Resources Archive

Longer Comment Regarding the CFPB’s Inquiry into Buy-Now-Pay-Later Providers

March 25, 2022

In response to the Request for Comments issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Center for Responsible Lending, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), and Consumer Federation of America offer our joint recommendations for further guidance and monitoring of the growing BNPL market overall, which are specific to the “pay-in-four” model.…

Coalition Letter to Department of Education Regarding the Creation of an IDR Restoration Project

April 7, 2022

The undersigned 116 organizations representing students, student loan borrowers, teachers, workers, civil rights, veterans, people of faith, and consumers write to urge you to deliver on thepromise of income-driven repayment (IDR) programs for federal student loan borrowers throughthe creation of an IDR restoration project. An explosive NPR investigative report revealed that even when borrowers are…

Comments to Federal Reserve Board Regarding Guidelines for Evaluating Account and Service Requests

April 22, 2022

The Center for Responsible Lending, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low-income clients, and Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Law at George Washington University Law School appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System’s (the Board) supplemental notice and…

How to Opt-Out of a Forced Arbitration Clause

July 27, 2023

What is forced arbitration? Forced arbitration clauses are hidden in the fine print of agreements. They take away your access to the courts and give companies that violate the law a get-out-of-jail-free card. Ifyou have a dispute, you cannot file a lawsuit in court and have the case heard in public. You also typically cannot…

Consumer Groups to FCC: Finish the Exemptions Proceeding as Congress Required

October 4, 2022

This ex parte Notice is submitted to describe a meeting between Federal Communications Commission staff and consumer and privacy advocates on September 30, 2022.

Testimony of Persis Yu regarding Protecting Student Loan Borrowers and the Economy in Upcoming Transitions

July 27, 2021

Our clients, and millions of others like them, take out student loans believing they are the key to a better future. But for many, that dream will never come to fruition because the student loan system is broken and has been broken for a very long time. Currently in the United States, nearly 45 million…

Testimony of Jen Bosco: Hearing on Senate Bill 31 - Electricity and Gas - Energy Suppliers – Supply Offers

January 29, 2021

NCLC has been actively involved in advocacy for consumers who have been financially harmed by alternative (or competitive) energy supply companies.

Predatory Rent-a-Bank Schemes are Evading State Law Across the Country; Congress Must Repeal the OCC's Fake Lender Rule

May 12, 2021

Voters across the country, on a bipartisan basis, support state interest rate limits. Voters also strongly support enforcement of the law and oppose evasions by rent-a-bank schemes. But the “fake lender” rule by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allows predatory lenders to evade state interest rate laws by hiding behind a…

Summary of COVID Bankruptcy Relief Provisions

March 31, 2021

This chart provides a summary of the bankruptcy provisions in the CARES Act and Consolidated appropriations Act. To help attorneys deal with the different dates when these temporary provisions expire, the chart lists the provisions by sunset date. Each provision is accompanied by the Public Law and United States Code cites, and links for more…

The Credit Score Pandemic Paradox and Credit Invisibility

February 12, 2020

It’s been one of the most confounding economic paradoxes of the COVID-19 pandemic – why have credit scores remained steady, or even increased, despite the financial ruin caused by record unemployment, with entire industries such as restaurants and tourism decimated? The average FICO score has risen from 703 to 711, while delinquencies for credit card…

Doing Special Purpose Credit Programs Right: Why Programs to Assist Black Communities Should Avoid Conventional Use of Traditional Credit Scores

February 9, 2021

After racial justice protests and Black Lives Matter activism last summer, advocates and policymakers have proposed a number of programs for lessening the yawning racial disparities in Black-white homeownership and wealth. These include proposals for downpayment assistance, homeownership counseling, and special lending programs for Black borrowers. The latter are referred to as “special purpose credit…

Report: 2021 Tax Season - Higher Costs for Vulnerable Taxpayers During the COVID Economic Crisis

February 17, 2021

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…

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