Wages Seized. Bank Accounts Frozen. The Poor Are Getting Poorer as Creditors Pursue Debts

“This is crippling people right now,” says Melissa Linville, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Columbus. “Some courts are carrying on as if there is no pandemic.”

News Story (NATIONAL)

Alana Semuels
Time
May 1, 2020
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Tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Debt Collection

Organizations mentioned/involved: Legal Aid Society of Columbus


DETAILS

And with parts of the country starting to reopen to business, sending a message that it’s time to rev up the economy, legal advocates see little chance of new restrictions to protect the poorest sector of society. That means a likely rise in consumer bankruptcies as individuals see no way to escape their debts.

“Things were bad before the COVID emergency, they got worse with COVID, and they’re going to get even worse,” says Margot Saunders, senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center.