Consumer lending

WASHINGTON — Credit risk is once again taking center stage with regulators after several years in which they warned banks about operational risk and other threats.

The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing Biloxi, Mississippi officials of jailing people if they did not pay their court fees and fines.

In Minnesota, Anoka-Hennepin School District officials plan to hire a collection agency to pursue approximately $160,000 in unpaid breakfast and lunch money.

NARCA held elections for secretary, treasurer and board of directors at the NARCA 2015 Fall Collection Conference in Washington, D.C. While the secretary and treasurer positions were uncontested, ten NARCA members ran for six board seats.

The third-largest county in Tennessee is looking to hire Ohio-based collection agency Capital Recovery Systems to help it pursue a combined $160 million that offenders owe in fines, fees and court costs.

The operators of an alleged tech support scam agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they tricked consumers into paying millions of dollars for technical support services they did not need and software that was otherwise free.

Consumer litigation against collection agencies had mixed results in September with Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits dropping and Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation making a jump.

Companies of all types are turning to social media — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and beyond — as well as tracking cookies for clues about customers' behavior, identity, preferences, habits and "life events."

Springleaf's proposed acquisition of Citi's OneMain Holdings is being delayed by the Justice Department, which appears focused on preserving competition at the local level — even as a raft of new subprime installment lenders are popping up on the Web.

A blog post published Monday by the New York Fed offered the embattled payday lending industry a rare show of regulatory support.

Fannie Mae plans to make several changes that could help more consumers, including those with little credit history, qualify for a home loan.

Consumer confidence in October remained flat amid concerns about slower growth in the labor market and across the broader economy.

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday accusing debt-buying giant Portfolio Recovery Associates of abusing U.S. courts by filing collection lawsuits against tens of thousands of consumers based on false affidavits.

The Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act became law 10 years ago this week. The law was the culmination of a bipartisan push in Congress to change a system that seemed to encourage bankruptcy filings during a time of prosperity. It is reasonable to ask, a decade later, whether reform worked.

The changes made 10 years ago reduced abusive bankruptcies and made our nation's economy more resilient. If Congress had gone further by regulating attorney fees and increasing penalties for fraud, the economy would be that much stronger.

The reform has returned bankruptcy to its intended function as a last resort for consumers, rather than a way for the wealthy to game the system at everyone else's expense.

The CFPB on Thursday finalized a rule to improve information reported about the residential mortgage market, including updates that will reveal more about consumers’ access to mortgage credit.

The Senate Banking Committee’s top Democrat wants Experian to disclose more information about a data breach resulting in the theft of personal details on millions of T-Mobile customers.

While GOP presidential candidates have focused on repealing or drastically revising the Dodd-Frank Act, Democrats clashed over banking reform Tuesday night during the party's first primary debate.

A report on student loan complaints released by the CFPB on Wednesday reveals serious concerns about repayment problems for those with older federal student loans as servicing issues mount.