Consumer lending

Twenty lenders from across the country are participating in Underwriting for Racial Justice, a collaborative effort to develop new criteria that will enable marginalized borrowers to gain access to credit.

As President Biden tries to revive a key campaign promise to provide widespread debt relief to student-loan borrowers after a Supreme Court setback, legal experts warn that he's likely to encounter a fresh wave of lawsuits challenging his authority to act without congressional approval.

Rising interest rates on loans, greater borrowing and higher fees on deposit accounts all contributed to the increase. "Altogether, this paints a picture of debt that could really start to strain the checkbooks of American families," said Meghan Greene, a researcher at the nonprofit organization that authored the report.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued two reports analyzing banking and consumer credit trends in the South, where many rural areas are considered "banking deserts."

Bank regulators rolled out two joint proposals this month as part of a broader push to address discrimination in home valuations. Advocates see promise, but appraisers fear the changes could artificially inflate valuations.

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, lambasted the Federal Reserve for increasing the dominance of "too big to fail" banks and failing to rein in systemic risk. He asked whether the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a better regulator than the Fed.

After falling to a 10-year low in April, credit on the market diminished further last month, with government, conforming and jumbo offerings all decreasing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Both loan demand and credit availability have contracted sharply, according to senior executives at several of the nation's largest banks. Their comments came against the specter of a potential recession.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the Evansville, Indiana, installment lender had engaged in "unfair, deceptive and abusive acts and practices," and failed to reimburse interest to consumers who had cancelled certain add-on products.

Balances reached nearly $1 trillion at the end of the first quarter, up 17% from a year earlier. The increase reflects higher spending by well-off consumers on travel and entertainment, as well as the pressure that lower-income households are facing from inflation and higher interest rates.