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Consumer Legal Advocacy for Underserved Survivors

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

This project is supported all or in part by Grant No. 15JOVW-21-GK-02248-MUMU and Grant. No. 2017-TA-AX-K065 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in the publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

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CSAJ’s Mission & Vision

Mission:

The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice promotes advocacy approaches that remove systemic barriers, enhance organizational responses, and improve professional practices to meet the self-defined needs of domestic and sexual violence survivors.

Vision:

The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice envisions a world where all people have equal access to physical safety, economic security, and human dignity.

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Goals

Understand the economic ripple effect of domestic violence and why survivor-centered consumer advocacy is so important

Explore the issues faced by survivors from an underserved and culturally specific communities

Learn about consumer rights and the tools that can be used to enforce these rights and promote economic safety

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Questions

What kinds of consumer issues have arisen in your practice?

Do you feel you’ve had the tools to address those issues?

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Outline

Economic Ripple Effect of DV

Understanding Economic Impacts of Domestic Violence faced by Underserved survivors

Consumer Rights Advocacy in Practice

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There is no safety without economic security

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Economic impact of domestic violence

Domestic violence is linked to a range of negative economic outcomes, including:

Decreased safety options

Increased risk of future violence

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Economic abuse

“Economic abuse involves behaviors that control a person’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain economic resources, thus threatening their economic security and potential for self-sufficiency.”

Adams et al., 2008.

99%

report economic abuse

As we dig into this link, we see the numerous ways survivors experience economic harm:

First, abusive partners and other harm doers cause financial instability. In fact, 99% report some form of economic abuse.

What are some examples of the way you see economic abuse showing up?

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All forms of abuse can lead to economic harms. But it’s fairly recently that the field has begun to explore the impact of economic abuse.

And what they found is that 99% of women were subjected to economic abuse at some point during the course of their relationship. This percentage was even higher than physical abuse.

What are some examples of the way you see economic abuse showing up?

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In a 2008 study by Adams, Sullivan, Bybee, and Greeson, they developed a Scale of Economic Abuse. The researchers onducted face to face structured interviews with 103 women receiving residential and nonresidential services from one of five DV service agencies in Michigan.

They defined economic abuse as: [see above]

And what they found is that 99% of women were subjected to economic abuse at some point during the course of their relationship. This percentage was even higher than physical abuse.

The researchers group economic abuse into two categories: economic control and economic exploitation.

Economic control: limiting access to or preventing use of economic resources

Economic exploitation: sabotaging, intentionally depleting resources to limit the survivor’s options.

Batterers often prevent survivors from acquiring resources by interfering with attempts to obtain or maintain employment or to further their education.

Examples include:

*Turning off an alarm clock, inflicting visible injuries, refusing to provide childcare

*Sabotaging transportation, physically restraining their partners from going to work

*Showing up at the survivors workplace (harassing her and her co-workers)

*23-63% of survivors report experiencing interference with their education.

Batterers prevent survivors from using the resources that they have. For example:

*they deny them and their children access to food

*impose allowances

*hide money that was jointly earned or even earned solely by the survivor

Batterers intentionally exploit survivors’ resources. Examples:

*Stealing money

*Destroying property, cutting-off utilities

*Generating debt their partner’s name

***The impact of all of these acts of financial sabotage is to decrease options for the survivor, thereby leading to increased risk of future violence for herself an her children.

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The Economic Ripple Effect of Violence

During relationship

mental health effects
obstructed/ slowed professional development
increased vulnerability to future abuse

job loss
credit damage
theft
debt
missed work days
forgone professional advancement

relocation costs
incurred debt from partner
legal fees

forgone wages
housing instability
cost of childcare
increased cost of independent living

Safety / Leaving

During relationship

Short term

Lifetime

Shoener & Sussman. (2013). Economic Ripple Effect of IPV: Building Partnerships for Systemic Change

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Lifetime: Pathways of Economic Disadvantage

Consumer Impacts

81% report “trouble with credit rating”
76% state financial hardship due to abusive partner
Collateral consequences on employment/housing

Opportunity Costs

Only 1 in 5 able to retain full-time employment
Employment instability last up to 3 years
Constrained career growth ($350 less starting salary, slower growth)
Reduced educational attainment (1/2 year)
Negative impact of work history

Health &

Quality of Life

Utilize healthcare up to 4x as much with higher costs
Increased health costs last up to 15 years after abuse
Impact on physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellness

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Compounding Factors: �Structural Inequality

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What are the unique structural barriers facing survivors?

