Consumer lending

Outstanding automotive loan balances rose 11.5% from a year earlier in the fourth quarter, Experian Automotive said Tuesday.

A new breed of tax refund anticipation loans is testing that age-old maxim, with supporters saying that free really does mean free and critics suggesting that the products' 0% interest rates are masking the actual costs.

Stephen Steinour, chief executive of Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, has pursued a risky strategy of taking losses in exchange for adding new customers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

U.S. consumers in December increased their borrowing at the fastest pace in three months. The result suggests that consumer spending should remain strong in the coming months.

Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles has recovered $22.5 million of the projected $444 million owed to the agency as a result of residents with lapsed auto insurance. But some drivers believe the state’s Office of Debt Recovery is being too aggressive.

The White House and other Democrats have long pushed for banks to offer affordable small-dollar loans as an alternative to payday loans and other costlier credit, but banks have struggled to make them profitable and safe for consumers.

U.S. bankruptcy filings reached 52,522 in January, 11% lower than 59,092 filings in January 2015, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, which used data from Epiq Systems Inc.

An ordinance in Killeen, Texas limiting payday lending businesses will be reviewed Tuesday by the Killeen City Council.

The FCC is reviewing possible rules to allow companies using modern dialing technologies to call consumers on their cell phones concerning government-related debts including student loans and mortgages.

Remember strategic defaulters, those homeowners who walked away from their underwater mortgages even though they could still afford their loans?