NCLC in the News

Select media clips. Journalists interested in speaking with an expert at the National Consumer Law Center should contact Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org or 617.542,8010).

• 11/2/18 Governing Magazine How Governments Can Keep Disaster Survivors Connected op-ed by NCLC attorney Olivia Wein.
• 9/7/18 Washington Post Lehman Bros.’ bankruptcy a decade ago offers lessons to protect today’s consumers by Michelle Singletary quotes NCLC attorney Alys Cohen on warning signs for consumers for the next financial crisis.
• 9/6/18 USA Today Equifax data breach: What’s changed since last year’s huge hack of personal information? by Kevin McCoy quotes NCLC Associate Director Lauren Saunders on how little has changed for consumers since the massive breach.
• 8/2/18 The Washington Post Is your Fitbit wrong? One woman argued hers was — and almost ended up in a legal no-man’s land by Brian Fung quotes NCLC Associate Director Lauren Saunders on how forced arbitration clauses stack the deck against consumers.
• 7/25/18 The Chronicle of Higher Education Proposed changes in Borrower-Defense Rules would make it tougher for defrauded students to get debt relief by Claire Hansen quotes NCLC attorney Abby Shafroth
• 6/28/18 Marketplace The financial crisis still isn’t over for homebuyers in rent-to-own deals by Amy Scott quotes NCLC attorney Sarah Mancini about the resurgence of predatory contracts that target communities of color.
• 6/1/17 CBS Evening News (2:01 runtime)- FCC ruling could allow marketing calls to go straight to your voicemail by Anna Werner which includes an interview with NCLC Senior Counsel Margot Saunders arguing that allowing ringless voice mail robocalls without consent and without being able to tell the sender to stop are a bad idea.
• 4/25/17 News 5 Cleveland, OH, Scripps TV, (2:32 runtime) Leadership behind push to kill consumer protections for prepaid cards agreed to $53M FTC settlement by Mark Greenblatt quotes NCLC Associate Director Lauren Saunders on the need for prepaid card protections.
• 2/6/17 USA Today Protect our troops, not Wall Street op-ed by NCLC Associate Director Lauren Saunders urging President Trump to keep a strong CFPB.
• 12/2/16 Sun Sentinel (FL) “Consumer watchdogswarn of potential for abuse in home energy improvement program” by Ron Hurtibise with NCLC attorneys Charlie Harak and Lauren Saunders warning of dangers of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans.
• 11/14/16 New York Times “Federal watchdog agency steps up inquiry into land contracts” by Alexandra Stevenson and Matthew Goldstein with link to NCLC report on the topic.
• 10/21/16 New York Times NCLC attorney Persis Yu gives tips on “How to dig out of federal student loan default” by Ann Carrns.
• 10/10/16 Slate.com “Extended sentence” op-ed by National Consumer Law Center attorney Abby Shafroth and Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Policy Program director Larry Schwartzol. Topic: How to stop the crippling prison debt experienced by the formerly incarcerated.
• 9/26/16 NPR’s All Things Considered “Wells Fargo’s unauthorized accounts likely hurt customers’ credit scores” by Jim Zarroli with comments by National Consumer Law Center attorney Chi Chi Wu: “Once something affects a consumer’s credit report and credit scores, it has the potential to have a lot of impact across the consumer’s entire economic life.”
• 9/26/16 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Rent-to-own: Court case sheds light on business practice” by Kate Giammarise. – “These deals are built to fail and the sellers make more money if the buyer does not succeed,” said National Consumer Law Center attorney Sarah Bolling Mancini. Includes link to NCLC’s 2016 report on land installment contracts.
• 9/26/16 NPR’s All Things Considered “Wells Fargo’s unauthorized accounts likely hurt customers’ credit scores” by Jim Zarroli with comments by National Consumer Law Center attorney Chi Chi Wu: “Once something affects a consumer’s credit report and credit scores, it has the potential to have a lot of impact across the consumer’s entire economic life.”
• 9/26/16 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Rent-to-own: Court case sheds light on business practice” by Kate Giammarise. – “These deals are built to fail and the sellers make more money if the buyer does not succeed,” said National Consumer Law Center attorney Sarah Bolling Mancini. Includes link to NCLC’s 2016 report on land installment contracts.
• 9/23/16 Los Angeles Times “Wells Fargo’s collateral damage: customers’ credit scores” by James Peltz – “The best thing is for customers to be proactive and pull their credit reports, look for unauthorized items and dispute them,” said National Consumer Law Center attorney Chi Chi Wu.
• 9/22/16 NBCNews.com “Wells Fargo customers may never see their day in court, experts say” by Martha C. White – Arbitration clauses present a serious obstacle. “These clauses are hidden in boilerplate contracts and often require you to bring disputes into private arbitration,” said NCLC contributing attorney David Seligman. “Without being able to pursue their case in a courtroom, there’s a lot of people who won’t be made whole.”