Choice to seek legal protection is often in direct conflict with a survivor’s economic security. A low-income survivor must contend with: hours of operation, days off, childcare, transportation.
Abusers often exploit systems barriers based on their knowledge of survivors’ limited access to resources. Abusers engage in protracted litigation knowing that the process will tire the survivor and that the resources required to engage in the legal process will deplete the survivor of economic resources.

In many instances, survivors cannot access needed resources or services due to the way they are operate. Transportation, travel costs, hours, of operation, accessibility and other procedures determine a survivor’s ability to access systems. As a result, advocacy, shelter, courts, and other services often prove to be inaccessible to survivors, particularly those who are constrained by economic hardship.

Poor Service Response

Survivors’ experiences with institutional actors and their experiences with the rules and processes of programs matter in their options for safety and economic security.

Perceptions and Biases of Court Actors Control Access to Justice

In courts, preferences for preserving two parent families lead judges to award custody to abusive parents despite the dangers they pose to their children and former partners.

Punitive outcomes by judges who are uninformed about the nature of DV

Across systems, survivors contend with overburdened, untrained, insensitive and sometimes hostile institutional actors (e.g., survey showed that TANF workers negative attitudes toward survivors were a major barrier to victims’ access to benefits and wellbeing)

The attitudes and perceptions of people within institutions (such as judges, public benefits workers,) who are the gatekeepers to critical resources can deter, disparage and deny survivors options for economic security.

Across systems, survivors contend with overburdened, untrained, insensitive, and sometimes hostile institutional actors.

Advocates and survivors expend enormous effort to find creative work arounds to systemic problems, while simple policy and procedural fixes could easily remove barriers for countless survivors. Institutional willingness to acknowledge and implement needed change is key. The attitudes, competency, and sensitivity of actors who control access to resources, protection, and services for survivors are critical for long-term safety and economic security.

Unequal Policies

Credit Reporting and Credit Checks Act as Barriers to Employment

compounds survivors’ economic insecurity, pushing them deeper into poverty, and leaves them with fewer safety options.

Nuisance Ordinances Require a Choice Between Enduring Abuse and Eviction

Despite protections, many landlords evict survivors of DV due to incidents abuse by abusive partners.

*Example of Tiffani Alvera: Hospitalized from assault by her husband. Called police requested his arrest, took out protection order. When she returned from hospital, she was met with an eviction notice based on her abusive husband’s assault. Nuisance ordinances enable landlords to evict survivors when they experience violence or seek help. Such a systemic barrier leads to a direct economic harm– eviction and homelessness, exposing survivors to increased risk of physical violence.

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Reciprocal relationship of abuse and economic hardship

Women* living in poverty experience violence at twice the rate of those who do not.

There is a link between poverty and gender-based violence. (Note: gender-based violence includes dv, sa, etc. A lot of research limited to cis, het, women experience of dv)

While anyone can experience dv, not everyone has what they need to get, be, and stay safe.

As a result, while research shows 1 in 3 of ALL women experience IPV. That rate is 1in 2 or higher for homeless and public benefits seeking women.

Those in poverty TWICE as likely. And those marginalized by virtue of race, language, gender, so, etc are more likely to be living in poverty.

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The link between poverty and domestic violence is well-substantiated, by researchers, service providers, and women survivors of intimate partner violence.

Women living in poverty experience domestic violence at TWICE the rate of those who do not. In other words, two times as many women living in poverty experience domestic violence as women who are not living in poverty.

More than 70% of women receiving public benefits have reported abuse by a former partner at some point in their lives.

More than half of homeless women report having been physically assaulted by an intimate partner.

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Disproportionate Impact of Poverty

Sources listed on p 52 of CSAJ’s Accounting for Economic Security Atlas

CSAJ Safety & Economic Justice Factsheet

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These are poverty rates and you can see similar trends.

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And here we’re looking at poverty rates. We see very similar trend lines - 1 in 10 White Women vs 4 in 10 Native, Multiracial, Disabled, and Transgender women live in poverty.

From a data perspective, inequity are outcomes like this. We can predict who experiences violence, poverty, poor health by things like gender, race, and where you live. We shouldn’t be able to do this because research has shown these physical traits have nothing to do with illness, poverty, or violence. So, if our identities or physical traits don’t on their own determine our outcomes in life, we look to the structures and hierarchies we place people in. This is looking upstream.

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COVID is a great example. I live in Brooklyn and its not that Black and Latinx folks were more susceptible to the virus, but they experienced disparities in rates of Covid, including hospitalizations and death because of long standing social forces that meant they had to go in person to work, maybe couldn’t social distance because they lived in small NY apartments but with multiple generations, little access to healthcare, had pre-existing conditions like asthma (due to environmental racism) that made it harder for their bodies to fight the virus, etc.

