CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general have come out in support of the Debt Bondage Repair Act in Congress to help those who have been victimized by human trafficking.
The Debt Bondage Repair Act was signed into law in December 2021. It prohibits credit rating agencies from providing consumer reports that contain negative items about human trafficking survivors from any period during which the individual was being trafficked.
“It is a common tactic of traffickers to strip their victims of their financial independence or stability in order to keep them trapped,” Morrisey said in a press release. “Even after they escape their trafficking, these survivors are often left with a wrecked credit history that leaves them unable to rent an apartment, purchase a car, or find employment.
"That is why my fellow attorneys general and I are calling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today to support the intent of the Debt Bondage Repair Act in the agency’s rulemaking implementing these recent amendments to Section 605C of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.”
“More than 1 in 4 survivors of human trafficking reported that a bank account or credit card which was opened in their name was then used or controlled by their trafficker," the AGs note in their May 9 letter. "Traffickers can then mismanage the victim’s account, resulting in harm to their credit. This harm can linger for years after survivors have escaped their trafficking. Restoring financial independence is a crucial component of a survivor’s recovery.
“By regaining control over their finances,” the letter continues, “survivors reclaim and reassert their personhood in defiance of their traffickers. This takes bravery and time. Without some mechanism to help them, negative consumer reports that resulted from their trafficking become an almost insurmountable obstacle to simple tasks, like opening a bank account, renting an apartment, and applying for a job – all foundational steps as they try to get back on their feet.”
The letter concludes, “We welcome the Bureau’s proposal to implement the prohibition against reporting adverse information resulting from trafficking and to establish a method for submitting broadly-defined documentation of that trafficking, as contemplated by the Debt Bondage Repair Act.”
West Virginia joined the Delaware- and Mississippi-led letter along with the attorneys general of Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming.