WASHINGTON — Two California companies allegedly sold pension advance loans that they claimed were not credit products but in fact charged usurious interest rates, according to a lawsuit brought Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York regulators.

Roughly 20 banks still have capital from the crisis-era program. Most are way behind on dividend payments and have limited options to raise capital to repay the Treasury Department.

DotLoop, the tech startup Zillow just bought, takes the headaches and duplication out of managing real estate documents — up until the hardest part of the transaction, the mortgage. Expanding into mortgages is possible, but would be tricky.

Tech investors love fast-growing marketplace lenders like Social Finance, but Wall Street has taken a dimmer view of them. A huge equity fundraising round should allow SoFi to keep fueling rapid growth while remaining privately owned.

First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Lakewood in Ohio has agreed to acquire Belpre Savings Bank in Belbre, Ohio.

Blue Valley Ban Corp. in Overland Park, Kan., has named an executive from a large investor in the company to its board.

Poorly paid tellers get a boost from Amalgamated Bank; Nasdaq might be getting a female CEO; parent-friendly business trips as a new PE recruitment tool, and Fidelity's Kathleen Murphy on the benefits of mentoring. Plus, motorcycles, sushi chefs and Stephen Colbert.

The CFPB and the New York Department of Financial Services filed a lawsuit in federal court against two companies, Pension Funding LLC and Pension Income LLC, and three of the companies’ individual managers for allegedly deceiving consumers about the costs and risks of their pension advance loans.

Eighteen marketers that allegedly cheated U.S. and Canadian consumers out of more than $7 million are banned from selling business or work-at-home opportunities under court orders obtained by the Federal Trade Commission.

Banks have ramped up foreclosure activity in the past five months, with default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions at their highest levels in two years. It's a positive sign that banks are finally clearing out all the distressed loans still lingering from the housing crisis. Meanwhile, banks remain cautious about new lending, partly because of regulatory actions.

Bank repossessions of distressed homes hit a 30-month high in July, as financial institutions continue to work through the backlog of bubble-era loans.

Planters Holding in Indianola, Miss., has agreed to buy Covenant Financial in Clarksdale, Miss.

There's nothing like a natural disaster to make people realize how important insurance is to the banking industry.

Bank repossessions of distressed homes hit a 30-month high in July, as financial institutions continue to work through the backlog of bubble-era loans.

While in talks to buy National Penn Bancshares, BB&T circulated an email to help key executives understand Pennsylvania’s prominent cultural and religious groups.

Horicon Bank in Horicon, Wis., has agreed to acquire a branch in Fond du Lac, Wis., from Baraboo National Bank.

Market Street Bancshares in Mount Vernon, Ill., has completed a $15 million debt offering.

Discover Financial Services topped peers in a J.D. Power credit-card customer satisfaction ranking, ousting American Express from the No. 1 spot for the first time in the survey's nine years.

The Chicago-based online consumer lender, which focuses on borrowers with less than pristine credit histories, is getting a boost from JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and Jefferies.

Illinois has amended provisions of the Illinois Collection Agency Act, including removing language about debt collectors and raising the maximum civil penalty for unlicensed practices.