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Disproportionate Impact of Violence

Race/Ethnicity Source: NISVS 2016/2017 Report

Undocumented, Transgender & Disability data sources from academic studies (see note)

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In fact, disparities in poverty and IPV are correlated. People marginalize by virtue of race, gender identity, so, immigration, etc are more likely to experience IPV and poverty.

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Again, here’s how it bears out in data. You don’t have to read all the details to see some important points:

The black line is the data point we all know: 1 in 3 or 4 all women will experience IPV
The bars show that rate dramatically increases for BIPOC, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and women with disabilities

People who are marginalized by race, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical and cognitive ability, citizenship status, and ethnicity experience DV (and other forms of violence) at much higher rates than those who have social privilege.

While 1 in 3 white women report having experienced DV, the rates of abuse increase dramatically (50% and higher) for those marginalized by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, and cognitive and physical ability.

At the same time, marginalized communities are more likely to experience poverty and economic hardship.

While 1 in 10 white people live at or below the poverty line, that number rises to 1 in 4 (or higher) for all other racial and ethnic groups.

Given the link between economic hardship and safety, we need to address the systemic inequalities facing marginalized survivors.

Survivors who are socially and politically marginalized experience unique barriers to safety and economic security, which vary greatly across and within groups. These barriers perpetuate poverty and increased the risk of future violence.

Poverty sources:

Sources: The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) | 2010-2012 State Report: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) |Victimization by Sexual Orientation, 2010 Findings: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/cdc_nisvs_victimization_final-a.pdf

FORGE, Transgender rates of violence (2012): http://forge-forward.org/wp-content/docs/FAQ-10-2012-rates-of-violence.pdf

Violence Sources:

Sources:

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2016/2017 Report on Intimate Partner Violence

Lifetime prevalence of violence against latina immigants: Legal and policy implications. Domestic Violence: Global Responses, pp93-113. (link)

FORGE, 2012 Factsheet (link); Plummer, S.-B., & Findley, P. A. (2012)

http://forge-forward.org/wp-content/docs/FAQ-10-2012-rates-of-violence.pdf

Women with disabilities’ experience with physical and sexual abuse: review of the literature and implications for the field. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 13(1), 15–29. (link)

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Same storm, but not all in the same boat..

Credit: Race Forward, The Management Center

Due to historical and structural factors, people who are marginalized by race, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical and cognitive ability, citizenship status, and ethnicity experience both DV and poverty at much higher rates than those who have social privilege. ( This is due to the fact that people with social privilege and wealth have more opportunities/access to resources to safely leave /better options.The intersection of poverty and domestic violence can 1) exacerbate the impact of the abuse, 2) cause an exceptional loss of resources for the survivor and 3) lessen positive outcomes for a survivor.

Survivors who are socially and politically marginalized experience unique barriers to safety and economic security, which vary greatly across and within groups. These barriers perpetuate poverty and increased the risk of future violence.

We can think of it as the type of boat survivors are given to weather the storm of economic abuse. Outcomes for women of color and immigrants are even more grave because safety net systems often ignore their unique needs.

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Spotlighting underserved survivors

Underserved populations are groups of people who, because of specific identities, face oppression in our society and may be underserved by organizations

Societal and institutional barriers/burdens disproportionately (and with different levels of impact) affect marginalized communities

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Underserved groups include- BIPOC,persons from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, people that are incarcerated, elders, and youth.*

Marginalized communities include : people who identify as or are perceived to be LGBTQI+, persons living with disabilities, black, indigenous, Latinx, people of color, immigrant, poor, etc.

https://mcasa.org/providers/resources-on-specific-topics/underserved-populations-cultural-competency

It is important to increase awareness /understanding that societal and institutional barriers/burdens disproportionately (and with different levels of impact) affect people who identify as or are perceived to be LGBTQI+, disabled, black, indigenous, Latinx, people of color, immigrant, poor, etc. – And that all of us inhabit more than one identity at the same time and thus may experience differing levels and types of barriers based on our particular intersectional identities.

Domestic violence affects people of all races and ethnicities, but BIPOC individuals are disproportionately affected. They are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to receive the support and resources they need to heal and recover. This can significantly impact their mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other mental health conditions.

It is important to focus on underserved survivors as they keep coming up against additional barriers to accessing services which may come in the form of LEP, checklists and bureaucratic processes, lack of services to deal with the issues these survivors face, systemic failures

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Spotlighting underserved survivors

Survivors of marginalized backgrounds may be less likely to utilize formal support systems criminal justice systems, health systems.

