News Bulletins Archive Month: January February March April May June July August September October November December / 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 August 2008 Consumers Struggling with Health Care Bills, Survey Says Struggling to pay medical bills, more Americans are using credit cards, home equity and savings accounts to cover health care costs, according to a survey released today by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that studies health care reform policy. (August 20, 2008) Economic Climate Hurts Target’s Credit Card Portfolio Stress in Target Corp.’s credit card portfolio represents a major challenge affecting the company’s earnings in the near-term, officials told analysts during a second-quarter earnings conference call Tuesday. (August 20, 2008) Sherman Financial Buys Back 2.4 Million Shares MGIC Investment Corp. last week sold its 24.25% stake in Sherman Financial Group LLC back to the Charleston, S.C.-based debt buyer. (August 19, 2008) Oregon Issues Cease-And-Desist Order for All Debt Recovery The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services last week revoked the collection agency registration of All Debt Recovery LLC for allegedly failing to forward collected proceeds to its customers. (August 19, 2008) SupportKids Inc.'s Practices Under Fire The business practices of an Austin, Texas-based company that collects delinquent child support payments are being challenged in a lawsuit filed by the state of Virginia. (August 19, 2008) Capital One Reports July Delinquency Results Capital One Financial Corp. reported that delinquencies on credit cards continued to rise in July, although loan loss ratios improved, according to the lender's monthly credit data filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (August 19, 2008) Economic Factors Hinder Consumers’ Ability To Pay The poor economy and the housing crisis are making it increasingly difficult for credit cardholders and other debtors to fulfill their financial obligations, a trend that will take a toll on the debt recovery industry’s liquidation rates. (August 19, 2008) Mortgage Applications Fall During Week of August 4 The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Market Composite Index for the week ended Aug. 8 was 425.9, down 1.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 432.6 one week earlier. The index measures mortgage loan application volume. (August 15, 2008) Foreclosures Up 8% Nationally In July Foreclosure filings were reported on 272,171 U.S. properties during July, an 8% increase from June, and a 55% increase from July of 2007 according to RealtyTrac’s July 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. (August 14, 2008) Law Enforcement Wins the Data Security Battle, Not the War With 11 people indicted for their alleged participation in the most successful card theft ring to date, other fraud rings are planning or carrying out their next data thefts, sources say. (August 14, 2008) Collection Agency Expects to Add 700 Jobs Capital Management Services, a collection agency in Buffalo, N.Y., expects to add as many as 700 jobs in the area within a few years through a planned expansion of Center One Capital, the agency's credit card servicing operation. (August 14, 2008) Group to Accredit Health Care Collection Agencies The Accredited Healthcare Business Associates plans next month to establish an accreditation process for health care accounts receivables management companies. (August 14, 2008) CarePayment Program Offered to Revenue Manager Users TransUnion, a credit and information management company, announced today that users of its Revenue Manager system have the option of using CarePayment, a payment program offered and managed by Portland, Ore.-based Aequitas Capital Management Inc. (August 13, 2008) NCO Group Reports $14.8 Million Loss in Q2 NCO Group recently reported a net loss of $14.8 million for the second quarter ended June 30. The company reported a net loss of $1.3 million during the same quarter last year. (August 13, 2008) Card Issuers Tighten Underwriting Standards, Survey Suggests Banks sharply tightened their credit card underwriting standards beginning in May, and many banks expect additional tightening through the first half of next year, according to a Federal Reserve Board survey released yesterday. (August 12, 2008) Asta Funding Inc.’s Q3 Net Income Decreases 84% Asta Funding Inc., which purchases credit card receivables, reported net income of $2.4 million for the third quarter ended June 30, down 84.3% from $15.3 million during the same period a year ago. (August 12, 2008) Card Charge-Off Prices Experience A Market Correction Credit card-debt prices are down since the start of 2008, but a gap still exists between prices and the debt’s worth, according to industry experts. (August 11, 2008) Delinquencies for 2007 Mortgages Outpacing 2006 Delinquencies of prime mortgages originated in 2007 are outpacing those made in 2006, a possible sign the U.S. housing and financial crisis may be deeper than initial estimates, reports the Wall Street Journal. (August 8, 2008) AmeriCredit's Charge-offs, Bad Loan Reserves Soar AmeriCredit Corp.'s loan