Debt

A new state law will keep medical debt off your credit report, sparing a hit to your all-important credit score. This is a big deal for California where millions struggle with unpaid medical bills. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.

Americans pay more than $25 billion annually in hidden fees when they use credit cards, but the new junk fee rules don't cover these lenders.

State officials hope a lottery and an emphasis on first-generation homebuyers will make California’s most generous down payment assistance program more equitable.

Gov. Newsom wants to spend $300 million the first year, which could help about 2,300 buyers. But home prices are falling and mortgage rates are rising, complicating the launch.

Commercial real estate agent Maybelle Manio is one of many middle-class Californians who found themselves financially stranded by the pandemic. The 42-year-old commercial real estate agent turned to public support for the first time in her life.

A new report found a dramatic decrease in Californians’ reliance on payday loans as a direct result of pandemic-related government assistance, including unemployment benefits, rent relief, eviction moratoriums, stimulus checks and loan forbearance. But experts warn that use of payday loans is expected to rebound once government assistance ends.

Lawmakers have agreed to pay off $2 billion of Californians' utilities debt, but haven’t extended the shutoff moratoria past Sept. 30. One family's experience of surviving a heat wave without water or power reveals what’s at stake.

A bill aims to create new rules for California's mostly unregulated debt settlement industry. AB 1405, expected to pass through Senate committees, comes at a time when the industry expects to see a 75% increase in account enrollment.

Lawmakers propose to stop collecting child support debt owed to the government in cases where a parent’s only source of income comes from certain cash assistance programs. But advocates had asked the Legislature to go farther by forgiving old, uncollectible debt and to stop imposing a 10% interest.

During the height of the pandemic, the state clawed stimulus and unemployment checks from parents who owe child support debt to the government. The Newsom administration put a stop to the practice by the time the second stimulus checks went out, but California still retained a record $430 million in 2020.