Additionally, cultural factors can affect how BIPOC individuals experience and respond to domestic violence. For example, some cultures may view seeking help as a sign of weakness or a betrayal of family, which can prevent individuals from seeking the support they need.

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Black survivors are more unlikely to call police due to fear of violence and also reported difficulty with law enforcement, courts and social services.

Black survivors may have a justified fear of interactions with the police and may not be able to produce police reports. One of the reasons for this disparity is the systemic racism and discrimination that BIPOC individuals face. This can make it difficult for them to access resources and support, leading to feelings of isolation and shame.

Reports from the ACLU shows fear of deportation is stopping immigrants from reporting crimes and participating in court proceedings

One of the reasons for this disparity is the systemic racism and discrimination that BIPOC individuals face. This can make it difficult for them to access resources and support, leading to feelings of isolation and shame.

*https://www.rainn.org/news/many-black-survivors-reporting-raises-complicated-issues ( Recall Shamari’s story)

* It is reported that members of the black community experience higher rates of sexual violence, but often feel they have few options for seeking justice due to widespread institutional and historical factors.*

NOTE- Survivors interactions with service systems are often retraumatizing. Services are not always experienced as helpful by those who manage to access them, and not all survivors receive the same level of services

https://protectsafespaces.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/UNDER-ATTACK-2022-LGBTQ-SAFE-SPACES-NATIONAL-NEEDS-ASSESSMENT-FINAL.pdf

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Spotlight on underserved survivors

Survivors from underserved communities have diversified support needs or may need a different approach due to the co-occuring difficulties and inequalities that compound the consequences of DV
Trafficking Survivors : may not have the identification needed to pull, review, and familiarize with their credit reports and thus possible errors or evidence of coerced debt.
Immigrant /trafficking survivors : may lack identification ( inability to get drivers licenses, challenges with getting a bank account without SSNs or ITINs,

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Diversified support needs include:

1 Ensuring Proper Interpretation Services

This can include:

Building relationships with court personnel to remind them to schedule interpreters and allot enough time for hearing,

Compensating bilingual advocates, and

Providing trauma-informed training for interpreters to ensure accurate and sensitive communication

2. Promoting Language Access: Language barriers can prevent survivors from accessing vital services. Advocates can support policies that encourage language access legislation.

3. Developing Financial Literacy Programs: Financial literacy is essential for economic stability. Community organizations can:

Partner with local banks to provide financial literacy programs tailored to the needs of immigrant survivors.

Identify safe places for financial transactions, such as purchasing money orders and cashing checks.

4. Establishing Creative, Immigrant-Led Solutions: Immigrant communities often develop innovative solutions to economic challenges. Examples include:

Lending circles, where members pool money and take turns accessing the funds, fostering mutual support and financial stability.

Community garage sales and art shows, where proceeds are shared with survivors.

Micro-lending programs, such as those that provide short-term, no-interest microloans to survivors.

5. Sharing Accurate Information: Accurate information sharing within communities is vital. Misinformation can exacerbate fears and barriers to accessing services. Advocates should:

Ensure that survivors receive correct information about their rights and available resources.

Use mapping tools from organizations like CSAJ to identify and share safe, trusted local resources.

6. Building Partnerships: Creating partnerships between consumer lawyers, immigrant lawyers, and family lawyers can enhance the support network for survivors. These partnerships can help:

Navigate complex legal and financial systems.

Advocate for survivor rights and access to economic resources.

A comprehensive approach combining individual advocacy, organizational support, and creative community solutions can significantly improve the economic stability and well-being of immigrant survivors of domestic violence. By addressing language barriers, promoting financial literacy, and building strong partnerships, advocates can help survivors overcome economic challenges and achieve lasting security.

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Spotlighting underserved survivors

Survivors of all identities can experience consumer issues like coerced debt and economic abuse. However, survivors with marginalized identities may have unique experiences with consumer issues arising from DV like coerced debt and economic abuse and face additional barriers to addressing it due to intersecting systems of oppression including racism, sexism, classism, ableism, transphobia, and xenophobia.

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How can attorneys assist underserved survivors?

It is critical for attorneys,advocates and organizations to appreciate these unique challenges and provide culturally sensitive and trauma-informed care to BIPOC individuals who have experienced domestic violence. This includes acknowledging the impact of systemic racism and discrimination, providing resources and support that are culturally relevant and appropriate, and creating a safe and supportive environment that fosters healing and recovery.

