Resources Archive

Consumer complaints about Debt Collection: Analysis of Unpublished Data from the FTC

February 20, 2019

Executive Summary Every year the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) collects consumer complaints through its Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN). In 2017, there were 620,800 complaints about debt collection – making it the most common type of consumer complaint compiled in the FTC’s CSN Data Book. Yet, relatively little data about these debt collection complaints is published.…

The Rent-to-Own Racket: Using Criminal Courts to Coerce Payments from Vulnerable Families

February 20, 2019

In states across the country, the rent-to-own (RTO) industry is abusing the criminal system to extract payment from low-income consumers who have fallen behind on payments on abusive contracts. Under little-known laws often written years ago by the industry lobby, RTO companies are able to turn a dispute over a furniture set into threats of…

Powerpoint: What the New Arbitration Rule Means for Litigating Against For-Profit Schools

January 29, 2019

What the New Arbitration Rule Means for Litigating Against For-Profit Schools

Automated Injustice Redux: Ten Years After a Key Report, Consumers Are Still Frustrated Trying to Fix Credit Reporting Errors

January 25, 2019

Ten years ago, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) issued Automated Injustice: How a Mechanized Dispute System Frustrates Consumers Seeking to Fix Errors in their Credit Reports, the landmark report on the serious dysfunctions in the American credit reporting system. Since then, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) began exercising supervision authority over the Big…

Coalition Letter to CFPB Director Kraninger Regarding Ongoing Rulemaking on Debt Collection

December 21, 2018

As we approach the fifth year anniversary of the proposed rulemaking on debt collection, and the regulatory process appears to be moving forward, the 74 undersigned consumer, community, civil rights, faith, labor and legal services groups write to urge the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“Consumer Bureau”) to focus on protecting consumers from abusive debt collection…

Criminal Justice Debt in the South: A Primer for the Southern Partnership to Reduce Debt

December 20, 2018

This primer is intended to support advocates seeking to identify policy reforms to address the problems with current criminal justice debt practices and restore integrity to our justice system. It begins with a brief overview of some of the most harmful consequences of current criminal justice debt practices, then provides recommended reforms, and ends with…

Transparent and Consistent Pricing of Motor Vehicle Add-Ons Act

December 3, 2018

Pricing for add-on products sold by car dealers, such as service contracts, GAP (Guaranteed Asset Protection), and window etching, is not transparent o consistent. Consumers, and even most regulators, lack information about what car buyers are charged for these products and what a reasonable price might be. Dealers decide what to charge each consumer and…

Predatory Installment Lending in the States: A Larger and Longer Debt Trap? (2018)

October 20, 2018

Analysis of States’ APR Caps for a $10,000 five-year Installment Loan Everything that is wrong with a high-cost loan is only made worse when the loan is larger and longer. Even when the interest rate is lower than for a short-term payday loan, a larger, longer high-cost loan can be a deeper, longer debt trap.…

Comments to CFPB Regarding Inherited Regulations and Rulemaking Authorities

June 25, 2018

These comments focus on the aspects of the following regulations that the CFPB has inherited and has not changed: Regulation Z (Truth in Lending Act), Regulation X (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act), Regulation N (FTC rules on mortgage acts and practices), and Regulation O (FTC rules on mortgage assistance relief services). Many of our organizations…

Written testimony by April Kuehnhoff and oral testimony by Andrew Pizor before the Washington, DC Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety in support of Bill 22-0572: The “Wage Garnishment Fairness Amendment Act of 2017”

June 21, 2018

Prevalence of debt collection and wage garnishment

Coalition Comments to CFPB Regarding Adopted Regulations and New Rulemaking Authority to Write Debt Collections Rules

June 20, 2018

46 consumer, community, civil rights and legal services groups submitted comments in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”)’s Request for Information (“RFI”) regarding its adopted regulations and new rulemaking authorities. In these comments, the groups focus on the CFPB’s new authority to write debt collection rules.

Written Testimony before New York State’s Department of Financial Services, Division of Consumer Protection and Division of Criminal Justice Services, Bail Bond Reform Listening Session

June 11, 2018

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