Consumer lending

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.

Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia have come up with a plan for letting banks innovate with artificial intelligence and widening access to credit at the same time.

The American Bankers Association's latest Credit Conditions Index points to a drop in lending and a rise in loan delinquencies through the second and third quarters.

But overall availability still remained near a 10-year low in March, with government-backed products falling for the third time in four months, the Mortgage Bankers Association found.

Current forbearance volumes have returned to pre-COVID levels among loans held at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a Fed study found.

The 51 basis point increase was inevitable after the late payment rate reached a record low in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Despite slowing originations, the shift to a purchase-oriented market contributed to growth, while outstanding HELOC amounts also surged to its largest in over a decade, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found.

Significantly fewer households expected to be in worse shape in the coming year than was the case last summer, according to a December survey. The results are a positive sign for banks at the start of earnings season.

Student borrowers in the U.S. are struggling to keep up with other kinds of debt even while college payments are frozen, and a surge in delinquencies is likely if the government's debt-relief plan fails, according to a new study.

Banks and other lenders revived special-purpose credit programs after racial-equity protests in 2020 prompted them to reexamine their services for historically underserved groups. Now they're taking those initiatives nationwide.

Foreclosure starts also increased by over 19% between October and November but remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Benefits under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act were applied to fewer than 10% of auto loans for active-duty reserve members, the agency found. It urged financial institutions to ease the process for accessing the law's interest rate protections.