Consumer lending

Lawmakers are requiring the Department of Education to drop a formula that gives preference to four major federal student loan servicers and instead divvy up the accounts based on performance measures.

Separate actions involved a company and an individual that resold sensitive personal data to debt collectors and lenders, allegedly exposing millions of consumers to harassment and deceit.

Default rates on various types of consumer loans improved in November, according to Standard & Poor's and Experian.

A car dealer and its financing arm will pay a $6.4 million fine to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for allegedly providing inaccurate information to credit reporting firms.

LifeLock Inc. agreed Thursday to pay $100 million to settle FTC charges that it failed to properly protect its customers’ data and misrepresented the strength of its security. It's the largest order enforcement case to date to come out of the FTC.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday loan proposal threatens many money services businesses on the front lines of stopping money-laundering and terrorist financing.

Litigation citing violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act dropped in November compared to October but remain significantly higher year-to-date.

EZCORP Inc. has responded to the $10.5 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau related to its payday lending and installment lending practices.

Ally Financial, seeking new sources of customers, will finance used cars sold through Beepi, an 18- month-old website that lets people buy vehicles with a few clicks and no test drive.

Seventeen colleges will receive warning letters this week from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stating they may be in violation of federal law for not disclosing agreements they have with credit card companies.

Credit risk, interest rate risk and cybersecurity concerns pose growing risks, according to a semiannual risk report issued Wednesday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Bank officials say they are ready for rising rates; disagree on how much the initial increase would help or hurt lending and the economy; and predict more rate increases next year.

The CFPB on Wednesday issued a bulletin warning the collection industry and lenders - as well as the entire financial services industry - about potentially illegal conduct during in-person collections.

Mortgage lenders have complained bitterly about the risk and uncertainty of having to buy back defective home loans from Fannie Mae. Now Fannie is planning to offer yet another carrot to lenders that have lobbied extensively for relief from loan repurchases.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau charged the company with tactics that included illegal visits to consumers at their homes.

Officials in Horry County, S.C. unveiled a plan Monday for recovering some of an estimated $20 million in unpaid EMS bills.

TransUnion's 2016 auto loan forecast projects stable delinquencies throughout the next year, with delinquency levels remaining flat at 1.11% during year-end 2015 and year-end 2016.

Four alleged mortgage modification scammers are banned from selling debt relief products and services under settlements resolving Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceived homeowners facing foreclosure.

A long-awaited proposal to strengthen payday and small-dollar loan rules is nearing release by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau more than nine months after the agency initially unveiled the plan.

Millennials starting their careers with $30,000 in student loans could enter retirement with far less savings than those without any education debt, according to research from the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute.