Credit Repair for Survivors of Human Trafficking
NCCASA now provides a new service that helps survivors with one of the steps to repair their credit. As part of the Debt Bondage Repair Act, survivors can remove adverse information from their credit report that is related to events that took place during and after their human trafficking experience. Poor credit bars survivors from things like housing, employment, or car purchases.
Survivors of human trafficking can have specific information blocked from their credit reports. Some examples provided by Polaris Project include: “prior evictions, late rental payments, credit card or loan defaults, unpaid bills that went to a collection agency, criminal convictions that were the result of a trafficking experience, and bankruptcy filings.”
Survivors must provide the following information for eligibility:
1. Proof of identity
2. Victim Determination Documentation
3. A list of what needs to be blocked that was a result of a survivor’s trafficking experience
NCCASA is an NGO authorized by the NC Department of Justice that can provide a Victim Determination Document (VDD): a signed document stating/attesting a person is a victim of human trafficking, as it is defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000:
● Sex trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining,patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the personinduced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age (22 USC § 7102).
● Labor trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery, (22 USC §7102).
To request information about obtaining from NCCASA a signed Victim Determination Document for credit repair as specified under the Debt Bondage Relief Act, please email [email protected] or call 919-871-1015.
Dear Advocates,
It is with a heavy heart that we reach out to you during this challenging time. Our state has once again faced a natural disaster.
In response, NCCASA, NCCADV, and CFWYI are collaborating to support our programs and survivors in the west. We are currently gathering information from the programs on their needs, understanding that these will become clearer as time progresses. We are committed to providing assistance and are implementing disaster relief protocols, given our state’s experience with such events.
Some programs are able to continue operating their crisis calls, while others have forwarded their lines to neighboring programs that are able to assist.
In these difficult times, it’s essential that we listen and allow those affected to communicate their needs. As you can imagine, programs impacted by Helene are navigating relief efforts and meeting the needs of the survivors they serve and the needs of their own friends and families. As a result, we ask that if you are able to offer assistance, resources, or support please reach out to one of the Coalitions and we will facilitate the connections. This will ensure the impacted programs are not overwhelmed by calls and messages during this challenging time. The exceptions would be if you are a neighboring program who could reach them with resources or you have a personal relationship with a staff member at an impacted program.
To our colleagues in the west, know that we are here for you and will continue to offer support as needed. To our colleagues in the east, we will keep you updated on how you can contribute.
Thank you for your compassion and partnership,
CFWYI, NCCASA & NCCADV