Court procedures are often intended to efficiently resolve cases. Especially in the area of debt collection, some of these procedures end up negatively impacting diverse and low-income debtors, resulting in a lack of access to justice. This presentation will highlight procedures within the Superior Court system that, while well intentioned, lead to confusion, default judgments without proper due process, wages being wrongfully garnished, and bank accounts being wrongfully levied.
One in five Californians has a debt in collections. Many of these cases turn into lawsuits that result in wage garnishments from, and bank levies on, already struggling individuals and families. It is staggering to note that only 9% of people respond to debt collection lawsuits filed against them, which awards debt collectors with default judgments in droves. Unfortunately, there are not enough attorneys to help consumers through this process; while nearly all of those who respond in court are not represented by an attorney, debt collectors almost always are. This is where community justice workers come in. Legal Link’s Debt Justice Program, in partnership with OneJustice, seeks to develop a concise curriculum to train community justice workers on critical, timely, and UPL-safe debt collection interventions. We believe that community justice worker engagement could begin to fill the tremendous need for consumer advocacy and turn the tides of the bleak state of consumer debt collection as it stands today. Our goal is for attendees to consider the powerful impact of community justice workers in bridging the access to justice gap – not only in the consumer debt space but also in other critical places of need.
