2023 Update: Some States Tighten Rules Against High-Cost Installment Loans; Others Increase Interest Rates and Allow Junk Fees to Pile On
Clear Rate Caps that Prevent Evasions are Critical to Protecting Consumers from Unaffordable Loans
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Illinois Commerce Commission Approves Robust Discounted Utility Rates
Income-Based Utility Rates Will Help Financially Struggling Gas Utility Customers Across Illinois and Offer Powerful Model for Other States CHICAGO – The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), its client, Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), and Legal Action Chicago (LAC) today applauded three decisions issued by the Illinois Commerce Commission that, for the first time…
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California Law Removes Vestiges of Debtors’ Prisons; Other States Urged to Follow Suit
A new California law ensures that no one in the state can be imprisoned because they owe a consumer debt.
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Consumers Need Strong Protections from Fintech Cash Advances that Create Debt Traps
New Policy Briefs from CRL and NCLC recommend protections to shield consumers from abusive fintech cash advances.
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State Recommendations for Earned Wage Advances and Other Fintech Cash Advances
States are grappling with how to regulate earned wage advances (EWAs) and other fintech cash advances that purport not to be credit. These loans often closely resemble payday loans, with fees that multiply into rates above 300% and cycles of reborrowing that result in workers paying to be paid. State legislatures and regulators should not…
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What States Can Do to Reduce Property Tax Foreclosures
As homeowners struggle to recover from the pandemic and deal with soaring inflation, some risk losing their homes to a strict and often rapid tax lien foreclosure process.
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Preventing Tax Foreclosures for Older Adults: Accessing Tax Relief Options
This National Center on Law & Elder Rights training will focus on one of the most important ways to prevent tax foreclosure: ensuring that low-income and older homeowners have access to all available exemptions and discounts. Many older adults who are at risk of tax foreclosure have not taken advantage of all the existing tax…
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Written Testimony on Nursing Home Debt Collection in New York for the Chief Judge's 2023 Civil Legal Services Hearing
The National Consumer Law Center submitted testimony in response to a request from the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and the State of New York for feedback on the state of nursing home debt collection in New York. Additional attention and focus on nursing home debt collection is needed in New York to…
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CNN: Arkansas hospital sued thousands of patients over medical bills during the pandemic, including hundreds of its own employees
Appearing in CNN on Sep. 8, 2023, Casey Tolan and Ed Lavandera interview Berneta Haynes in for a story on how the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, (UAMS) Arkansas’ flagship public health sciences university, has been aggressively suing thousands of former patients over medical debt in recent years, including hundreds of its own employees.…
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Politico: State lawmakers find America’s medical debt problem ‘can no longer be ignored’
Appearing in Politico on Sep. 7, 2023, Dan Golberg talks to Berneta Haynes about the startling heights medical debt has reached and how state lawmakers are taking notice. “Medical debt, kind of like student loan debt, is all encompassing and affects so many people that it’s a mainstream issue that can no longer be ignored…
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FAQs: Can a Nursing Home Force a Resident’s Family and Friends to Pay the Bill?
Many nursing homes try illegal strategies to frighten family members or friends into paying the bill. Don’t be intimidated.
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Reuters: California case could deal blow to high-interest online lenders
Originally appearing in Reuters on Aug. 31, 2023, Jody Godoy interviews Lauren Saunders for coverage of a California case against an online lender offering small loans at over 150% interest violates state law that would deal a blow to finance companies that profit from cash-strapped borrowers. California’s fight with OppFi could set an example for…
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