Congress has enacted extraordinary relief for families hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. That relief includes two rounds of Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) and – in the new package about to be passed – a third round of EIP payments and enhanced Child Tax Credits (CTC) for low-income families, with half of the CTC payments…
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…
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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…
Read More about The Credit Score Pandemic Paradox and Credit Invisibility
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…
Congress has enacted extraordinary relief for families hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. That relief includes two rounds of Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) and measures to help the poorest families, who got even poorer in 2020, to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) despite a lack of income in 2020. President Biden has also…
To protect families who are struggling to make ends meet in the face of mushrooming debt, and tohelp workers and the economy recover from the COVID-19 crisis, Congress should: ▪ Adopt a temporary moratorium on the garnishment of wages and bank accounts.▪ Permanently increase the amount of wages protected from garnishment to prevent pushingfamilies into…
Under normal circumstances broadband is the lifeline to economic opportunities, social engagement, and democratic participation in modern society. During the COVID-19 pandemic, broadband is essential to protect the health and well-being of members of a household and the public as well as key to a families’ economic survival. Tragically, the racial disparities in broadband access…
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Wage garnishment for consumer debts may occur after a creditor goes to court and wins a judgmentagainst a consumer. A judgment is a court decision that the consumer owes a specific sum, allowing acreditor to take steps to seize a portion of the consumer’s wages to pay the judgment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated our economy, leaving over 26 million consumers unemployed (as of late April 2020) and forcing countless small businesses to close. This economic catastrophe will also lead to damaged credit reports and plunging credit scores for tens of millions of consumers. Lower credit scores will not only impede consumers’ ability to…
Read More about Protecting Credit Reports During the COVID-19 Crisis
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