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A Multi-Level Approach to �Economic Advocacy for Survivors

Enhanced Individual Advocacy: Addresses both the physical safety and the economic safety needs of the survivor.

There is no safety without economic justice.
Economic advocacy and asset building strategies are ineffective without attention to the safety and privacy needs of survivors.

Organizational & Community Reform: Requires a partnership between the DV, anti-poverty, and anti-racist fields that attends to the ways in which physical and economic risks facing survivors fundamentally shape their opportunities for securing safety.
Systems Change: Local to federal efforts to remove institutional barriers, identify and implement laws/policies, and conduct impact litigation that addresses systemic inequalities.

Systems & Policy Change

Organization & Community Reform

Enhance Individual Advocacy

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Enhancing Individual Advocacy:

Survivor Centered Consumer Rights Advocacy for Survivors

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Why focus on consumer rights for survivors?

Consumer rights advocacy has the potential to equip survivors with critical information, tools, and options to address the profound and long-term economic harms stemming from abuse and poverty.

This includes legal and nonlegal advocacy to address issues such as credit reporting and repair, debt collection defense, credit discrimination, student loans, economic relief in family law, bankruptcy and foreclosure prevention and defense, tax relief (including innocent spouse relief), economic barriers in civil court, economic barriers to housing and employment, and addressing barriers to accessing and other economic opportunities.

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Why is consumer rights advocacy important?

“While the domestic violence movement has engaged in critical economic justice work, many current [mainstream] efforts have focused upon identifying ways to maximize survivors' future income through programs such as job and financial literacy training. Less effort has been dedicated to remedying survivors' accrued economic damage, minimizing their expenses, and protecting their current assets. Consumer law does just that.”

Sussman, E. & Shoener, S. 2013. The Economic Ripple Effect of IPV: Building Partnerships for Systemic Change. Domestic Violence Report.

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Economic Abuse & Consumer Debt

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Survivor is receiving collection notices, knows they have poor credit, and/or is being sued for consumer debt

Poor credit/high debt load

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Identity Theft

Abuser uses survivor’s personal identifying information to take out or use credit in survivor’s name without permission or authorization

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Coerced Debt

Abuser uses demands or threats to force survivor to take out credit or use accounts

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Consumer Rights Advocacy in Practice�

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ABA Standards of Practice:

“the role of advocacy is to understand the [survivor’s] perspective, provide relevant information and the opportunity for survivors to make decisions and plans, and then to work with them to implement those plans.”

DV can change a client’s objectives – confidentiality and ending case quickly may be mor eimpotant than winning

*Establish a sense of safety

*Be honest and transparent

*Give survivors choices about answering economic questions or not

*Be aware of our own power and how we are using it e.g are we steering survivors toward a particular choice or action? Are we placing judgments or assumptions that reflect our own economic values?)

Built on and advances safety

Advocate establishes sense of safety with client
Conducted with an eye to long-term safety and overall economic well-being.

Ongoing, dynamic screening.

Trauma-informed, open-minded, curious.

Conducted with an eye to long-term safety and overall economic well-being.

Understanding and respecting survivor’s goals, values, risks, and strengths.

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Categories of Consumer Rights

Liability for Consumer Debt
Debt Collection
Credit Reporting
Lending
Banking/Electronic Transactions

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What is Consumer Debt?

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Consumer debt

Credit card debt
Personal loans
Student loans
Auto debt (leases, financed purchases)
Some housing debt
Most medical debt

Not consumer debt

(different protections)

Child support debt
Spousal support debt
Gov't tickets, fines, and fees
Taxes
Business loans/credit cards

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Who is responsible for debts?

True or False:

If I am a co-signer or guarantor on an account, I can’t be sued if the other person stops paying.

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False!

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Who is responsible for debts?

Guarantors and co-signers agree to pay if the other person doesn’t.
Liable on account until it is paid off or refinanced
Creditors can go after either or both person on a contract or account (but can’t collect more than the max owed)

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Who is responsible for debts?

True or False:

If I am an authorized user on an account, I can’t be sued if the other person stops paying.

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True!

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Who is responsible for debts?

Authorized users are most common on credit cards
Account holders can add an authorized user who has permission to use the card
Account can appear on authorized user’s credit, but only the account holder is responsible for payments

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Who is responsible for debts?

True or False:

If I am married, I am also responsible for my spouse’s debt even if it is only in their name.

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False!

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Who is responsible for debts?

