When the debt settlement industry grew exponentially in size and scope in the 1990s, there were few laws at either the state or the federal level that governed the practices of the firms in the industry. However, as the prevalence of the debt settlement industry increased and the number of consumer complaints about debt management firms began to skyrocket, many states and federal agencies began to take a closer look at the debt settlement industry. On the state level, this resulted in fraud investigations, reform efforts, and new legislation designed to reign in the debt settlement industry. In a number of states, new laws forbade the practice of for-profit debt settlement. At the federal level, a number of investigations were undertaken to research the practices of the debt settlement industry. By 2009, more than 20 states had enacted different variations of the Uniform Debt-Management Services Act, which is sometimes referred to informally as the debt settlement act.