Junk fees jeopardize access to future housing and financial stability by contributing to rental debt that leads to negative marks on credit reports.
Read More about Too Damn High: How Junk Fees Add to Skyrocketing Rents
Reporting rent payments to credit bureaus like Equifax, Experian and TransUnion could have serious unintended consequences.
Read More about Op-Ed in The Hill: "Why rent reporting can harm rather than help vulnerable tenants"
Low- and moderate-income renters have faced tremendous challenges in recent years, including shortages of affordable, decent housing; spiking rent increases; and abuses by corporate and private equity landlords. Contributing to these woes are practices that are regulated by consumer laws, including tenant screening reports, collection of rental debt, and imposition of junk fees. The following reforms are much needed to help struggling renters obtain and keep safe, decent, affordable housing.
Read More about 2024 Consumer Reform Priorities to Protect Tenants
Credit reports and scores, tenant and employment screening reports, and other background checks all impact fundamental necessities in a consumer’s life: the ability to rent an apartment or buy a home, obtain insurance, find a job, open or keep a bank account, and obtain fairly priced credit. Yet each one of these categories of “consumer…
Read More about 2024 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Stability
Rent reporting carries huge risks for renters, especially the most vulnerable families who struggle with housing costs.
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.
Many lower-income households do not receive a water or sewer bill from a utility, even though they receive home water and sewer service. These are mostly renters, whose landlords are the direct customer of the utility.
Written Testimony of Ariel Nelson, Staff Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center in Support of H.B. 6528 before the Housing Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly, 2021 Regular Session
Read More about Testimony of NCLC Staff Attorney Ariel Nelson Supporting CT HB 6528
The undersigned 143 organizations urge CFPB to take aggressive actions to protect the credit records of renters who have struggled financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we urge you to prohibit debt collectors from reporting rent arrears debt to the nationwide consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), i.e., Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, if the rent…
We are writing to urge the CFPB to amend the Interim Final Rule on Debt Collection Practices in Connection With the Global COVID-19 Pandemic (“IFR”) to clarify that it applies to the current eviction moratorium. The IFR requires increased information for tenants about COVID-related protection from eviction, and clarifies that consumers have federal remedies against debt collectors involved in the eviction that fail to provide or misrepresent that information.
