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Consumer advocates and legal experts warn HB 534 would remove fee caps and expose Ohioans to higher costs
Summary
Opponents of House Bill 534 told the committee the bill would eliminate Ohio’s existing fee cap on debt-settlement companies, risk exempting those firms from the state consumer-sales-practices law and shift oversight away from the attorney general — measures they said would harm vulnerable consumers.
Several witnesses urged rejection of House Bill 534, arguing the bill would remove a state cap on fees charged by debt-settlement companies and increase risks for financially vulnerable Ohioans.
Mark Dan, introduced to the committee as representing the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, said HB 534 would eliminate Ohio’s current fee cap (8.5% of any debt settled) and replace it with a regime that lacks a ceiling on fees. “Eliminating the fee cap would hurt both borrowers and lenders because it would…
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