days before approving a $175 million investment for TIB Financial Corp. in Naples, Fla., the Federal Reserve entered into a written agreement with the struggling company.

Center Bancorp Inc. in Union, N.J., Wednesday set the price of its two stock offerings, through which it expects to raise about $12 million in capital.

Recent lawsuits could stop community banks in at least two states from deliberately processing the largest transactions first — a method that triggers additional overdrafts and thus higher fees — after a California judge ruled against Wells Fargo & Co. last month.

Companies are in business to stay in business, and it's a huge conflict of interest to ask them to come up with their own resolution plans.

Editor's Note: Collection agency owner Michelle Janik sent the following letter for publication after reading an earlier statement from a consumer attorney that CollectionsCreditRisk.com published, see story. To comment, contact Darren Waggoner, Editor, CollectionsCreditRisk.com at 815.463.9008 or darren.waggoner@sourcemedia.com.