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Protecting survivors’ financial autonomy, credit, and economic security.
Coerced Debt is a research and policy initiative of the North Carolina Center for Women’s Justice (NCCWJ) examining how economic abuse affects survivors’ financial stability, legal rights, and opportunities for long-term independence.
The initiative focuses on debt incurred through threats, intimidation, manipulation, fraud, or other forms of coercion within abusive relationships. It examines the legal and financial barriers survivors face when attempting to dispute debt, repair damaged credit, and regain financial control.
Through NCCWJ’s integrated justice model, Coerced Debt connects legal and policy research with public education and advocacy to advance economic security, financial autonomy, and equitable access to justice.
Coerced debt occurs when a person incurs debt without freely giving meaningful consent because of abuse, intimidation, fraud, or coercive control. It is a form of economic abuse that can continue to affect survivors long after an abusive relationship ends.
Coerced debt may involve credit cards opened without permission, loans obtained through threats, forced purchases, unauthorized use of existing accounts, or financial obligations incurred under intimidation or manipulation.
Coerced debt is not always the same as identity theft. Some survivors discover accounts opened without their knowledge. Others may have signed financial documents or participated in transactions because refusing would have exposed them to threats, violence, or other consequences.
The resulting financial obligations can damage credit histories, increase collection activity, restrict access to housing and transportation, and interfere with employment opportunities and financial independence. Survivors may remain legally responsible for disputed obligations even when the circumstances surrounding those debts involved abuse.
Existing legal remedies do not always account adequately for the difference between freely accepted financial obligations and debts incurred through coercion. Effective reforms must therefore consider survivor safety, meaningful consent, creditor responsibilities, procedural fairness, and financial recovery.
NCCWJ examines potential reforms in five areas.
1. Accessible Coerced Debt Relief
Examine legal pathways that would allow survivors to challenge financial obligations incurred through threats, intimidation, fraud, or coercion without creating additional barriers to safety or justice.
2. Credit Reporting & Financial Recovery
Evaluate how coerced debt affects credit histories, access to housing, employment, transportation, and financial services. Consider policies that support the correction of inaccurate credit information and recovery from economic abuse.
3. Fair Evidentiary Standards
Examine documentation requirements for establishing coerced debt, including the roles of court records, financial documents, professional certifications, and other reliable evidence. Consider standards that recognize the challenges survivors face when documenting abuse.
4. Due Process & Creditor Accountability
Consider procedures that provide meaningful opportunities to dispute coerced debt while protecting the rights of survivors, creditors, and other affected parties. Evaluate appropriate review processes, notice requirements, judicial oversight, and safeguards against misuse.
5. Equitable Access & Survivor Safety
Examine how legal procedures and financial recovery resources can be made more accessible, particularly for low-income survivors, rural residents, survivors with dependent children, and individuals facing overlapping barriers to justice.
These priorities guide NCCWJ’s continuing research and development of evidence-based policy recommendations.
Current North Carolina Law
North Carolina provides protections against certain forms of identity theft and unlawful debt collection. However, these protections do not necessarily provide a comprehensive remedy for every debt incurred through coercion within an abusive relationship.
Under N.C.G.S. § 14-113.20, identity theft includes specified fraudulent uses of another person’s identifying information. North Carolina’s debt collection laws also prohibit certain unfair, threatening, and deceptive collection practices.
Federal consumer protection laws provide procedures for disputing inaccurate credit reporting and addressing certain unauthorized transactions. However, these protections do not automatically eliminate every financial obligation incurred under pressure, intimidation, or coercion.
House Bill 515 — North Carolina Economic Abuse Prevention Act
Introduced in March 2025, House Bill 515 proposes establishing civil remedies for certain coerced debts. The legislation would create procedures for identifying and disputing eligible debts, require creditor review under specified circumstances, and authorize judicial relief when a debt is established as coerced.
The proposal also addresses credit reporting, collection activity, documentation requirements, and the legal responsibilities of individuals who cause coerced debt. Its protections would be subject to statutory eligibility requirements and exclusions.
