6 coerced-debt bills became law in 2025 and 2026, in Illinois, Nevada, New York and Vermont. New York’s count includes a 2026 chapter amendment to its 2025 law. We found 18 bills on coerced debt in 12 states in 2025–26 sessions.
Coerced debt is debt taken out in a person’s name through abuse, threats, fraud or other coercion, often by a partner or family member. The laws below let the person contest the debt, for example by sending the creditor a statement, raising it as a defense in a collection suit, or disputing it on a credit report. They define coerced debt and set proof rules differently.
Coerced-debt laws enacted in 2025–26
| Jurisdiction | Bill | Status | Last action | What it does (our summary) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | HB3352 | Enacted | 2025-08-15 | Amends the Collection Agency Act. A debtor is not liable for coerced debt and can give a collection agency a Statement of Coerced Debt; sets duties for the agency once it gets one. Public Act 104-0297, effective Jan. 1, 2026. |
| Illinois | HB4659 | Enacted | 2026-07-10 | Amends the Consumer Installment Loan Act. In a suit or arbitration to collect a covered loan, coerced debt is an affirmative defense, and the party collecting must disprove it. Public Act 104-0556, effective Jan. 1, 2027. |
| Nevada | AB250 | Enacted | 2025-06-03 | Makes coerced debt an affirmative defense in some suits to collect unsecured consumer debt, and sets what a court must do if it finds a debt was coerced. Chapter 240 of 2025. |
| New York | S01353 | Enacted | 2025-12-19 | Bars creditors from enforcing consumer debt incurred through fraud, duress, threats, identity theft or similar economic abuse. A debtor can give notice of coerced debt; a creditor that reports to credit bureaus must tell them the account is disputed. Chapter 710 of 2025. |
| New York | S08830 | Enacted | 2026-03-18 | Chapter amendment to the 2025 law. Rewrites the coerced-debt article, adds a right of action against the person who caused the debt, and adds attorney general enforcement. Chapter 90 of 2026. |
| Vermont | H0385 | Enacted | 2026-05-21 | Bars causing another person to incur coerced debt. Sets steps a creditor must take after a sworn statement of coerced debt, says the debtor is not liable for it, and adds a credit report dispute process. Act 106 of 2026. |
Other enacted bills that touch coerced debt
| Jurisdiction | Bill | Status | Last action | What it does (our summary) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | HB07255 | Enacted | 2025-06-24 | Broad court-operations act. Amends definitions in Connecticut's existing coerced credit card debt law (Gen. Stat. 36a-649). Public Act 25-91. |
| Illinois | SB3731 | Enacted | 2026-08-21 | Revisory act that combines versions of sections changed by more than one public act, including the coerced-debt terms in the Collection Agency Act. Public Act 104-0852. |
| Minnesota | HF9 | Enacted | 2025-06-14 | Tax bill. Makes coerced debt discharged by a court under Minnesota's coerced debt law (section 332.74) a state income tax subtraction. Chapter 13, 2025 First Special Session. |
| Vermont | H0137 | Enacted | 2025-05-20 | Insurance regulation act. Section 18 directs the Commissioner of Financial Regulation to study protections for victims of coerced debt and report back. |
Other bills, 2025–26
Status and last action are as LegiScan records them. Bills still listed as "Introduced" in sessions that have ended did not pass.
| Jurisdiction | Bill | Status | Last action | What it does (our summary) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | AB909 | Failed | 2026-02-02: From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. | Would expand California's existing coerced-debt definitions to cover financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult, among other changes. |
| Colorado | HB1194 | Introduced | 2025-05-13: House Committee on Appropriations Lay Over Unamended – Amendment(s) Failed | Would add protections for victims of economic abuse, including coerced debt. |
| Illinois | SB2283 | Introduced | 2025-05-09: Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments | Senate version of HB3352, which became law. |
| Kansas | HB2754 | Introduced | 2026-02-12: House Hearing: Thursday, February 12, 2026, 3:30 PM Room 582-N | Would create a civil relief from coerced debt act for debts tied to domestic violence. |
| Maryland | HB1198 | Introduced | 2026-03-11: Hearing 3/11 at 2:00 p.m. | Would let a debtor ask a creditor to stop collecting a coerced debt, sue the creditor or the person who caused it, and use coerced debt as a defense. |
| New Jersey | A4651 | Introduced | 2026-03-10: Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee | Would relieve a person from coerced debt and make the person who caused it liable. |
| New Mexico | HB313 | Introduced | 2026-02-04: Action Postponed Indefinitely | Civil Relief From Coerced Debt Act. |
| New York | A03038 | Introduced | 2025-06-11: substituted by s1353b | Assembly version of S01353, which became law. |
| New York | A09460 | Introduced | 2026-03-10: substituted by s8830 | Assembly version of S08830, which became law. |
| North Carolina | H515 | Passed one chamber | 2025-05-07: Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate | Economic Abuse Prevention Act, including coerced debt protections. |
| North Carolina | S650 | Introduced | 2025-03-26: Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate | Coerced Debt Relief Act. |
| Pennsylvania | HB2344 | Introduced | 2026-09-08: Laid on the table | Would add protections against coerced debt and give duties to the state court administrator. |
How we built this list
We searched the full text of all 2025 and 2026 bills in LegiScan for the phrase "coerced debt", which returned 30 bill records. We read each bill’s latest text and history. We kept bills about coerced debt itself and listed enacted bills that touch it in a smaller way separately. We dropped seven Minnesota tax bills that carried the same tax provision as HF9 but did not pass, and a New York housing bill that mentions coerced debt only in its findings. Companion bills are listed separately. The summaries are ours and are short; read the bill text before relying on one.
Laws passed before 2025 are not listed. Some bills above amend or refer to earlier laws, including California’s (Civil Code section 1798.97.1), Connecticut’s (General Statutes section 36a-649) and Minnesota’s (section 332.74). Other states may also have earlier laws that this search would not find.
Source
Bill status, history and texts: LegiScan, data from LegiScan LLC licensed under CC BY 4.0, retrieved through the LegiScan API on October 18, 2026. We selected bills and wrote the summaries. This is not legal advice. Our table is available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Coerced Debt Laws and Bills by State, 2025-26," My Credit Guide, October 18, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/coerced-debt-laws/.