Debt Collection Archives

Written testimony by April Kuehnhoff and oral testimony by Andrew Pizor before the Washington, DC Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety in support of Bill 22-0572: The “Wage Garnishment Fairness Amendment Act of 2017”

Prevalence of debt collection and wage garnishment

Coalition Comments to CFPB Regarding Adopted Regulations and New Rulemaking Authority to Write Debt Collections Rules

June 19, 2018

46 consumer, community, civil rights and legal services groups submitted comments in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”)’s Request for Information (“RFI”) regarding its adopted regulations and new rulemaking authorities. In these comments, the groups focus on the CFPB’s new authority to write debt collection rules.

Testimony for the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development re: H.482, an act relating to consumer protection

Contact with a debt collector is a common experience for Americans. In 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a nationally-representative survey of consumer experiences with debt collection, finding that more than 70 million Americans – about one third of consumers – were contacted by a creditor or debt collector about a debt in…

Opposition letter to H.R. 4550 (Gonzalez-Mooney) (previously filed as H.R. 1849 (Trott))

Practice of Law Technical Clarification Act of 2017

U.S. House bill would allow lawyers to abuse consumers in debt collection lawsuits

A bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 1849: Practice of Law Technical Clarification Act of 2017 (Trott), would exempt attorneys and law firms engaged in litigation from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and eliminate Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) authority over them. Claiming that state courts and bar associations would…

Testimony Before Joint Financial Services Committee In Support of S.120/H.2811, An Act Relative to Fairness in Debt Collection

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.

Comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on its Debt Collection Quantitative Disclosure Testing

August 4, 2017

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.

Comments to the CFPB Regarding Small Business Review Panel for Debt Collector and Debt Buyer Rulemaking

February 28, 2017

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.

Testimony Responding to the Proposed Amendments to the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure Regarding Credit Card Debts

February 20, 2017

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.

Testimony of NCLC, NACA, and MLRI to the Mass. Division of Banks and the Mass. Attorney General regarding debt collection and regulation in MA

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

Coalition Letter to the CFPB Regarding Outline of Proposed Regulations on Debt Collection

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.

Defusing Debt: A Survey of Debt-Related Civil Legal Aid Programs in the United States

Civil legal aid organizations provide critical front-line services for low-income and elderly people across the country facing debt collection activity. Debt collection is a pervasive part of life in the United States. In 2014, 12 million adults had non-mortgage debts reported as past due on their credit reports and 77 million consumers had nonmortgage debts…

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