[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3948 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 542
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3948
[Report No. 116-658]
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to extend the
provisions of that Act to cover a debt collector who is collecting debt
owed to a State or local government, to index award amounts under such
Act for inflation, to provide for civil injunctive relief for
violations of such Act, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 24, 2019
Mr. Meeks introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
December 16, 2020
Additional sponsors: Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Cleaver, and
Mr. David Scott of Georgia
December 16, 2020
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July
24, 2019]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to extend the
provisions of that Act to cover a debt collector who is collecting debt
owed to a State or local government, to index award amounts under such
Act for inflation, to provide for civil injunctive relief for
violations of such Act, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Debt Collection Practices
Harmonization Act''.
SEC. 2. PREVENTING DECEPTIVE AND HARASSING PRACTICES WHEN COLLECTING
DEBT OWED TO A STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Section 803(5) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C.
1692a(5)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``money arising out'' and inserting the
following: ``money--
``(A) arising out'';
(2) by striking ``judgment.'' and inserting ``judgment;
or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) owed to a State.''.
SEC. 3. AWARD OF DAMAGES.
(a) Additional Damages Indexed for Inflation.--
(1) In general.--Section 813 of the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(f) Adjustment for Inflation.--
``(1) Initial adjustment.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this subsection, the Bureau shall
provide a percentage increase (rounded to the nearest multiple
of $100 or $1,000, as applicable) in the amounts set forth in
this section equal to the percentage by which--
``(A) the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (all items, United States city average) for
the 12-month period ending on the June 30 preceding the
date on which the percentage increase is provided,
exceeds
``(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12-month
period preceding January 1, 1978.
``(2) Annual adjustments.--With respect to any fiscal year
beginning after the date of the increase provided under
paragraph (1), the Bureau shall provide a percentage increase
(rounded to the nearest multiple of $100 or $1,000, as
applicable) in the amounts set forth in this section equal to
the percentage by which--
``(A) the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (all items, United States city average) for
the 12-month period ending on the June 30 preceding the
beginning of the fiscal year for which the increase is
made, exceeds
``(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12-month
period preceding the 12-month period described in
subparagraph (A).''.
(2) Applicability.--The increases made under section 813(f)
of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by
paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall apply with respect to
failures to comply with a provision of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1601
et seq.) occurring on or after the date of enactment of this
Act.
(b) Injunctive Relief.--Section 813(d) of the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(d)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``In a civil action alleging a violation of this title, the
court may award appropriate relief, including injunctive relief.''.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE REFERRAL OF EMERGENCY INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE
DEBT.
Chapter 3 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subchapter II, by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 334. Prohibition on the referral of emergency individual
assistance debt
``With respect to any assistance provided by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to an individual or household pursuant to the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5122 et seq.), if the Secretary of the Treasury seeks to recoup any
amount of such assistance because of an overpayment, the Secretary may
not contract with any debt collector or other private party to collect
such amounts, unless the overpayment occurred because of fraud or
deceit and the recipient of such assistance knew or should have known
about such fraud or deceit.''; and
(2) in the table of contents for such chapter, by inserting
after the item relating to section 333 the following:
``334. Prohibition on the referral of emergency individual assistance
debt.''.
Union Calendar No. 542
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3948
[Report No. 116-658]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to extend the
provisions of that Act to cover a debt collector who is collecting debt
owed to a State or local government, to index award amounts under such
Act for inflation, to provide for civil injunctive relief for
violations of such Act, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
December 16, 2020
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed