More than four decades after the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was enacted in 1977, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued the first comprehensive federal debt collection regulations—Regulation F, which took effect on November 30, 2021. Six months after Regulation F took effect, we investigated its impact on debt collection practices, focusing on…
This is an outdated report. For the most current version click here. Caps on interest rates and loan fees are the primary vehicle by which states protect consumers from predatory lending. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia (DC) currently cap interest rates and loan fees for at least some consumer installment loans, depending on the size…
Inaccuracies and errors plague the credit reporting systems. Estimates of serious errors range from 3% to 25%. Even using a low-end estimate, which is from the credit reporting industry and included only a narrow subset of problems, 6 million Americans face serious errors in their reports that could result in a denial of credit.
The foreclosure crisis of the late 2000s left an enormous trail of economic destruction in its wake. Most Americans are familiar with the obvious damage — the crisis cost nearly $200 billion in lost wealth, resulted in over 4.5 million Americans losing their homes,2 and triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression. One long-term…
Payday loans are very high-cost, short-term loans that ensnare borrowers in a debt trap. As public awareness of the dangers of payday loans has grown, a number of institutions have begun offering alternative products that promise to be more beneficial to the borrower. But payday loan alternatives are not all created equal. Some are considerably…
This report discusses common problems faced by consumers experiencing debt collection for alleged rental debts as reported to the CFPB. It concludes with suggested actions to assist consumers with alleged rental debts.
The Center for Law and Policy and National Consumer Law Center President Biden ran on an agenda that included student debt relief for the more than 44 million borrowers who collectively owe over $1.6 trillion. This would be in line with the Biden Administration’s racial equity goals, as it would include relief for the millions…
Tax time is typically a time for an influx of funds for American consumers in the form of their tax refunds. This year, it was transformed into a time of uncertainty and drastic change, preceded by the longest government shutdown in history and marked by the inaugural implementation of many provisions of the Tax Cuts…
Of the 44 million student loan borrowers, nearly one in five is currently in default on one or more federal student loans. The consequences of federal student loan default—such as wage garnishment, offset of federal benefits and tax refunds (including the Earned Income Tax Credit), and for some borrowers, a federal lawsuit—are devastating. A judgment…
This National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) annual advisory on tax-time consumer protection issues includes: Stimulus payments and the COVID crisis. This year brings even greater confusion and complexity to tax filing than usual because of the economic fallout from COVID-19: Tax season was delayed for several weeks because of changes to the tax law from…
Even before COVID-19, student loan borrowers struggled under the weight of more than $1.6 trillion in debt. One in four borrowers was in default or serious delinquency, and many worried about their ability to make student loan payments while covering other basic needs. Because of decades of structural inequities and discrimination, student loans have burdened…
