Despite lobbying from the U.S. Marine Corps and financial institutions, a bill aimed at overhauling the debt relief industry in North Carolina did not make it to the state Senate floor for a vote yesterday before the legislature adjourned for the summer.
The bill, House Bill 1067, had previously passed in the state House by a unanimous vote. The bill would close loopholes that allow debt settlement companies to offer their services in The Tarheel State through the use of affiliates. It would also strengthen the state Attorney General’s powers to prosecute offenders and give individuals the right to sue companies.
Nicholas Davis, the chief of staff at Camp Lejeune wrote that the bill would protect “active duty personnel and their families from the abusive practices of debt settlement companies; and maintains the highest level of military readiness by allowing service members to focus on their mission without the distraction and financial harm caused by these companies.”
Similarly, Michael Lord, the president and chief executive of State Employees’ Credit Union — the largest credit union in North Carolina — wrote that the legislature had and “opportunity to protect North Carolinians from unscrupulous tactics which prey on the most vulnerable by voting to approve HB 1067 in its current form with no amendments.”
Despite the efforts from Davis and Lord, a dozen industry lobbyists fought against the bill’s passage. The bill “would eliminate immediately a valuable consumer finance option during this time of uncertainty,” a spokesman from Freedom Debt Relief said last month, according to a published report.
