September 9, 2021 FedNow System Must Not Launch Until it is Safe Washington — The Federal Reserve Board must do more to protect consumers, small businesses and other users from fraud and mistakes in the new “FedNow” instant person-to-person (P2P) system that it is developing, according to comments submitted today by consumer, small business, community [...]

August 26, 2021 Boston – Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced that 115,000 borrowers who attended and withdrew from ITT Tech will receive more than $1.1 billion in student loan discharges based on findings that the school engaged in misconduct that allowed it to stay in business while deceiving students and luring them into [...]

August 19, 2021 Boston – In response to the announcement today by the U.S. Department of Education that 323,000 borrowers who have a total and permanent disability (TPD) will receive more than $5.8 billion in automatic student loan discharges due to a new regulation, Persis Yu, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan [...]

August 16, 2021 An Analysis of Over 428,000 Borrowers in Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Washington, D.C. — The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) issued a new joint policy brief revealing that almost two-thirds (63%) of student loan borrowers enrolled in Income-Driven Repayment Plans (IDR) serviced by Navient who made [...]

August 2, 2021 Nearly One-Third of U.S. Adults with a Credit Report Have Debt in Collection WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, July 30th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it would not delay the effective date of its debt collection regulations as it had originally proposed this spring.  Instead, the CFPB will be [...]

Consumer advocates applaud the passage of LD 737, An Act To Increase the Value of Property Exempt from Attachment and Execution. The bill expands minimum protections of basic needs from garnishment by debt collectors. In addition to expanding protections for family homes and vehicles, the bill provides protection for up to $3,000 in consumers’ bank [...]

Inefficient Light Bulbs Already Sold in 2021 Will Needlessly Cost Consumers $1.8 Billion in Lost Utility Savings Washington, D.C. – Last week, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), and 24 consumer groups from across the country urged U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Granholm to implement the efficiency standard [...]

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released its final rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) related to helping homeowners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rule contains important consumer protections to help stave off unnecessary foreclosures, but the time period for the rule’s foreclosure protections should be extended [...]