Debt collection

A municipal tax collection agency in Ohio has confirmed it lost personal data for an estimated 50,000 people who filed tax forms with the agency.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., will increase its fourth-quarter allowance for loan losses by $13 million to compensate for potential late payments or defaults on loans in its energy portfolio.

Overall consumer borrowing grew from October to November but decelerated to the slowest pace since January as Americans took out fewer loans for big-ticket items such as cars and education.

The FTC and the State of Florida on Friday charged a payment processing business with credit card laundering and illegally assisting and facilitating a nationwide debt relief telemarketing scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from consumers.

Macy’s has announced plans to consolidate four credit and customer service center facilities into three, resulting in 4,800 job cuts for the Cincinnati-based retail giant.

Both consumers with health insurance and those lacking any coverage are reporting problems paying medical bills, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The New York Times.

While it searches for a permanent deputy director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has named David Silberman to serve as its acting No. 2 starting next week.

A number of community banks, eager to make inroads with underbanked clients, are looking to offer employer-sponsored payroll loans.

The FTC on Thursday announced it has stopped illegal debt collection tactics of several debt collection operations. The crackdown includes four cases highlighted in Collections & Credit Risk. The FTC issued a statement about the cases to point out the success of Operation Collection Protection.

Most U.S. states have established student loan forgiveness programs that are often offered to public service employees to help borrowers who have federal aid or don’t qualify for Department of Education programs.

Banks finally appear ready to turn the corner on how they view overdrafts — and the change of direction could help not only the industry's public image, but also the bottom line.

The Federal Trade Commission is publishing procedures for the administrative collection of debts, including those arising under judgments and orders of the FTC.

Two payday lenders have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that they illegally charged consumers across the country undisclosed and inflated fees.

A key consumer confidence measure showed consumers had a more positive view of the economy in December than a month earlier and their optimism about the labor market also has improved.

After the death of former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley on Jan. 1, the media largely focused on his most famous accomplishment: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

A New York resident can bring a lawsuit in federal court to challenge debt collection practices under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for a loan that was discharged in bankruptcy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday.

Credit Bureau Systems Inc. has acquired the business of Fidelis EMS Billing LLC for undisclosed financial terms.

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, Brazil's largest bank by market value, will pay approximately $305 million for a stake in a debt collection company and a pool of non-performing loans.

The CFPB can proceed with a lawsuit against loan servicer CashCall Inc., a federal judge has ruled, thus rejecting the company's objection that the agency was trampling on states' rights.

Recent high-profile settlements and a New York Times article have drawn fresh attention to problems in the debt collection industry. Many of these could be resolved with the deployment of a trusted national database for consumer debt.