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Report: States Put Families at Risk to Feed an Insatiable Debt Collection Machine

November 12, 2019

National Consumer Law Center’s 50-State Review: ‘Horse and Buggy’ Laws Need Major Reform Boston – Millions of families have still not recovered from the Great Recession of 2008, and the astronomic growth of the debt buyer industry makes them increasingly vulnerable to seizure of essential wages and property to pay their oldest debts. A new…

Advocates Urge FDIC, OCC, Federal Reserve to Stop Banks from Helping Payday Lenders Evade State Interest Rate Limits

November 7, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2019 Washington, D.C. – A coalition of 61 consumer, civil rights, and community groups today sent letters to three federal bank regulators urging them not to allow their banks to help payday lenders evade state interest rate limits. The groups sent separate letters to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC),…

Statement of Robyn Smith on U.S. Department of Education’s Harmful Departure from Consensus on State Authorization Distance Education Regulations

November 1, 2019

Boston – On October 31, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education issued final rules, effective July 1, 2020, that will erode states’ rights to enforce consumer protections applicable to for-profit online education colleges. The rules will have a disastrous effect on students, especially low-income and other vulnerable students. Following is a statement by Robyn Smith,…

Groups: FDIC & OCC Are Wrong to Support Predatory Small Business Lender

October 24, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 24, 2019 “It sends a terrible signal for the FDIC and OCC to support a predatory lender that used a bank to enable a destructive 120% APR loan.” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Small business advocates, consumer groups, and civil-rights advocates today sent a letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and…

Robot Calls (prerecorded audio clips) Are Prerecorded Calls. And the FCC Agrees.

October 21, 2019

Prolific robocaller Yodel Technologies seeks exemption for making over 77 million unwanted and illegal telemarketing calls using AI and prerecorded voice messages. WASHINGTON – Yodel Technologies (Yodel) seeks to escape liability by petitioning the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an exemption for its “robot calls.” Using its “soundboard” technology to mimic a consumer’s interaction with…

Consumer and Civil Rights Advocates Condemn Credit Bureaus for Suing Over Language Access Law

October 21, 2019

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) sued the State of New Jersey over its new law requiring credit reports to be provided in Spanish and 10 other languages, claiming the law is preempted and a violation of the First Amendment. CDIA is a trade association for the credit reporting industry, the…

Consumer Impact, Fall 2019

October 19, 2019

Consumer Impact is a biannual publication of the National Consumer Law Center to inform our supporters about NCLC’s advocacy.

CFPB Quietly Launches Web Database of Prepaid and Payroll Card Fees and Disclosures but Some Cards with Overdraft Fees are Missing

October 16, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 16, 2019 National Consumer Law Center contacts: Lauren Saunders ([email protected]) or Jan Kruse ([email protected]) Washington, D.C. – Advocates at the National Consumer Law Center urged the public to check out a new online tool from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) where consumers, workers, researchers, employers, and others can see prepaid…

New California Law Targets Long-Term Payday Loans; Will Payday Lenders Evade it?

October 11, 2019

Washington, D.C. – Advocates at the National Consumer Law Center applauded news that California Governor Gavin Newsom late yesterday signed into law AB 539, a bill to stop outrageous interest rates that payday lenders in California are charging on their larger, long-term payday loans, but warned that the payday lenders are already plotting to evade…

Legal Experts Decry Credit Bureaus’ Lawsuit to Invalidate Maine Laws Protecting Consumers from Medical Debt and Economic Abuse

October 4, 2019

Boston – Last week, the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) sued the State of Maine over two laws recently passed to protect consumers from unfair credit reporting practices. CDIA is a trade association for the credit reporting industry, the biggest players, which are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The first Maine law helps consumers who are…

Advocate Statement Opposing Sen. Alexander’s Legislation to Reform Higher Education Act

September 26, 2019

Boston – Statement of Persis Yu, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, in response to today’s introduction of a scaled-back higher education bill by Senator Lamar Alexander: “Students and borrowers need real, wholesale reform of the Higher Education Act to make it easier for borrowers to succeed in student…

U.S. House Financial Services Committee Hearing on September 26 on Abusive Debt Collection with Testimony by April Kuehnhoff

September 25, 2019

Washington, D.C.- National Consumer Law Center attorney April Kuehnhoff will testify on Wednesday, September 26 at 10 am E.T. before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee at a hearing entitled “Examining Legislation to Protect Consumers and Small Business Owners from Abusive Debt Collection Practices.” “Nearly one-third of Americans have a debt in collection and third-party…

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