NCLC has just released a new Student Loan Toolkit, a free online resource, and an essential aid in advising student loan borrowers nationwide. It includes fillable forms to collect key information and point to next steps based on that data. This article describes the toolkit and explains how best to use it, as well as listing other essential resources to advise student loan borrowers.

A May 16 Supreme Court ruling makes it almost impossible to appeal a federal court ruling enforcing an arbitration provision. This article explains not only the ruling’s negative consequences, but also, surprisingly, the advantages the ruling presents for consumers and workers. The article also sets out five approaches still available to reverse a decision enforcing an arbitration provision despite the Supreme Court ruling.

A new HUD guidance explains that tenant screening companies and landlords that use them may potentially violate the Fair Housing Act’s anti-discrimination provisions, which could give rise to private remedies. As explained in this article, the guidance singles out problematic tenant screening practices involving credit history, criminal records, and eviction filings, and lists recommended landlord and screening company actions.

Effective July 1, a new Department of Education rule provides new relief for how a student loan borrower’s income-driven repayment plan is treated if the borrower is in a chapter 13 bankruptcy. The article explains four key new protections that the new rule will implement and provides four essential practice tips for dealing with student loans in a chapter 13 bankruptcy.

NCLC's new Arbitration Practice Checklist is a free tool that lists 75 ways to defeat an arbitration requirement. A new NCLC Digital Library article aggregates highlights from the new checklist. The article explains 12 lesser-known ways to defeat an arbitration requirement, 12 challenges that apply more often than expected, and the three biggest errors in challenging an arbitration requirement. Links are provided to this and ten other free practice checklists from NCLC.

On February 8, the Supreme Court held that the FCRA waives federal sovereign immunity from FCRA damage claims when federal agencies furnish inaccurate information to consumer reporting agencies. This article examines the broader implications—other FCRA claims against federal agencies, FCRA claims against state and local agencies, and which other consumer statutes waive sovereign immunity.

An advance FREE version of the much-beloved federal practice manual geared for legal aid and public interest attorneys is now available on the NCLC Digital Library. NCLEJ with contributions from 29 federal court litigators has just updated and revised the Shriver Center’s classic version. This article explains the manual’s free access and describes its content and digital tools.

Effective January 23, 2024, two new CFPB advisory opinions clarify a number of critical Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) issues and should facilitate private FCRA litigation. The first advisory opinion addresses accuracy issues in background check reports used by most employers and landlords. The second advisory opinion addresses problems consumers face when seeking complete disclosure of their credit reports.

This article summarizes all 2023 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) reported appellate court decisions, organized by topic. A highlight are eight appellate decisions examining standing in FDCPA cases. Some of the other topics include attorney fees, the bona fide error defense, the "debt collector" definition, and the FDCPA statute of limitations.

This article lists new federal consumer laws going into effect in 2024, including new student loan regulations, a new FTC rule on motor vehicles, a new FCC order on robocalls, and multiple changes concerning consumer bankruptcy. Also included are important state law changes in over 20 states, including California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania.

A new CFPB report highlights the astonishing amount of debt collection seeking medical debt not owed or owed in a lesser amount. This article describes reasons medical debt amounts are often inaccurate (including non-compliance with new federal and state legislation), details why such collection violates several FDCPA provisions, and explains how to overcome the medical debt collector’s legal defenses.

This article explains the top four reasons why the new Fourth Edition of NACA’s Standards and Guidelines for Litigation and Settling Consumer Class Actions is a must-read not only for class action attorneys, but even for lawyers whose practice typically does involve class actions. The article lists the areas covered by the guidelines, changes in the Fourth Edition, and other key NCLC class action resources.

This article sets out 15 blunders to avoid when seeking a statutory attorney fee award. Time records must be “bullet-proof.” The article also explains 8 blunders in filling out time records. The remaining mistakes relate to hours that count for statutory fees, evidence supporting an hourly rate, and the presentation to the court justifying the fee award.

Too frequently landlords deny rental housing applications based upon tenant screening reports containing erroneous or obsolete criminal record histories. This article discusses widespread problems involving criminal record reporting that may give rise to powerful consumer remedies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The article provides practical, step-by-step guidance for obtaining that relief.

Forty-five million borrowers are scrambling to figure out options for managing their federal student loans before repayments resume this fall. This article sets out new student loan rights: fresh starts for those in default; the SAVE repayment plan; lower interest charges; avoidance of school arbitration provisions; and easier paths to public service loan forgiveness, bankruptcy discharges, and five types of statutory loan cancellations.

Much consumer litigation today must deal with arbitration requirements. This arbitration litigation cheat sheet provides a quick listing of consumer options when faced with an arbitration demand—including both options to challenge the enforceability of the arbitration requirement as well as how to proceed in arbitration if that is the only remaining or even preferred option.

The NCLC Digital Library contains a lot more than just subscription content. The Library makes free to the public over 5,000 practice aids plus, for members of the consumer law community, another 2,300 videos and speaker written submissions from past NCLC/NACA conferences. All this material can be downloaded and is fully searchable. This article provides ten tips to make the most from these free resources—how to locate and best utilize the practice aids.

New TCPA rules, effective July 20, place strict limits on the frequency of prerecorded debt collection calls to landlines. This article explains why the new rules increase protections beyond those of FDCPA Regulation F and offer victimized consumers greater statutory damages than the FDCPA, while statutory damages under both statutes do not face Article III standing concerns for unwanted calls.

The recent Supreme Court ruling in Coinbase creates another impediment to consumer litigation: even when a consumer defeats an arbitration requirement, if the company then pursues an interlocutory appeal of that ruling, discovery and other proceedings are automatically put on hold until that appeal is resolved. This article offers five approaches to avoid or ameliorate the effect of this new obstacle to consumer litigation handed down by the Supreme Court.