charge-offs rose to 5.9% versus 3.3% during the automobile finance company's fiscal fourth-quarter ended June 30, the company reported yesterday. (August 8, 2008) Consumer Credit Outstanding Hits $2.59 Trillion in June Consumer credit outstanding, which includes revolving and non-revolving credit, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.7% in June to $2.59 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve’s monthly consumer credit survey. (August 8, 2008) Texas Attorney General Sues Anderson, Crenshaw & Associates Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott yesterday filed a lawsuit against a Dallas-based collection agency for allegedly harassing consumers and sending deceptive collection letters. (August 7, 2008) Texas Attorney General Sues Anderson, Crenshaw & Associates Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott yesterday filed a lawsuit against a Dallas-based collection agency for allegedly harassing consumers and sending deceptive collection letters. (August 7, 2008) HSBC Finance Reports Loss of $1.7 Billion HSBC Finance Corp. this week reported a net loss from continuing operations before taxes of $1.7 billion for the second quarter ended June 30. (August 6, 2008) Mortgage Applications Fall In Last Full Week of July The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Market Composite Index for the week ended July 25 was 420.8, down 14.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 489.6 one week earlier. The index measures mortgage loan application volume. (August 6, 2008) Feds Indict 11 in Theft of Credit Card Accounts Authorities have indicted 11 individuals for stealing and selling payment card data from TJX Cos. Inc. and other major retailers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday, according to CardLine, a CCR Newsline sister publication. (August 6, 2008) Debt Buyer Encore Capital Group Reports Gains Encore Capital Group, a debt buyer that purchases and collects delinquent credit cards, reported broad second-quarter gains, including increases in cash collections, debt purchasing, total revenue and net income. (August 6, 2008) AACC Spends Record Amount for Charge-offs Debt buyer Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. spent a company record $65.3 million in the second quarter ended June 30 to buy charged-off consumer-debt portfolios with a face value of $1.9 billion. (August 6, 2008) Fed Leaves Rate Untouched At 2% The Federal Reserve today decided to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 2%. The federal funds rate is the interest banks charge each other. (August 5, 2008) PLS Financial Services Chooses IAT’s Predictive Dialer PLS Financial Services is trying a new recipe for success in collections this summer by adding IAT’s site-premised dialer CT Center to the mix. (August 5, 2008) ACS Collections and Recovery System Helps Oklahoma Bank Manage Consumer Loans Affiliated Computer Services Inc. recently announced its collections and recovery system has helped the Bank of Oklahoma manage delinquent consumer loans. (August 5, 2008) Evergreen Professional Recoveries Adopts CallRex Call Recording Software Telrex, a Kirkland, Wash.-based provider of the CallRex suite of IP call-recording and call center optimization products, announced that CallRex call recording software has provided Evergreen Professional Recoveries a rapid return on investment. (August 5, 2008) Moody’s: Card Charge-Off Rates Heading For New Highs Credit card charge-off rates are on track to surpass historic highs of about 7% of total loans outstanding, according to a recent Moody’s Investors Service Inc. report. (August 4, 2008) Debt Buyer Reports Second Quarter Gains Encore Capital Group, a San Diego-based debt buyer, reported today that it posted net income of $7.3 million in the second quarter ended June 30 compared to a loss in the year-ago period. (August 4, 2008) PRA Acquires Assets of Broussard Partners Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. today announced that it has acquired the assets of Broussard Partners & Associates, Inc., which specializes in providing audit services to local tax authorities in Louisiana. (August 1, 2008) Cardholders' Bill of Rights Approved by House Committee Legislation that would end credit card practices that some lawmakers deem abusive moved closer to a vote in the House yesterday after the U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights by a vote of 39-27. (August 1, 2008) NCM Attracts New Equity Partner Milestone Advisors recently represented Memphis, Tenn.-based National Capital Management (NCM), a purchaser and servicer of bankruptcy-impaired consumer receivables (mostly Chapter 13s), in a recapitalization of the business. (August 1, 2008) Exclusive: Debt Buyers Mostly Purchase Cards The 15 largest debt buyers last year purchased a combined face value estimated between $25.1 billion and $37.7 billion in delinquent credit card accounts, or 60% to 90% of total debt purchases of $41.9 billion, according to a survey by Collections & Credit Risk. (August 1, 2008) © 2008 CreditandCollectionsWorld.com and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Please read our Privacy Policy