The National Consumer Law Center Digital Library can help you Know Your Rights

Eviction, Foreclosure, Repossession, Utility Shut Off, Student Loans, Bankruptcy: 

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
As the pandemic grinds on, many of the protections against eviction, foreclosure, and utility shut off are coming to an end.  Often when faced with these situations, consumers struggle to understand their rights, responsibilities, and options.  Luckily, the New Jersey State Library has a powerful tool—The National Consumer Law Center Digital Library–that can help people to understand these complex issues. The database is available to anyone on-site and to NJ State Employees remotely using your NJ State Library (NJSL) card.

The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) is a non-profit organization with expertise in consumer law.  They are dedicated to “work for consumer justice and economic security for low-income and other disadvantaged people in the United States”.  The NCLC Digital Library is a database of clear, easily understood articles on a variety of consumer law topics including Debtor Rights, Mortgages & Foreclosures, Credit & Banking, Deception & Warranties, and Consumer Litigation.

These articles introduce the topic, provide instruction on how to use the treatise, and then present an in-depth discussion of the topic and related issues.  Each treatise contains a clear table-of-contents so you can easily find the section that best meets your needs.  All sections contain active links to help you find more information or move to a related area.

For example, when a vehicle is repossessed, what happens to the personal property that was in the vehicle?  The Repossessions treatise, Chapter 7 “Unsecured Personal Property Taken During Repossession” will help you to understand what to do and how to retrieve your property.

Looking to prevent repossession?  Chapter 8 discusses the use of bankruptcy to prevent repossession.  Lease your vehicle?  Chapter 14 covers vehicle leases of all types, including Rent to Own.

Every topic is followed by links for Companion Materials such as Pleadings & Discovery, Practice Tools, and Primary Sources.

In addition to discussion of many topics, there is an excellent eBook available called “Surviving Debt, Expert Advice for Getting Out of Financial Trouble”.  The resource covers all types of debt including medical debts, education loans, criminal justice debt, and credit cards.  Topics include borrowing to pay off debt, responding to debt collectors, and “choices to avoid at all costs”.  This book is fully updated for 2021 and, as with all the offerings, there are links throughout the book that help you get to the topics you are specifically interested in quickly.

If your focus is on COVID specific information, simply place the word COVID in the search box at the top of the page in the blue banner toward the right side of the screen and hit enter.  This information is continuously updated as things change at both the Federal and state level.  When reviewing COVID related information regularly, you can easily screen for new content by using the navigation tools on the far left of the page.

Finally, using the Home button (located at the top of the page in the blue banner just to the right of the database name), you will see blurbs on the latest updates and information available and a Quick Start Guide to help you navigate the database.  There is also a section containing tips on searching the database.  In addition, we offer a number of NCLC published companion volumes in print which can be checked out using your NJSL Library Card.  Our staff Librarians will be happy to help you navigate this powerful database and find the companion books.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us via email at reflaw@njstatelib.org