Coerced debt presents special problems

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Debt Collection: a huge industry

Debt Buying Industry

“Buyers bought an average of 4 cents per dollar of debt face value.”
“Buyers rarely received dispute history.”
“Buyers received few underlying documents about debts.”
“Accuracy of information provided about debts at time of sale not guaranteed.”
“Accuracy of information in sellers’ documents not guaranteed.”
“Availability of documents not guaranteed.”

Source: Federal Trade Commission, The Structure and Practices of the Debt Buying Industry ii-iii (Jan. 2013).

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Debt: the life of a debt

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Debt Collection: Common problems

Frequently recurring problems with:

Identity theft
Mistaken identity

Suing the wrong person

Disputed amounts
Payments already made not being recorded

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Debt Collection: Common problems

Improper service of process – factor in default judgments
Lack of documentary proof necessary to establish standing
Lack of admissible evidence
Time-barred claims

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Debt Relief Scams

For-Profit and Faux Non-Profit
Credit Repair / Debt Management / Debt Settlement
Sometimes “attorney fronted” operations
Expect there to be a surge in debt settlement / if it comes up, let the administrator and consumer law expert know

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Debt Collection: rules

FDCPA – 15 USC § 1692 et seq

When can they call?

reasonable hours, 8am-9pm
no more than 2x/week

Who can they contact?

Consumer and spouse to discuss debt
Can only contact third parties to confirm contact information
Can contact consumer at work unless told not to

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Debt Collection: rules

FDCPA – 15 USC § 1692 et seq

What can they say?

cannot harass, threaten, use bad language
cannot make false or misleading statements
must say they are trying to collect a debt

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Dealing with abusive debt collection

CFPB letter templates

Debt verification letter
Dispute letter
Do-not-contact letter

If egregious: refer to private attorney

NACA (National Association of Consumer Attorneys)

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Debt Collection: dealing with lawsuits

Creditors bear the burden of proof
Many debt buyers can’t prove standing
Creditor may not have witness or sufficient testimony to make records admissible

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Debt Collection: dealing with lawsuits

Other defenses:

Statute of limitations
Lack of personal jurisdiction/service issues
Fraud, identity theft, coercion

CA and TX have coerced debt provisions

UCC (for cars), leasing statutes, etc.

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Debt Collection: dealing with lawsuits

Coerced Debt-specific

duress?
identity theft?
fraud in the factum?
fraud by third party?

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Debt collection: dealing with lawsuits

Federal defenses/remedies:�

Liability limited for use of a credit card by a person other than the cardholder who does not have actual, implied, or apparent authority for use and from which the cardholder receives no benefit. 15 USC 1643�
Fair Credit Billing Act: Billing error can include extension of credit to someone without actual, implied, or apparent authority. 15 U.S.C. § 1666(a), Reg Z 12 C.F.R. § 1026.13

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Credit Reporting: context

Big Three (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) are the major players

Proprietary algorithm for scoring

Tenant Screening Bureaus
AI and tech companies

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Credit Reporting: gathering information safely

Entitled to 1 free copy of report from each CRA per year, and/or:

If you get an "adverse action" notice
If you receive public assistance
If you're unemployed and seeking employment within 60 days
If you are an ID theft victim and have a fraud alert
www.annualcreditreport.com
Won’t contain credit score
Be aware of safety/address issues

Credit Karma and bank credit scoring services can be unreliable

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Credit reporting: what to expect

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What’s on report:

Identifying info
account info
hard/soft inquiries
disputes
payment history

What’s not on report:

score
income
rental history
race/ethnicity
medical conditions
criminal history
public records

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Credit reporting: Time limits

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Accounts: 7 years + 180 days from default
Bankruptcy: 10 years from filing
Tax Liens: 7 years
Student loans: 7 years from default (longer if paid)
Inquiries: 2 years from hard, 1 year from soft
Paid/satisfied negative accounts: 5 years

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Credit Reporting: addressing problems

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Credit reporting: Tools

ID theft victims’ right to business records:
15 U.S.C. § 1681g(e)
Fraud Alert: 15 USC § 1681c-11
Credit Freeze: 15 USC § 1681c-1
ID theft block: 15 USC § 1681c-2(c)
Disputes: 15 USC § 1681i

“Furnisher accuracy” includes correctly reflecting the liability for the account. 12 CFR § 1022.41(a).

