For the past two years, the West Virginia Consumer Credit Protection (WVCCPA) Act has been chipped away at by the legislature, but this year, a proposed bill would essentially remove consumer protections under the Act. The WVCCPA is an important incentive for keeping debt collectors from being unethical and abusive.

Debt collectors' victims are often struggling to keep up with bills, so they can't afford to protect their interests by hiring a lawyer. One way the law protects people is that for successful cases, the attorney fees are paid by the abusive debt collectors. The most regressive proposed bills, SB 556 and SB 563, would not only remove the ability to get attorneys fees covered by successful suits, but also could force people in debt to pay the attorneys fees for the big banks and debt collectors, the exact opposite of what the law should be.

There are other bad provisions in these bills, but the best thing to do is to leave the WV Consumer Credit Protection Act as it is.

Please write to the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to protect the Consumer Credit Protection Act and vote NO on SB 556 and SB 563. Simply fill out the form to the right and we'll automate the letter writing process for you!