IRVINE, CA—A group of organizations working to help survivors of human trafficking today on World Day Against Trafficking announced an innovative initiative called the “DBRA Legal Clinic Project,” which is aimed at protecting the financial wellness of trafficking survivors. A 2023 Polaris Survivor Survey found that over 60% of survivor respondents reported experiencing financial abuse by their trafficker. The initiative empowers survivors to repair their credit histories and scores, in part, by blocking adverse information from their credit reports.

The initiative was announced by The Orange County Human Trafficking Project (OCHTP), in close collaboration with ALIGHT (Alliance to Lead Impact in Global Human Trafficking). OCHTP announced the initiative following its second ever clinic for 24 human trafficking survivors, which was sponsored by Rutan & Tucker, LLP (Rutan), and Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP (RSHC). The clinic focused on helping victims with credit repair under the federal Debt Bondage Repair Act (DBRA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Regulation V (Prohibition on Inclusion of Adverse Information in Consumer Reporting in Cases of Human Trafficking).

The DBRA and Regulation V, which became effective in July 2022, mandate that Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs) block information from consumers’ credit reports that resulted from human trafficking. In doing so, the DBRA established a new federal legal remedy that enables survivors to improve their credit score, which directly affects their rent and utility payments, loan and insurance rates, and more. A stronger credit score also strengthens relationships with creditors, employers, and landlords.

Through this national model, survivors from at least 12 different states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and others, as well as one survivor participating from overseas, received critical credit repair assistance in a virtual, four-hour legal clinic. Eligible survivors were screened by ALIGHT over a period of weeks prior to the clinic for eligibility. Volunteer attorneys, summer associates, paralegals, and legal secretaries from Rutan and RSHC, as well as in-house counsel, received training from attorney Sarah Byrne of Moore & Van Allen PLLC, whose practice focuses on financial inclusion and legal needs of human trafficking survivors, before moving to provide individual direct assistance to participating survivors.