Surviving Debt

Surviving Debt: Expert Advice for Getting Out of Financial Trouble is National Consumer Law Center's bestselling guide for consumers. A leading resource for over 30 years, and recently named "the best all around guide to navigating debt" by Business Insider, this updated 2025 edition of Surviving Debt provides precise, practical, and hard-hitting advice from the nation’s consumer law experts on how to deal with crushing debt affecting millions of Americans. 

Surviving Debt tells you what consumers need to know about:

• Medical debt
• Credit card debt
• Student loans and student loan cancellation
• Car repossessions
• Evictions, rental debt & getting out of a lease
• Mortgage modifications & avoiding foreclosure
• Property tax collections
• Utility shut-offs
• Income tax collections
• Stopping debt collection
• Your credit report
• Collection lawsuits
• Reverse mortgages
• Wage garnishment & bank account seizures
• Debts involving an abusive partner
• Reducing expenses and increasing income
• Criminal justice debt
• Whether and when to file bankruptcy
• The bankruptcy process & more.