The New Debtors Prisons
How companies are putting borrowers behind bars
State laws that give extensive powers to creditors, combined with aggressive collections efforts, let payday lenders, medical-debt collectors, and corporations take control of courts in some parts of the country.
Featured
When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested
Welcome to Coffeyville, Kansas, where the judge has no law degree, debt collectors get a cut of the bail and Americans are watching their lives — and liberty — disappear in the pursuit of medical debt collection.
Other Entries
Utah Representative Proposes Bill to Stop Payday Lenders From Taking Bail Money from Borrowers
Debtors prisons were banned by Congress in 1833, but a ProPublica article that revealed the sweeping powers of high-interest lenders in Utah caught the attention of one legislator. Now, he’s trying to do something about it.
They Loan You Money. Then They Get a Warrant for Your Arrest.
High-interest loan companies are using Utah’s small claims courts to arrest borrowers and take their bail money. Technically, the warrants are issued for missing court hearings. For many, that’s a distinction without a difference.
