Published: November 2015

Expanding debt collection protections to those who need it most

Consumer Action joined coalition advocates in supporting Senator Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) efforts to protect consumers by introducing the Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2015 (S.2255). Booker’s bill is an important step on the road to limiting abusive debt collection of debts owed the federal government. Current state and local government debt collection practices (including taxes, fines and legal penalties) disproportionally burdens low-income communities and minority families. This bill seeks to protect consumers from these unfair practices.

Senator Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) bill, the Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2015 (S.2255), is an important step in protecting American consumers from abusive and unfair debt collection practices. Though primarily targeted toward debt collectors collecting on debts owed to the federal government, the bill also expands the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) definition of “debt collector” to include debt buyers. In a press release explaining his effort, Senator Booker states “debts owed to the government have too often become a license for debt collectors to harass and intimidate well-meaning families who are struggling to get by,” and adds that currently, in some cases, “courts have ruled that ‘debt buyers’ are not covered by the FDCPA.”

We applaud Sen. Booker's attempt to correct these debt collection loopholes and for protecting American consumers and their families.

Lead Organization

National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)

Other Organizations

Alliance for a Just Society | Americans for Fairness in Lending | Center for Responsible Lending | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low-income clients | National Fair Housing Alliance | Woodstock Institute

More Information

To read the coalition letter in full, please click here:

For more information, please visit Consumer Law's website.

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