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Auto loans are the most common secured debt in the U.S. If a debtor defaults on an auto loan, the creditor can typically repossess the asset – the car – securing the loan. But if the asset is in a state of disrepair or otherwise diminished in value, the creditor cannot recoup the total balance owed by selling the car. So a deficiency balance is due from the debtor, with the balance becoming a receivable on the creditor’s books.
For the second straight quarter, the percentage of Americans with at least one account in the third party debt collection system hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2013. Close to 15 percent of consumers have an account being worked by debt collectors.
In an effort to effectively end the high interest rates charged to consumers who take out short-term – or payday – loans, a group of U.S. Senate Democrats Tuesday introduced a bill that would cap annual interest rates at 36 percent for all consumer credit transactions.
At a scheduled field hearing in Des Moines, Iowa Thursday, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray announced the expansion of its Consumer Complaint Database and the release to the public of roughly all complaint data it has collected through its Consumer Response complaint system.
There was a lot of activity associated with the CFPB over the last two weeks as the march continues through the maze of companies that comprise the web of the U.S. consumer finance market.
Over recent months, consumers have been piling on the debt at the highest rate since the start of the Great Recession more than 4 years ago. What does this mean for ARM professionals in search of increased placement volumes and improved liquidation results?
In FICO’s latest quarterly survey of U.S. bank risk professionals, a large majority of bankers said consumers will be applying for more new credit and trying to bump up the limits on existing credit accounts over the next six months. Bankers are also expecting balances on credit cards to increase during the first half of 2013. These expectations are in stark contrast to the significant household deleveraging that has taken place over the past five years.
Consumer credit outstanding in the U.S. increased at an annual rate of seven percent in November, mostly on the strength of auto and student lending, according to data released late Tuesday by the Federal Reserve.
Consumer delinquencies continued to decline in the third quarter of 2012, with bank card delinquencies falling to an 18-year low as consumers strengthen their financial base amid economic uncertainty
The U.S. Court Of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled last week in a case involving Citigroup that the FDCPA does not apply to creditors, as everyone in the ARM industry already knows.
What’s concerning about the case is the amount of time and money the bank was forced to spend in a case that was appealed up to lofty legal levels. To add insult to injury, the case was brought by the consumer pro se.
The Federal Reserve said late Friday that overall U.S. consumer credit outstanding grew to an all-time record in October, primarily on the strength of student and auto loans and credit cards.