Consumer advocates applaud the passage of LD 737, An Act To Increase the Value of Property Exempt from Attachment and Execution. The bill expands minimum protections of basic needs from garnishment by debt collectors. In addition to expanding protections for family homes and vehicles, the bill provides protection for up to $3,000 in consumers’ bank [...]

Inefficient Light Bulbs Already Sold in 2021 Will Needlessly Cost Consumers $1.8 Billion in Lost Utility Savings Washington, D.C. – Last week, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), and 24 consumer groups from across the country urged U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Granholm to implement the efficiency standard [...]

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released its final rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) related to helping homeowners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rule contains important consumer protections to help stave off unnecessary foreclosures, but the time period for the rule’s foreclosure protections should be extended [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 202 National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) OCC Rule Protects High-Cost Lenders that use Rent-a-Bank Schemes to Evade State Interest Rate Laws Washington, D.C. – Advocates at the National Consumer Law Center applaud the U.S. House vote to overturn the OCC’s “fake lender” rule, which allows predatory lenders to evade [...]

Maryland Joins New York, Illinois, Connecticut, and Ohio to Rein in Abuses by Competitive Energy Supply Companies FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  June 7, 2021 National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse, jkruse@nclc.org Washington, D.C. – National Consumer Law Center advocates applauded Maryland’s General Assembly for passing the Energy Supply Reform Bill (SB31/HB397). The effort was led [...]

Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) sent a joint letter to Michael Thurmond, Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County, Georgia, in response to the County’s recent announcement that it will lift its water disconnection moratorium and resume disconnections on July 1, 2021. In the [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 13, 2021 National Consumer Law Center contacts: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) or April Kuehnhoff (akuehnhoff@nclc.org) Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act (HR 2547), sponsored by Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), which would bring much needed clarity and reforms to stop [...]