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Fraud Alert vs. Credit Freeze

15 USC § 1681c-1
Free since 2018
Proper identification
CRA can remove upon request for a material misrepresentation of fact or by consumer request (incl. temporary “thaw”)
Remedies for negligent / intentional violation of the federal security freeze provision

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15 USC § 1681c-11
Proof of identity + “good faith suspicion” of ID theft
Can request by phone; free
“One-call” alert
Initial fraud alert: lasts 1 year
Extended fraud alert: 7 years (proof of identity + ID theft report)
Violations subject to private liability provisions of FCRA

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Identity Theft Block

Requesting a block - 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2

Proof of consumer’s identity (CRAs often say they cannot confirm current address)
Identity theft report (There are many barriers to getting a police report, and CRAs don’t always accept FTC ID theft reports)
Consumer’s identification of information
Consumer’s statement that the information does not relate in any way to a transaction by the consumer

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Disputes

Furnisher dispute and CRA dispute
Disputing under 15 USC 1681c-2

Must dispute with consumer ID, explanation that account/transaction disputed, and confirm this due to ID theft
Need “law enforcement report” and proof of identity

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Credit reporting: rights and tools

CFPB complaint – has authority over CRAs and furnishers

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Pre-Collection Lending Rights

State interest rate caps
Truth in Lending Act
Fair Credit Billing Act: consumer can dispute extension of credit to someone without permission (or use of account without permission). 15 U.S.C. § 1666(a), Reg Z 12 C.F.R. § 1026.13.

Dispute with detailed letter promptly mailed to billing error address.

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Banking

Electronic Funds Transfers: no liability under EFTA if unauthorized transaction promptly disputed

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�Safety Considerations�

Is it safe to leave a voicemail? Send mail?
Is your client’s address confidential? � If not, how can you address this?
Financial actions can alert abusive partner – will he/she retaliate?
Is a joint debt going to court?

Possibility that abusive partner will be in court?

Does your client need a safety plan?

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Building the case file

Consider:

What are potential obstacles to getting these documents?

How might getting these documents impact your client?

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Address documents and history

Uses:

Credit disputing - if abuser’s address appears on the credit report, or if abuser has used survivor’s information while living at another address
Address history may be useful in a car case or where service is at issue, to show documents could not have been received at a certain address (e.g. UCC notice requirements)

Barriers:

PO Box or shelter letter may not be accepted
Clients may have fled the home without these records, or an abuser may destroy docs or withhold access.

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Account documents

Ask for and examine:

Application
Signed contract
Address, phone number, e-mail used
Balance transfers details
Linked accounts
Purchasing patterns
Signed receipts

Can you link any of this to ex-partner?

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Law enforcement reports

Police report
Consider alternatives – law enforcement reports also include:

FTC Identity Theft Report - 12 CFR 1022.2
U.S. Postal Inspection Service Report
FBI Internet Crimes Report (IC3)
Report to local District Attorney�

Downsides:

Police report tends to be preferred
Even identity theft report requires client to retell story and carries risk of exposure

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Client Affidavit/Docs

Especially for coerced debt, factual detail is usually needed to connect the dots, but this can sometimes be difficult for clients.
Affidavit?
Order of protection?
Letter from social worker?
What else?

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Organizational and Community Reform

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WHAT IS IT?

The work your organization and everyone within it does to support survivors’ economic security and physical safety. (Support for individual advocacy work & broader efforts)

APPROACHING THE WORK

What things within your own organization could assist survivors?
What types of partnerships between organizations could enhance economic security for survivors?
How do you utilize current partners?
How can you leverage partnerships to forge new relationships?
What can staff advocates and attorneys bring to enhance organizational change?
Have you sat down to think about un-tapped resources, assets, or partnerships?

CHALLENGES

Compartmentalized legal services;
Structure of organizations (hours of operation, accessibility) do not fit with survivors’ daily lives;
Organizational capacity of social service organizations is often restricted;
Caseload levels make organizational changes hard to implement;
Outcomes of “success” are not survivor-defined.

STRATEGIES IN PRACTICE

Advocates can: present at staff meetings, talk with supervisor about protocols, provide cross-training, document consistent issues.
Attorneys from outside organizations can: establish referral/case coordination process, request regular meetings to discuss trends, make introductions between systems actors and the DV organization.
Program leaders can: update organizational policies based on SCEA principles, evaluate survivor feedback of services, assess economic needs, establish work groups or task forces on an issue, educate funders on importance of economic security and organizational capacity, provide meaningful SCEA supervision and training to advocates and attorneys.

ORGANIZATIONAL SCEA

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WHAT IS IT?

The work of federal, state, and local laws, policies, cultural norms, and even the physical and cultural make- up of your community in how it influences survivors’ experiences, and options for safety and economic security.

