Appearing in Forbes Advisor on June 8, 2026, Kristen Grau talks to NCLC Senior Attorney April Kuehnhoff about how some renters are turning to security deposit installment plans to lower move-in expenses, and how a new NCLC report finds these products can come with terms and fees that make them more expensive than traditional security…
Appearing in The New York Times on June 5, 2026, Ann Carrns talks to NCLC’s April Kuehnhoff for coverage of NCLC’s report examining financial technology firms that are promoting alternative tools to manage security deposits. Millions of renters use the services. “They’re quite widespread,” said April Kuehnhoff, a senior lawyer at the center and an…
New NCLC Report Reveals Hidden Risks and Costs of Predatory PropTech Products
Read More about Security Deposit Alternative Products are Hurting Tenant Financial Security
Appearing in USA Today on May 3, 2026, Andrea Riquier writes about how fintech companies are offering rent‑now‑pay‑later services to help renters manage cash‑flow gaps caused by soaring housing costs, but Ariel Nelson, senior attorney at NCLC, and other consumer advocates argue the products are costly, sometimes predatory, and insufficiently regulated. “These products speak to…
Read More about USA Today: Rent is crushing Americans. Now some companies say: Pay later
Advocates Say Company Exploits Families With Low Credit Scores and Puts Them at Risk of Eviction
Amid Affordability Crisis, Nation’s Largest Property Management Company Accused of Obscuring True Cost of Monthly Rent and Fees
Report updates state and local efforts to address rental housing junk fees and provides recommendations to protect tenants.
Read More about Report Shows States Stepping up to Fight Rental Housing Junk Fees
Appearing in Vox on September 30, 2025, Rachel Cohen Booth talks to Chi Chi Wu, the director of Consumer Reporting and Data Advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center about how The Debt Collective hopes a rental debt strike will lead to tenants having rental debts canceled in their entirety. The timing of the rent…
Appearing in CNBC on September 15, 2025, Ana Teresa Sola talks to NCLC Senior Attorney Chi Chi Wu about how not all rent reporting services work the same way and how some could negatively affect your score. Before you enroll in a rent reporting service, consider the negative consequences or the worst-case scenario, like a…
Appearing in The New York Times on June 20, 2025, Ann Carrns talks to Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting and data advocacy at NCLC about how negative rent information can be disastrous for struggling families if they fall behind on their rent even once. Landlords are unlikely to rent to anyone with a…
Read More about The New York Times: A Way for People With Low Credit Scores to Raise Them
Final Rule Will Only Protect Consumers from Junk Fees Attached to Live Event Tickets and Hotel Stays
Read More about FTC Rule Stops Short of Protecting Tenants from Junk Fees in Rental Housing
Appearing in the Vox member-only magazine, The Highlight, Abdallah Fayyad talks to Ariel Nelson about application fees, move-in fees,convenience fees, administrative fees, key fees, broker fees, and more.And how if you add them all up, moving to a new place might not seem so appealing, or even possible. “It makes it really tricky for people…
