Debt Collection

Statistics show that 97 to 98% of American households are able to pay their bills on time. Nearly all of the 2 to 3% of the households who are behind on their bills were current until they faced a financial catastrophe like unemployment, illness, disability, or succumbing to the daily exhortations in their mailbox to borrow, borrow, borrow. During recessions a few more percent of consumers fall behind. Recognizing this, federal and many states’ laws require that financially distressed consumers not be abused, deceived or treated unfairly.

Increasingly brazen elements of the debt-collection industry are hounding hundreds of thousands of Americans who have fallen behind on their debts. Collectors use various forms of illegal intimidation, including talking with relatives, friends, and employers about a consumer’s debt without his permission; making harassing or abusive telephone calls; and threatening to take actions that are illegal or not intended. The wave of harassment by debt collectors is especially tough on low-income people who are often -- but by no means exclusively -- its targets.

NCLC Special Reports and Press Releases

NCLC Decries Debt Collection Horror Stories: Press Release of the Comments to the FTC, June 7, 2007

Press Materials : NCLC Calls on Media to Expose Debt Collection Industry's Widespread Illegal Practice

Policy Analysis

Testimony re Protecting Social Security Benefits from Predatory Lending and Other Harmful Financial Institution Practices, June 24, 2008 PDF (227KB)

Comments to the Federal Regulators on the InterAgency Guidance on Exempt Benefits, November 27, 2007 PDF (154KB)

NCLC's Comment Opposing Debt Collectors Autodialing Personal Cell Phones, April 2006 PDF (33KB)

NCLC Criticizes States Treating Checking Account Mistakes As Criminal PDF (53KB)

Testimony: The Consumer Impact of Regulatory Relief Proposals Affecting Banks, Thrifts and Credit Unions, March 1, 2006 PDF (303KB)
Policy Analysis Archive