Appearing in USA Today on May 3, 2026, Andrea Riquier writes about how fintech companies are offering rent‑now‑pay‑later services to help renters manage cash‑flow gaps caused by soaring housing costs, but Ariel Nelson, senior attorney at NCLC, and other consumer advocates argue the products are costly, sometimes predatory, and insufficiently regulated.
“These products speak to very real problems for people, and people are looking for whatever way they can to stay afloat,” said Ariel Nelson, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.
But Nelson and other advocates say companies like these aren’t offering a real solution, but are taking advantage of tenants’ desperation.
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