Debt collection affects millions of Massachusetts residents. This section reviews several different studies to provide an overview of the pervasive nature of debt collection in Massachusetts.
NCLC has collected stories described to us by numerous consumer advocates or reported in the news media or online. The homeowner stories that were shared with us demonstrate disturbing patterns. We summarize those patterns with numerical references to the stories.
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As announced in the Federal Register, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) plans to survey 8,000 individuals as part of its research into effective debt collection disclosures. We applaud the CFPB for taking a data-driven approach to assessing the effectiveness of disclosures to ensure that consumers comprehend their rights pertaining to debt collection. Consumer testing is a critical step to ensure that the CFPB promulgates the most effective regulations in its ongoing debt collection rulemaking.
When the National Consumer Law Center published the report Installment Loans: Will States Protect borrowers From a New Wave of Predatory Lending? in July 2015, predatory installment lenders were moving into the states, seeking statutory authority to make consumer installment loans at sky-high interest rates. The report analyzed which states allowed high-cost installment lending and…
The National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low income clients, submitted comments on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act Outline of proposed regulations under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA.
Debt collection affects millions of Massachusetts residents. In 2014, the Urban Institute reported that nearly 1 in 4 Massachusetts residents with credit reports had a debt in collection due to nonpayment of a bill and that the average amount of the debt was $4,602.
Debt collection affects millions of Massachusetts residents. In 2014, the Urban Institute reported that nearly 1 in 4 Massachusetts residents with credit reports had a debt in collection due to non-payment of a bill and that the average amount of the debt was $4,602.1
Conventional analysis of auto finance tends to ignore the number of families affected and their demographics. It also tends to obscure the rate at which new car financings are originated in comparison to other consumer debt. While economists, policymakers, and others realize the overall role that auto finance plays in the United States’ financial landscape, the scale of the impact of auto finance on those with low and moderate income, people of color, and younger people has received less attention. This report looks at existing data in new ways to better understand the true scale of auto finance for low- and moderate-income families.
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The undersigned consumer protection, civil rights, and legal services groups write to express our significant concerns with the outline of proposed regulations on debt collection issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on July 28, 2016. The proposal represents a missed opportunity to fundamentally improve protections for consumers victimized by predatory debt collection practices.
A collaborative three-part initiative by the National Consumer Law Center and Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Policy Program. *** In July 2016, Philando Castile, an African-American man, was shot and killed by a police officer in Minnesota after being stopped ostensibly for driving with a cracked taillight. The shooting spurred investigation into prior interactions the…
Read More about Confronting Criminal Justice Debt: The Urgent Need for Comprehensive Reform
