Model Statutes || Policy Analysis || Webinars || Consumer Resources

Nearly all families who are behind on their bills paid until they faced a financial catastrophe. Recognizing this, federal and many states’ laws require that financially distressed consumers not be abused, deceived, lose their privacy, or be treated unfairly. Many resources exist to help consumers understand their rights or find an attorney.

NCLC is recognized nationally as an expert in fair debt collection issues, including the Fair Debt Collection Act. NCLC provides information, legal research, policy analysis, and technical and legal support to federal and state legislatures, government consumer protection officials, administrative agencies, the courts, reporters, community groups, and consumer attorneys.

Model Statutes

• Model Family Financial Protection Act, November 2015
• Statute of Limitations Reform Act, November 2015
• NCLC/Consumers Union model state law for debt settlement, January 2011

Policy Analysis

Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases

• Press Release: New CFPB Research Highlights Need for Strong Regulations to Protect Consumers from Collection Abuses, Jan. 12, 2017
• Press Release: Advocates Disappointed Private Debt Collectors Will Begin Collecting Federal Tax Debts, Sept. 29, 2016
• Press Release: Advocates Applaud CFPB Proposed Debt Collection Rules but Additional Provisions Are Needed, July 28,2016
• Issue Brief: Consumer Debt Collection Facts, July 2016
• Report: Defusing Debt: A Survey of Debt-Related Civil Legal Aid Programs in the United States, June 2016
• Group Letter & Press Release Opposing Section 52106 in Senate Highway Trust Fund Bill Mandating IRS to Use Private Debt Collectors, July 24, 2015
• Report and Press Release: Debt Collection Communications: Protecting Consumers in the Digital Age, June 2015
• Report and Press Release: Why the CFPB Should Ban Zombie Debt, January 2015
• Press Release: CFPB Report and Hearing Show Urgent Need to Protect Consumers from Medical Debt Collection, December 11, 2014
• Report: Strong Medicine Needed: What the CFPB Should Do to Protect Consumers from Unfair Collection and Reporting of Medical Debt, Sept. 10, 2014
• Debt Collection: Groups Applaud New Guidelines for Banks Selling Consumer Debt, Aug. 12, 2014
• Report: No Fresh Start: How States Allow Debt Collectors to Push Families into Poverty, October 2013

Debt Collection Comments and Testimony

• Testimony of NCLC, NACA, and MLRI to the Mass. Division of Banks and the Mass. Attorney General re: debt collection and regulation in Mass. (licensing of debt buyers and law firms), Oct. 18, 2016
• Testimony of NCLC attorney April Kuehnhoff before the MA Joint Financial Services Committee re: pending legislation to support family financial protection (SB146/HB804, October 27, 2015
• Testimony before the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Financial Services regarding "An Overview of the Credit Reporting System", September 10, 2014
• Group Comments to the CFPB re: Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking re: Debt Collection, Feb. 28, 2014 and Press Release, March 3, 2014 and Shorter Coalition Comments

Letters

• Letter supporting H.R. 5664 (Cummings), Wage and Garnishment Equity Act, July 6, 2016
• Coalition letter to the CFPB re: concerns with outline of proposed regulations on debt collection, Sept. 15, 2016 || Press Release, Sept. 22, 2016
• Group letter urging U.S. Senators to support the Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone calls (HANGUP) bill, Nov. 2, 2015
• Letter to the FCC re: ​consumer group meetings with the FCC about the importance of protecting consumers from auto-dialed calls to cell phones without consumers' consent, June 6, 2014
• Letter opposing Fair Debt Collection Practices Technical Clarification Act, May 12, 2014
• Group letter to FCC regarding notice of Ex Parte presentation, May 12, 2014
• Group letter to U.S. Senate opposing requirement that U.S. Treasury must use private debt collectors to collect taxes from taxpayers, April 28, 2014
• Group letter to U.S. House members re: opposition to Fair Debt Collection Practices Technical Clarification Act of 2013, U.S. HR 2892, April 15, 2014
  
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Webinars

• “The Color of Debt: Racial Disparity in Debt Collection Lawsuits” by Paul Kiel (Pro Publica), April Kuehnhoff (NCLC), December 1, 2015
• “Debt Relief Services Aren’t Just for Kids Anymore” by Andrew Pizor (NCLC), May 21, 2015
• “Medical Debt: Overview of New IRS Regulations and Industry Best Practices” by Jessica Curtis (Senior Advisor, Hospital Accountability Project, Community Catalyst); Mark Rukavina (Principal, Community Health Advisors, LLC); Chad Mulvany (Director of Healthcare Finance Policy, Strategy and Development, Healthcare Financial Management Association), March 4, 2015
• “Debt and Democracy: How the Collection of Civil Fees and Fines Contributed to the Unrest in Ferguson” by Karin Martin, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at CUNY), Thomas Harvey (Executive Director, Arch City); Odette Williamson (Staff Attorney, National Consumer Law Center), January 29, 2015
  
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Consumer Resources 

• Submit a debt collection complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Read sample letters for responding to debt collectors.
• Read responses to consumer questions about debt collection from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Read consumer information on dealing with debt from the Federal Trade Commission.
• Find an attorney through the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
• Read “Eight Different Ways to Stop Debt Collection Harassment,” excerpted from National Consumer Law Center’s Guide to Surviving Debt.