老澳门开奖结果

NEW YORK 鈥� In the first-ever report on the extent and impact of cooperation between courts and the private debt collection industry nationwide, the 老澳门开奖结果 found courts in 26 states and Puerto Rico in which judges issued arrest warrants for alleged debtors at the request of private debt collectors.

This practice violates the many state and federal laws as well as international human rights standards that prohibit the jailing of debtors. It worsens their financial struggles by subjecting them to court appearances, arrest warrants that appear on background checks, and jail time that interfere with their wages, their jobs, their ability to find housing, and more.

鈥淭he private debt collection industry uses prosecutors and judges as weapons against millions of Americans who can鈥檛 afford to pay their bills,鈥� said Jennifer Turner, author of 鈥淎 Pound of Flesh: The Criminalization of Private Debt,鈥� and principal human rights researcher at the 老澳门开奖结果. 鈥淐onsumers have little chance of justice when our courts take the debt collector鈥檚 side in almost every case 鈥� even to the point of ordering people jailed until they pay up.鈥�

An estimated one in three adults in the United States has a debt that has been turned over to a private collection company, according to the Urban Institute. More than 6,000 of these companies operate in the U.S. At the bidding of the private debt collection industry, courts issue tens of thousands of arrest warrants every year when people don鈥檛 appear in court to deal with unpaid civil debt judgments.

鈥淭hey had a warrant for my arrest and I asked them for what, he didn鈥檛 say what it was for. He said, 鈥楬e鈥檒l tell you later,鈥欌�� recalled Tracie Mozie of Dickinson, Texas. Two armed U.S. marshals had entered her bedroom in 2014 to arrest her for failing to appear in court over a $1,500 federal student loan she took out in 1986 to pay for truck driving school. The loan had grown to more than $13,000 with interest and fees, an amount Mozie can鈥檛 afford because she is unemployed and subsists on disability benefits. She has a prosthetic leg that she wasn鈥檛 wearing, but the marshals shackled her feet and waist after she put it on. She was jailed overnight. 鈥淚鈥檓 scared someone is going to come to my door and get me again.鈥�

鈥淎 Pound of Flesh鈥� includes dozens of stories of people who, like Mozie, have been jailed or threatened with jail by the debt collection industry with help from prosecutors and judges, including:

• A mother of three in Indiana was jailed for missing hearings over medical bills for her cancer treatment. She was physically unable to climb the stairs to the women鈥檚 section of the jail, so she was held in a men鈥檚 mental health unit.
• A Georgia woman was arrested while caring for her terminally ill mother. A debt collection company had bought a 6-year-old rental debt her landlord claimed she owed after evicting her from her trailer home. She was jailed overnight. Her mother died two days later.
• In Missouri, a single mother of a toddler took out a high-interest payday loan of $425. She wasn鈥檛 able to pay it back, and the creditor sued. She didn鈥檛 go to court and was arrested and jailed for three days.
• A Utah man committed suicide while jailed for failing to appear in court over an unpaid ambulance bill. He killed himself shortly after he was asked whether he had the money to post bail.

鈥淭he tyranny of the private debt collection industry causes financial ruin for people already struggling to make ends meet, and courts are willing to routinely violate people鈥檚 due process rights to do debt collectors鈥� dirty work,鈥� said Turner. 鈥淥ur courts have become mills for these companies, approving without evaluating scores of arrest warrants, wage garnishments, property seizures, default judgments, and other legal actions against consumers accused by debt collectors of owing money.鈥�

By analyzing more than 1,000 cases in which judges issued arrest warrants for alleged debtors, the 老澳门开奖结果 identified the particular ways that the courts enable the debt collection industry to coerce alleged debtors to pay up, even when there鈥檚 no evidence the debt is owed or when the person isn鈥檛 legally required to pay. For example, many judges issue the requested warrants without checking whether the person has the ability to pay.

More than 90 percent of consumer debt litigation ends with a default judgment in favor of the debt collection company because the defendant didn鈥檛 contest the case. Most don鈥檛 appear in court to defend themselves, often because they don鈥檛 know how or because they never received notice of the suit.

鈥淭he debt collection industry鈥檚 exploitation of the courts and law enforcement impact Black and Latino people most harshly because of longstanding gaps in poverty and wealth,鈥� said Turner. 鈥淭he impact of predatory debt collection practices falls most heavily on minority communities, who often lack the savings, financial assets, or inherited wealth to avoid financial disaster. And some studies show there are marked racial disparities in which communities debt collectors choose to target for lawsuits.鈥�

The report also documents arrangements between debt collection companies specializing in bounced checks and more than 200 district attorneys鈥� offices. The offices allow the companies to use the district attorneys鈥� letterhead and official seals to send consumers letters threatening legal action. These letters often falsely claim that a person will be prosecuted and jailed for up to a year, when the amount owed is too low to meet the standard for prosecution in that jurisdiction. The bounced check collection companies pay district attorneys鈥� offices a portion of the fees they charge the consumers who receive the letters.

鈥淲e must stop the suffering and injustice caused by the private debt collection industry鈥檚 cozy relationship with law enforcement and the courts,鈥� said Turner. 鈥淎lmost all of the people targeted by debt collectors can鈥檛 afford attorneys. The right to counsel often doesn鈥檛 apply in such cases, but it should. A lawyer can make all the difference when people are facing powerful debt collectors in league with prosecutors and judges.鈥�

鈥淎 Pound of Flesh鈥� includes recommendations for legislation, changes in court rules, actions by attorneys general, reforms for district attorneys鈥� offices, and other ways to stop law enforcement and the courts from helping the private debt industry abuse consumers. They include but aren鈥檛 limited to legislation that prohibits courts from issuing arrest warrants in debt collection proceedings as well as laws that ensure that people aren鈥檛 jailed in cases to collect debts they haven鈥檛 been notified about, can鈥檛 pay, or aren鈥檛 legally obligated to pay.

For the full report:
/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization-criminal-justice/pound-flesh

For information about the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Human Rights Program:
/issues/human-rights