Consumer lending

The Federal Trade Commission has approved final amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule, including a change aimed at protecting consumers from fraud by prohibiting four discrete types of payment methods favored by con artists and scammers.

A new report based on research from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies indicates student loans bet has a potentially strong impact on consumers seeking to move from renting to buying a home. It also could delay their ability to build savings for a mortgage down payment.

The economy grew at a slower pace in the third quarter but consumer spending levels remain solid, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Economy in a Snapshot report.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's consumer complaint database is riddled with errors and distrusted by some of its own employees, according to internal documents and interviews with current and former agency officials.

There was mixed news released Tuesday concerning homeowners facing financial difficulties.

New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill requiring debt collectors to temporarily stop collection activity for victims of identity theft if they receive a written notice from the consumer.

Despite the House Financial Services Committee's passage of a bill to convert the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's leadership structure from a single director to a commission, Democrats have largely opposed the bill.

A Pennsylvania company that enrolls more than 100,000 students at for-profit trade schools and colleges across the U.S. and Canada will pay $95.5 million to settle claims it illegally paid recruiters and exaggerated the career-placement abilities of its schools.

In a growing number of cash-strapped Southern Illinois counties, state’s attorney’s offices are securing contracts with third-party collection agencies to pursue delinquent court fines and fees – sometimes for violations that occurred decades ago.

A federal court has granted a request by the Federal Trade Commission to shut down a tech support scam that allegedly bilked consumers out of more than $17 million by pretending to represent Microsoft, Apple and other major tech companies.

Consumer credit markets continued their strong performance in Q3 with mortgage delinquency rates holding a trend of double-digit annual declines and auto loans and credit cards showing signs of strength through stable defaults and balance growth.

A class-action settlement filed late Thursday awarded $59 million to tens of thousands of New Yorkers who had their bank accounts frozen and wages garnished in an illegal collection scheme.

New York City landlords would be banned from checking credit scores to decide whether to rent to would-be tenants under a bill introduced in the City Council.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has postponed the release of a rule to overhaul how banks calculate loan losses.

More consumers are aware of the increase in data breaches in 2015 compared to last year but overall concerns about identity theft have declined, according to TransUnion’s second annual Holiday Identity theft survey.

More consumers are aware of the increase in data breaches in 2015 compared to last year but overall concerns about identity theft have declined, according to TransUnion’s second annual Holiday Identity theft survey.

Anybody in the consumer contact business - particularly debt collection - is acutely aware of the TCPA violation land mines. Dialing cell phones on a predictive dialer without the consumer’s express permission can result in fines of $1,500 per dial, with threats of class-action lawsuits.

Our nation has a long way to go to protect those defending our homeland. Stopping the damage of high-cost credit is an important first step.

A Delaware-based collection agency will handle billing for millions of dollars in unpaid claims on services provided to a county hospital in California.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is urging Indiana members of Congress to work to restore a longstanding prohibition on student loan debt collectors from using robocalls to cellphones.