Consumer lending

The total balance of auto loans reached $975 billion in December, representing 33.2% of total outstanding non-mortgage consumer debt, according to the latest Equifax Inc. National Consumer Credit Trends Report.

A Tampa Bay, Fla. couple, harassed by Bank of America over their delinquent mortgage payments, recently won a $1 million default judgment in a collection lawsuit.

To help Spanish-speaking consumers understand their rights when dealing with debt collectors, the Federal Trade Commission has created a Spanish-language graphic novel, Cobradores de Deuda

The average loan size of new homes increased to $311,398 in December from $306,975 in November, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association survey.

A Maine Supreme Court justice has ordered the withdrawal of a public reprimand of a lawyer involved in a mortgage foreclosure scandal related to robo-signing documents.

The S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, a measure of changes in consumer credit defaults, continued to show an increase in default rates through December, according to data released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian.

The FTC is sending more than $700,000 in refund checks to people who lost money in a "Rachel from Cardholder Services" scheme that promised to reduce the interest rate on consumers' credit cards for an upfront fee.

The Federal Trade Commission announced its largest-ever payday lending settlement on Friday, as two companies agreed to pay $21 million and waive another $285 million in charges that were never collected from customers.

VantageScore Solutions LLC announced Thursday that the results of a consumer survey found Millennials remain cautious about key life events years after the recession.

In a record Federal Trade Commission settlement involving payday lenders, two companies will pay $21 million to resolve charges that they violated the law by charging consumers undisclosed and inflated fees.

The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) Consumer Services Division announced this week that it has fined illegal payday lenders more than $280,000 in fines since 2013.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Thursday plans to propose legislation to overhaul the state's data security law while requiring new safeguards for the personal data of consumers.

A Minnesota state senator who filed for bankruptcy was relieved of $840,00 in debt last year, including $613,000 owed to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Global Debt Registry, a debt repository for storing and tracking consumer debt, announced it has secured $7 million in funding. The investment comes on the heels of a landmark year for the company.

Wells Fargo has eased off the gas pedal in auto lending, as concerns about weakening industrywide credit standards continue to spread.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday it is seeking comment on a so-called "safe student account scorecard" that colleges could use to see how banks structure the fees, features and "sales tactics" of financial products to students before forming a partnership.

A ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed a trial court's dismissal of a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim in Buchanan v. Northland Group Inc.

Cream Group Inc., which operates as Oro Marketing, and its mastermind Sami Charchian have agreed to a permanent ban on telemarketing to settle FTC charges that they targeted Spanish-speaking women with false promises that they could make money reselling brand-name goods, such as Gucci and Ralph Lauren.

Pennsylvania defense attorney Nancy Raynor, sanctioned nearly $1 million when a defense expert made a prohibited remark about smoking during a lung cancer-related malpractice case, is now being told it's time to pay up.

The agency appears to be on the verge of reining in lawsuits that have cost banks hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.