News

2021

September

13

• How you pay the rent may help your mortgage application. Later this month, a group of renters in the United States will get a new break when they try to become homeowners: Their history of consistently paying their landlords will count toward qualifying for a

02

• New York extends eviction moratorium to January. New York State lawmakers agreed to extend sweeping protections against evictions into next year. The new agreement, which extends the moratorium through Jan.15 and was passed by the State Legislature late Wednesday, now creates one

01

• Consumer Action INSIDER - September 2021. In this month's edition, we report on new members to our board, examine inaccurate news reports, share some stories from student loan borrowers who were burned by the federal government's public service loan forgiveness program, and present our recorded webinar on how to get the temporary Emergency Broadband Benefit, a monthly subsidy that can help your household connect to high speed broadband for less money.

August

26

• About 89% of rental assistance funds have not been distributed. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program, funded in the two federal pandemic relief packages passed over the last year, sputtered along in July, with just $1.7 billion being distributed by state and local governments, according to the

19

• CFPB keeps pressure on mortgage companies to help homeowners. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has warned mortgage servicers to take proactive steps to assist borrowers, including dedicating resources and staffers to stay in contact with borrowers to ultimately reduce foreclosures and foreclosure-related costs. Some

17

• Is there racism in the deed to your home?. Racial covenants were used across the United States, and though they are now illegal, the ugly language remains in countless property records. In Seattle and Boston, Los Angeles and Long Island and beyond, racism doesn

08

• The stigma of a scarlet E. Eviction cases are a stubborn blot on any renter’s history. They are nearly impossible to scrub away, even if the tenant made good on obligations or it was only a scare tactic by

03

• Tenant screening reports (Summer 2021). Landlords rely on background reports to screen and assess prospective tenants. These reports, however, can contain inaccurate details that close the door on tenants seeking rental housing. In this issue of Consumer Action News we examine the pros and cons of these reports.

• Tenant screening reports (Summer 2021). Landlords rely on background reports to screen and assess prospective tenants. These reports, however, can contain inaccurate details that close the door on tenants seeking rental housing. In this issue of Consumer Action News we examine the pros and cons of these reports.

• Tenant screening reports (Summer 2021). Landlords rely on background reports to screen and assess prospective tenants. These reports, however, can contain inaccurate details that close the door on tenants seeking rental housing. In this issue of Consumer Action News we examine the pros and cons of these reports.

• Tenant screening reports can risk—even ruin—renters' chances. Consumer Action looks at tenant screening reports used by landlords to vet tenants. These reports have been found to contain inaccurate information about tenants' past rental and eviction history—-errors than can bar people from finding a new rental home.

• Biden administration moves to block evictions in most of U.S.. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a moratorium on evictions for 60 days for U.S. counties with “substantial and high levels of community transmission” of the coronavirus, according to

• CDC issues new eviction ban for most of US through Oct. 3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued a new moratorium on evictions that would last until October 3, as the Biden administration sought to quell intensifying criticism that it was allowing vulnerable renters

• After the eviction moratorium, here’s what renters need to know. Tenants of single-family homes financed by the federal government, specifically the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs, are still protected through Sept. 30 thanks to a recent announcement from the Biden administration.

02

• A tsunami of deferred debt is about to hit homeowners. While Congress approved $10 billion in federal assistance to help homeowners pay off debt, the program is moving so slowly that protections are expiring before states have figured out how to distribute the money. A new

• Pelosi pide a Biden extender moratoria a desahucios. La presidenta de la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi, y otros legisladores demócratas exhortaron el domingo al gobierno del presidente Joe Biden a extender de inmediato la moratoria nacional a los

01

• Pandemic eviction crisis leads to greater tenant protections. In a mostly empty conference room at a Virginia cultural arts center, Tara Simmons was looking for someone who might help her stave off eviction. Simmons, a 44-year-old home health aide who lives with her

July

30

• Evictions looming, Biden fails to get Congress to extend ban. A nationwide eviction moratorium is set to expire Saturday after President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress worked furiously but ultimately failed to align on a long-shot strategy to prevent millions of Americans from being

28

• AP-NORC poll: Inequity in community support for older adults. Many Americans believe their communities are doing a good job meeting the needs of older adults, but white people may be better equipped than people of color to age within their communities, according to a

23

• Consumer groups call on FTC, CFPB to update credit reporting study. Washington, DC—Leading consumer groups are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to update a key 2012 study on the accuracy of consumer data at the