DC Passes Emergency Legislation To Delay Evictions

With the District's public health emergency due to expire soon, the D.C. Council voted on July 13 to approve legislation aimed at avoiding a sudden end to the consumer and tenant protections in effect in the District since the pandemic began. The measures — passed on an emergency and temporary basis — include a proposed update to a 50-year-old debt collection law and a bill aimed in part at avoiding or at least delaying evictions.

Under the modified version of the District's debt collection law, protections will extend to various types of consumer debt, including medical, credit card, and student loan bills. These protections did not exist prior to the D.C. Council's coronavirus response measures, and they are aimed at protecting some of the city's most vulnerable residents.

Nearly a third of District residents carry debt that's in collection, and a disproportionate number of those affected are people of color, according to an Urban Institute study last updated in March.

The law's prohibition on aggressive debt collection practices would bar companies from making more than three calls per day to debtors or making false threats; the law would also ban the practice of jailing people who fail to pay on their debts. Another provision in the bill sets financial penalties of up to $4,000 if a debt collector violates the law.

Read more: https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/dc-passes-emergency-legislation-delay-evictions