Following up on our report about Security Deposit Alternatives, this document identifies actions states can do to curb abuses with these products.
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States, counties, and local governments can help protect immigrants, their families, and communities from financial exploitation and other consumer abuses.
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The rental housing crisis continues to squeeze working families. Contributing to these struggles is the use of tenant screening reports, which typically combine information about eviction filings, criminal records, and credit history. These reports often contain significant systemic errors and problems, such as This Policy Brief offers solutions as to what states can do to…
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The housing crisis for low- and moderate-income renters continues. The new Administration’s actions, such as potential cuts to staff and programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will likely exacerbate it. These developments add to the existing challenges of a severe shortage of affordable, decent housing; spiking rent increases; and abuses by corporate…
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This overview provides a list of common consumer problems coupled with state-based policy solutions.
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Low- and moderate-income renters have faced tremendous challenges in recent years, including shortages of affordable, decent housing; spiking rent increases; and abuses by corporate and private equity landlords. Contributing to these woes are practices that are regulated by consumer laws, including tenant screening reports, collection of rental debt, and imposition of junk fees. The following reforms are much needed to help struggling renters obtain and keep safe, decent, affordable housing.
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Credit reports and scores, tenant and employment screening reports, and other background checks all impact fundamental necessities in a consumer’s life: the ability to rent an apartment or buy a home, obtain insurance, find a job, open or keep a bank account, and obtain fairly priced credit. Yet each one of these categories of “consumer…
Read More about 2024 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Stability
Rent reporting carries huge risks for renters, especially the most vulnerable families who struggle with housing costs.
Before the COVID-19 crisis, 20.8 million American renter households–47% of all renter households–were already burdened with housing costs that threatened their financial security. Since the onset of the crisis in the United States, over 44 million Americans have filed for unemployment. Over 20 million people live in renter households experiencing job loss related to COVID-19.…
Many lower-income households do not receive a water or sewer bill from a utility, even though they receive home water and sewer service. These are mostly renters, whose landlords are the direct customer of the utility.
Today, to rent an apartment or nail down a job, you almost always have to pass a background check. About 94% of employers and 90% of landlords run criminal background checks, and about 85% of landlords review eviction information. Many landlords and employers purchase reports containing criminal and eviction records information from specialized tenant and…
NCLC survey of Legal Aid and non-profit attorneys reveals credit reporting and debt collection consequences of alleged rental debt.
