Millions Of Americans Skip Payments As Tidal Wave Of Defaults And Evictions Looms [View all]

[alwaysinasnit]

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/03/867856602/millions-of-americans-skipping-payments-as-tidal-wave-of-defaults-and-evictions-?utm_source=pocket-newtab

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But looking ahead, advocates say people could run into big trouble because the terms of these hardship programs can be all over the map.

"Credit cards, auto loans, installment loans, there are no federal guidelines," says Aracely Panameño, a director at the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending.

She says when it comes time to make up for all those skipped payments, there are federal rules for repayment plans for home mortgages but not for many other types of loans. So she says lawmakers need to protect people. Otherwise, she says, lenders could make demands beyond what people can afford. "You must have a capacity to catch up with your payments in an affordable way," Panameño says.

Chi Chi Wu with the National Consumer Law Center agrees. Without better protections, when it comes time to make up for the missed payments, "there's going to be a lot of people who could experience massive credit reporting harm," says Wu, an attorney focusing on consumer credit issues.

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