APPROACHING THE WORK

What institution or system changes could assist survivors?
What types of policy or legislative changes would support survivors’ economic security?
What access points do you have to City or State Institutions? How could they serve survivors better?
Who/what is available to assist devising alternative strategies (in the face of bad policy)?
What, if any, engagement is being done to inform policy makers about survivor experiences?

CHALLENGES

Systems are “not built for” people living in poverty or on the social margins;
The physical safety risks of survivors shape current policies and inform the purpose of systems;
Advocate capacity and organizational infrastructure makes collecting data, meeting with systems or institution leaders, time consuming and exhausting;
Funding and grant requirements.

STRATEGIES IN PRACTICE

Examine issues like: tax, housing, childcare, debt & credit, employment, criminal records barriers, banking & financial services, utilities, medical, transportation.
Advocates can: Familiarize themselves with practice and policies in your area/state, volunteer to participate in state coalition work on policies
Attorneys can: Train DV organizations on the implications of policies, participate in task forces to develop policy or legal recommendations, meet with advocates to identify alternative legal remedies to address barriers.
Program leaders can: Initiate conversations with systems actors, form coalitions collect data on housing needs among survivors.

SYSTEMS SCEA

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Systems and Policy Change Work

National Coerced Debt Working Group: To fuel systems and policy change. Comprised of advocates, lawyers, academics, researchers, policymakers.

Subcommittees include:

Model Policies
State Policy Strategic Support
Emerging Efforts
Technical Assistance and Resources

Policy Successes:
Violence Against Women Act: Economic Abuse Provision
Department of Treasury: Guidance on stolen stimulus checks
Joint Consolidation Loan Act: addressing safety concerns of survivors with jointly held student loans
Debt Bondage Act: debt protections for trafficking survivors
State Coerced Debt Legislation: Texas, Maine, California… and soon New York!

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CSAJ Resources

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Accounting for Economic Security, Atlas

Guidebook on Consumer

& Economic Civil Legal Advocacy for Survivors

FULL VERSION

Showing UP Report: How We See, Speak And Disrupt Racial Inequity Facing Survivors

Guidebook on Consumer & Economic Civil Legal Advocacy for Survivors

A comprehensive and survivor-centered guide for domestic violence advocates and attorneys

An Atlas for Direct Service Providers

Mapping the Terrain

Economic hardship and poverty constrain survivors’ options for safety

The economic impact of violence ripples throughout survivors’ lives

Systemic barriers impede survivors’ access to economic stability

Social inequality restricts survivors’ options for economic security and safety

Showing Up

Purpose is to dialogue-back with Listening Session conversations in order to aid self-reflection, challenge dominant narratives, support improved data collection and analysis, and to begin, continue, or advance conversations and work toward racial equity for domestic and sexual violence survivors and for all of us.

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NEW CSAJ Resources!

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Compendium on Coerced Debt Advocacy

Consumer Advocacy Toolkit

The Economic Ripple Effect Facing Immigrant Survivors: Building Creative Legal Advocacy Solutions

Sara – skim or skip

Guidebook on Consumer & Economic Civil Legal Advocacy for Survivors

A comprehensive and survivor-centered guide for domestic violence advocates and attorneys

An Atlas for Direct Service Providers

Mapping the Terrain

Economic hardship and poverty constrain survivors’ options for safety

The economic impact of violence ripples throughout survivors’ lives

Systemic barriers impede survivors’ access to economic stability

Social inequality restricts survivors’ options for economic security and safety

Showing Up

Purpose is to dialogue-back with Listening Session conversations in order to aid self-reflection, challenge dominant narratives, support improved data collection and analysis, and to begin, continue, or advance conversations and work toward racial equity for domestic and sexual violence survivors and for all of us.

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CSAJ Resources

CSAJ’s Resource Library
Past webinars on consumer issues

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Starting the Economic Conversation: an Advocacy Guide

ACCESS to Justice eCourse

ENROLL HERE

(free)

CSAJ’s Assessment Tool for Attorneys & Advocates

Guidebook Chapters:

2) Credit

3) Predatory Lending

4) Debt

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Additional note CSAJ Project- Consumer Rights for Domestic and Sexual Violence Survivors Initiative

Project purpose: to enhance the capacity of and build partnerships between domestic violence and consumer rights lawyers and advocates.

Funded by the Office on Violence Against Women, Department of Justice.

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Speaker Contact Information

Divya Subrahmanyam

Supervising Attorney

CAMBA Legal Services, Brooklyn, NY

Email: Divya.Subrah@camba.org

Nkeiruka Aduba

Managing Attorney

Center for Survivor Agency and Justice

Email: nkeiru@csaj.org

Website: www.csaj.org