Consumer lending

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is making an end run around existing regulations to collect data on overdraft programs, according to the American Bankers Association.

El Paso, Texas recently changed collection agencies pursuing unpaid traffic tickets, which has reportedly resulted in several thousand additional mailing contacts - and more complaints from irate consumers.

Two Michigan residents have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that debt servicer Money Recovery Nationwide is unlawfully collecting additional fees.

While the CFPB has not set specific deadlines to issue proposals on debt collection, analysts expect so-called pre-rulemaking activities - typically a report or a small-business review panel - to occur this summer.

A new economic report showed little movement in consumer spending in March, despite lower gasoline prices, growth in real disposable income and a labor market showing steady improvement.

As Columbia Law School professor Robert Jackson noted in an op-ed on Thursday, there needs to be a source of real competition for the credit-card pushers, namely online marketplace lenders, so consumers with below-average credit scores can have access to credit at somewhat reasonable rates.

Complaints against collection agencies have dropped nearly 20% in two years and debt collectors in 2015 earned a higher complaint resolution rate than the all-industry rate, according to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The agency posted its semiannual rulemaking agenda on a blog late Wednesday updating the next steps it will take on several areas of rulemaking. The CFPB expects to issue rules for prepaid reloadable cards, mortgage servicing and mortgage disclosures this summer but set no specific deadlines yet on overdraft and debt collection.

A debate Wednesday at a senate committee hearing discussed the effectiveness of the TCPA and how the the FCC has exposed businesses to litigation risk.

The National Consumer Law Center warned Congress on Wednesday that a change to federal law last year is troublesome because it now allows the government to use robocalls to collect debt.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to unveil its formal proposal to restrict payday lending on June 2, the first national regulations of short-term, small-dollar loans.

Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, introduced legislation Thursday to reform consumer credit reporting.

The bureau said Wednesday that it plans to hold a public hearing in Kansas City, Mo., to discuss small-dollar lending. The hearing will be held at the Kansas City Convention Center and will feature remarks from CFPB Director Richard Cordray, as well as testimony from consumer groups, industry representatives and the public.

Data through April released by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian shows a consumer credit default composite rate of 0.86% in April, down seven basis points from March.

An appeals court panel has questioned whether Sallie Mae and SLM Corp. had actual knowledge of for-profit California Culinary Academy’s alleged scheme to prey on students and whether the lender perpetuated that lie to students.

One in five short-term auto title loan borrowers have their vehicle seized because they cannot pay the loan, according to a study released Wednesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that one in five borrowers who take out short-term auto title loans have their vehicle seized for failing to repay the loan.

MuniServices LLC, a business of debt-buying giant PRA Group, will offer aspiring municipal leaders a chance to learn about strategic financial administration through a new certification program.

A recent story in American Banker reported that at least three banks are planning to launch new small-dollar loans products after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday lending rule becomes effective.

The San Jose (Calif.) City Council is reviewing the best way to recover the overdue fines without also chasing people away.