Tell Lawmakers: Protect WV from Predatory Debt Collectors
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!