The Debt Collection Pandemic

California Law Review Online (2020 Forthcoming)

U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2020-22

20 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2020 Last revised: 28 Sep 2020

See all articles by Pamela Foohey

Pamela Foohey

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Dalié Jiménez

University of California, Irvine School of Law; Harvard Law School - Center on the Legal Profession

Christopher K. Odinet

University of Iowa - College of Law

Date Written: May 1, 2020

Abstract

As of May 2020, the United States' reaction to the unique and alarming threat of COVID-19 has partially succeeded in slowing the virus’s spread. Saving people’s lives, however, came at a severe economic cost. Americans’ economic anxiety understandably spiked. In addition to worrying about meeting basic expenses, people’s anxieties about money necessarily included what might happen if they could not cover already outstanding debts. The nearly 70 million Americans with debts already in collection faced heightened anxiety about their inability to pay.

The coronavirus pandemic is set to metastasize into a debt collection pandemic. The federal government can and should do something to put a halt to debt collection until people can get back to work and earn money to pay their debts. Yet it has done nothing to help people deal with their debts. Instead, states have tried to solve issues with debt collection in a myriad of patchwork and inconsistent ways. These efforts help some people and are worthwhile. But more efficient and comprehensive solutions exist. Because debt collection brought by the COVID-19 crisis will not dissipate anytime soon, even after the crisis ends, the need to implement comprehensive, longer-lasting solutions remains. These solutions largely fall on the shoulders of the federal government, though state attorney generals have the necessary power to help people effectively, provided they act in concert. If the government continues on its present course, a debt collection pandemic will follow the coronavirus pandemic.

Keywords: coronavirus, COVID-19, debt collection, consumer credit, foreclosure, repossession, garnishment, CARES Act, student loans, auto debt, mortgages, mortgage servicing, debtors' prison, attorney general, CFPB, FDCPA, UDAP

JEL Classification: D10, K36

Suggested Citation

Foohey, Pamela and Jiménez, Dalié and Odinet, Christopher K., The Debt Collection Pandemic (May 1, 2020). California Law Review Online (2020 Forthcoming), U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2020-22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3598623 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3598623

Pamela Foohey (Contact Author)

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

55 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
United States

Dalié Jiménez

University of California, Irvine School of Law ( email )

401 E. Peltason Dr.
Ste. 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-1000
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/jimenez/

Harvard Law School - Center on the Legal Profession ( email )

1585 Massachusetts Avenue
Wasserstein Hall, Suite 5018
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Christopher K. Odinet

University of Iowa - College of Law ( email )

130 Byington Road
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://law.uiowa.edu/people/christopher-odinet

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