Consumer lending

A state ethics commission has hired two collection agencies to pursue nearly a half million dollars in late fees resulting from elected and appointed officials missing or ignoring deadlines for submitting financial disclosure forms.

The gap between high income and middle- and lower-income families' wealth is growing as the economy recovers from the economic downturn, according to a study.

United Kingdom-based collection agency 1st Credit Ltd. could be sold by private equity firm Bridgepoint, according to a recent report.

JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America plan to start offering FICO scores they have on customers to them for free, according to a statement released Monday by the White House.

U.S. auto lending is still booming, but those in the industry are not smiling as widely as you might expect.

Complaints about debt collection are growing among service members. There are now more than 11,000 complaints from service members, veterans and military families since the CFPB began accepting them 18 months ago.

The San Francisco bank will lend to more borrowers with weaker credit histories, an official at the bank said. Bank of the West, a BNP Paribas subsidiary, has proven to be more aggressive than U.S. peers in the past.

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Even is building a mobile money-management service for baristas, Lyft drivers, freelancers and others with unpredictable incomes. For $5 a week, users can draw advances on paychecks during rough patches.

A San Diego-based debt collector has agreed to pay $675,000 in civil penalties and give up $18 million won in court fights against 4,500 consumers, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Friday.

Debt-buying giant Encore Capital Group Inc. agreed Friday to settle claims that it used improper collection strategies in New York, including obtaining judgments against consumers for debts that were too old to collect.

More than 1,000 North Carolina residents have reported receiving collection calls from an electronic message system that claims to be from the Internal Revenue Service.

Revolving consumer credit, which is mostly made up of credit card loans, fell in November by the largest amount in a year, according to a report Thursday from the Federal Reserve Board.

Revolving consumer credit in the U.S. fell in November by the largest amount in a year, according to a report Thursday from the Federal Reserve Board.

Charlotte, N.C.-area hospitals have started offering multiyear interest-free payment plans to help reduce the number of outstanding bills as consumers pay more out-of-pocket medical costs.

A phony debt collection scam in Colorado has state regulators warning residents to be aware of callers pretending to be law enforcement or government agency officials.

The sharp nationwide drop in gas prices is allowing more U.S. consumers to stay current on their debts, according to a new report from the American Bankers Association.

An index of late-payment rates hit a record low in the third quarter, as consumer spent less to fill their gas tanks.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., plans in 2015 to continue her focus on student loan debt and the potential long-term problems it poses to the economy despite now facing a Republican-controlled Congress.

Columbia Financial International Inc. announced Wednesday it is awarding $50,000 in grants to the collection industry to be used for education in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulations.