Credit

High interest rates and tough economic conditions played a role in the credit woes that overcame BayFirst Financial's small-dollar lending effort.

A FICO survey shows 33% think exaggerating income on credit applications is acceptable. Ironically, many also prioritize strong fraud prevention from banks.

As high interest rates make refinancing impossible for many homeowners, increasing numbers of them are turning to HELOCs and home equity loans for cash.

Bill Pulte, regulator and conservator of entities that buy and securitize many mortgages, also reaffirmed he's 'not happy with" lenders' main score provider.

Although credit bureaus have collected this data for three years, it's only now being factored into assessments of consumer creditworthiness.

The deal was divided into multiple debt pieces rated by Kroll Bond Rating Agency as well as a riskier first-loss piece.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has filed a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule barring medical debt from credit reports.

Affirm partners with Sixth Street to sell its buy now/pay later loans to the investment firm; Associated Banc-Corp promotes Steven Zandpour to deputy head of consumer and business banking; Visa Direct speeds up its money transfers; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the FICO credit-scoring model has drawbacks in price, predictiveness and market competition, and stakeholders should develop a more open-sourced model that uses artificial intelligence.

Prophecies about a wave of bank failures caused by sickly CRE loans haven't yet come true. But there are still plenty of caution signs in a saga that will take years to play out.

The change in medical debt reporting initiated by the three credit bureaus did not go far enough as 15 million Americans are still impacted, the groups led by the National Consumer Law Center said.

Democrats Ritchie Torres and Gregory Meeks called on the New York Home Loan bank to follow the lead of its peers and use alternative credit scoring models for collateral to improve consumers' access to homeownership.

Moderating interest rates in the first quarter led to changing fortunes from 2022 and 2023, a Transunion report said.

Transportation, automotive, healthcare, and commercial real estate are the sectors most affected, but borrowers are doing better than expected.

Household borrowing from mortgages and other loans hit a record, outpacing inflation, a study shows.

The partnership between personal finance platform Esusu and the National Rental Home Council has several of the trade group's members delivering payment data. They say that has helped result in over 85,000 originations across lending segments.

Fifteen million Americans who owe a combined $49 billion in medical debt would benefit from a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to scrub medical debts from credit reports and ban their use in underwriting decisions.

At an industry conference, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said he was open to suggestions on how to increase choice and competition to benefit mortgage lenders and borrowers.

The return of the higher-for-longer mantra is a headache for insurance companies and pension plans which, flush with cash, sent demand for bonds soaring this year.

The financing outlook improved from recent surveys on a macro basis, but expectations around commercial real estate helped cloud over the credit forecast.