Senate Bill 650 — Coerced Debt Relief Act
Also introduced in March 2025, Senate Bill 650 proposes civil relief for eligible individuals whose debts were incurred through coercion, intimidation, force, or undue influence.
The legislation addresses documentation, creditor notification, debt collection procedures, and judicial remedies. It also includes provisions intended to balance relief from coerced debt with the rights of creditors and other affected parties.
Federal Consumer Protection Developments
In December 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau initiated an advance notice of proposed rulemaking concerning identity theft and coerced debt under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The initiative sought information about whether federal credit reporting protections should better address transactions occurring without a consumer’s effective consent, including obligations incurred through economic abuse.
These federal discussions concern potential regulatory changes and should not be confused with existing automatic protections against all forms of coerced debt.
Review House Bill 515 and Senate Bill 650 and follow their status through the North Carolina General Assembly. Learn how proposed reforms could affect coerced debt liability, creditor responsibilities, and survivor protections.
North Carolina residents can identify their state House representative and senator through the General Assembly’s Find Your Legislators tool. Share perspectives on economic abuse, coerced debt relief, financial recovery, and consumer protections.
Researchers, attorneys, universities, domestic violence organizations, financial professionals, consumer advocates, and other practitioners can contribute research, legal analysis, data, or policy expertise to NCCWJ’s continuing examination of coerced debt and economic abuse.
Survivors, attorneys, advocates, social workers, financial counselors, service providers, and others with relevant experience can contribute information about how coerced debt, credit reporting, collection practices, and financial recovery operate in practice.
NCCWJ may use voluntarily submitted information to identify recurring barriers, develop research questions, inform policy analysis, and improve public understanding.
Please do not include names, account numbers, identifying case information, or sensitive personal details in an initial submission. Participation is voluntary, and information will not be publicly attributed or quoted without affirmative consent.
Individuals affected by coerced debt can access information about consumer rights, identity theft, credit reporting disputes, debt collection, and available legal assistance.
Legal Aid of North Carolina provides information and application procedures for eligible individuals seeking civil legal assistance. Federal and state consumer protection agencies also provide resources for addressing credit reporting and financial disputes.
As of October 9, 2026, neither House Bill 515 nor Senate Bill 650 has become law.
House Bill 515 passed the North Carolina House of Representatives on May 7, 2025, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate.
Senate Bill 650 was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate on March 26, 2025. The General Assembly’s legislative record does not show further advancement.
North Carolina’s Commission for Women also identified coerced debt relief as a legislative priority in its 2025–2026 legislative agenda, supporting legal avenues for survivors of economic abuse to challenge liability for debts incurred through coercion.
NCCWJ continues examining the policy differences between these proposals and their implications for survivor safety, financial recovery, creditor accountability, and procedural fairness.
Coerced Debt is a research, public education, and policy advocacy initiative of the North Carolina Center for Women’s Justice (NCCWJ). NCCWJ does not provide individualized legal advice, legal representation, debt settlement services, or financial counseling through this initiative.
Visitors should not submit confidential financial records, credit account numbers, Social Security numbers, identifying case records, or detailed personal accounts through general website contact forms.
Legal and regulatory information last reviewed: October 9, 2026.
The legal summary is supported by the North Carolina General Assembly’s legislative records for HB 515 and SB 650, applicable North Carolina consumer protection statutes, and publicly available federal consumer protection guidance.
The initiative examines legal and financial barriers associated with coerced debt and evaluates potential reforms intended to strengthen survivor protections, support financial autonomy, and preserve appropriate procedural safeguards.
Individuals seeking assistance with a specific debt should consult qualified legal or consumer protection professionals. Available legal options depend on the circumstances of the debt and applicable law.
The legal descriptions above reflect the official bill texts, North Carolina statutes, and federal guidance. The 2025 House version of HB 515 has important exclusions, including secured debt and some existing judgments; the draft deliberately does not suggest that every type of debt would qualify for relief.
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