[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6332 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6332
To suspend payments on certain consumer loans during the COVID-19
emergency, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2020
Mrs. Beatty introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To suspend payments on certain consumer loans during the COVID-19
emergency, 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 ``Relief for Consumers During COVID-19
Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF OTHER CONSUMER LOAN PAYMENTS.
(a) In General.--During the COVID-19 emergency, a debt collector
may not, with respect to a debt of a consumer (other than debt related
to a federally related mortgage loan)--
(1) capitalize unpaid interest;
(2) apply a higher interest rate triggered by the
nonpayment of a debt to the debt balance;
(3) charge a fee triggered by the nonpayment of a debt;
(4) sue or threaten to sue for nonpayment of a debt;
(5) continue litigation to collect a debt that was
initiated before the date of enactment of this section;
(6) submit or cause to be submitted a confession of
judgment to any court;
(7) enforce a security interest through repossession,
limitation of use, or foreclosure;
(8) take or threaten to take any action to enforce
collection, or any adverse action for nonpayment of a debt, or
for nonappearance at any hearing relating to a debt;
(9) commence or continue any action to cause or to seek to
cause the collection of a debt, including pursuant to a court
order issued before the end of the 120-day period following the
end of the COVID-19 emergency, from wages, Federal benefits, or
other amounts due to a consumer by way of garnishment,
deduction, offset, or other seizure;
(10) cause or seek to cause the collection of a debt,
including pursuant to a court order issued before the end of
the 120-day period following the end of the COVID-19 emergency,
by levying on funds from a bank account or seizing any other
assets of a consumer;
(11) commence or continue an action to evict a consumer
from real or personal property; or
(12) disconnect or terminate service from utility service,
including electricity, natural gas, telecommunications or
broadband, water, or sewer.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed
to prohibit a consumer from voluntarily paying, in whole or in part, a
debt.
(c) Repayment Period.--After the expiration of the COVID-19
emergency, with respect to a debt described under subsection (a), a
debt collector--
(1) may not add to the debt balance any interest or fee
prohibited by subsection (a);
(2) shall, for credit with a defined term or payment
period, extend the time period to repay the debt balance by 1
payment period for each payment that a consumer missed during
the COVID-19 emergency, with the payments due in the same
amounts and at the same intervals as the pre-existing payment
schedule;
(3) shall, for an open end credit plan (as defined under
section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act) or other credit
without a defined term, allow the consumer to repay the debt
balance in a manner that does not exceed the amounts permitted
by formulas under section 170(c) of the Truth in Lending Act
and regulations promulgated thereunder; and
(4) shall, when the consumer notifies the debt collector,
offer reasonable and affordable repayment plans, loan
modifications, refinancing, options with a reasonable time in
which to repay the debt.
(d) Communications in Connection With the Collection of a Debt.--
(1) In general.--During the COVID-19 emergency, without
prior consent of a consumer given directly to a debt collector
during the COVID-19 emergency, or the express permission of a
court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may only
communicate in writing in connection with the collection of any
debt (other than debt related to a federally related mortgage
loan).
(2) Required disclosures.--
(A) In general.--All written communications
described under paragraph (1) shall inform the consumer
that the communication is for informational purposes
and is not an attempt to collect a debt.
(B) Requirements.--The disclosure required under
subparagraph (A) shall be made--
(i) in type or lettering not smaller than
14-point bold type;
(ii) separate from any other disclosure;
(iii) in a manner designed to ensure that
the recipient sees the disclosure clearly;
(iv) in English and Spanish and in any
additional languages in which the debt
collector communicates, including the language
in which the loan was negotiated, to the extent
known by the debt collector; and
(v) may be provided by first-class mail or
electronically, if the borrower has otherwise
consented to electronic communication with the
debt collector and has not revoked such
consent.
(C) Oral notification.--Any oral notification shall
be provided in the language the debt collector
otherwise uses to communicate with the borrower.
(D) Written translations.--In providing written
notifications in languages other than English in this
section, a debt collector may rely on written
translations developed by the Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection.
(e) Violations.--
(1) In general.--Any person who violates this section
shall--
(A) except as provided under subparagraph (B), be
subject to civil liability in accordance with section
813 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as if
the person is a debt collector for purposes of that
section; and
(B) be liable to the consumer for an amount 10
times the amounts described in such section 813.
(2) Predispute arbitration agreements.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, no predispute arbitration agreement or
predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable
with respect to a dispute brought under this section, including
a dispute as to the applicability of this section, which shall
be determined under Federal law.
(f) Tolling.--Except as provided in subsection (g)(5), any
applicable time limitations, including statutes of limitations, related
to a debt under Federal or State law shall be tolled during the COVID-
19 emergency.
(g) Claims of Affected Creditors and Debt Collectors.--
(1) Valuation of property.--With respect to any action
asserting a taking under the Fifth Amendment of the
Constitution of the United States as a result of this section
or seeking a declaratory judgment regarding the
constitutionality of this section, the value of the property
alleged to have been taken without just compensation shall be
evaluated--
(A) with consideration of the likelihood of full
and timely payment of the obligation without the
actions taken pursuant to this section; and
(B) without consideration of any assistance
provided directly or indirectly to the consumer from
other Federal, State, and local government programs
instituted or legislation enacted in response to the
COVID-19 emergency.
(2) Scope of just compensation.--In an action described in
paragraph (1), any assistance or benefit provided directly or
indirectly to the person from other Federal, State, and local
government programs instituted in or legislation enacted
response to the COVID-19 emergency, shall be deemed to be
compensation for the property taken, even if such assistance or
benefit is not specifically provided as compensation for
property taken by this section.
(3) Appeals.--Any appeal from an action under this section
shall be treated under section 158 of title 28, United States
Code, as if it were an appeal in a case under title 11, United
States Code.
(4) Repose.--Any action asserting a taking under the Fifth
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as a result
of this section shall be brought within not later than 180 days
after the end of the COVID-19 emergency.
(5) Severability.--If any provision of this section or the
application of such provision to any person or circumstance is
held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this
section and the application of the provisions of this section
to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Consumer.--The term ``consumer'' means any individual
obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt.
(2) COVID-19 emergency.--The term ``COVID-19 emergency''
means the period that begins upon the date of the enactment of
this Act and ends on the date of the termination by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency of the emergency declared on March
13, 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et
seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic.
(3) Creditor.--The term ``creditor'' means--
(A) any person who offers or extends credit
creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed or other
obligation for payment;
(B) any lessor of real or personal property; or
(C) any provider of utility services.
(4) Debt.--The term ``debt''--
(A) means any past due obligation or alleged past
due obligation that--
(i) was created before the COVID-19
emergency, whether or not such obligation has
been reduced to judgment; and
(ii) arises out of a transaction with a
consumer in which the money, property,
insurance or services which are the subject of
the transaction, are primarily for personal,
family, or household purposes; and
(B) does not include a federally related mortgage
loan.
(5) Debt collector.--The term ``debt collector'' means a
creditor, and any person or entity that engages in the
collection of debt, including the Federal Government and a
State government, irrespective of whether the debt is allegedly
owed to or assigned to that person or to the entity.
(6) Federally related mortgage loan.--The term ``federally
related mortgage loan'' has the meaning given that term under
section 3 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974
(12 U.S.C. 2602).
SEC. 3. CREDIT FACILITY FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
(a) Establishment.--The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System shall establish a facility that the Board of Governors shall use
to make payments to covered financial institutions to compensate such
institutions for documented financial losses caused by the suspension
of payments required under section 2.
(b) Covered Financial Institution Defined.--In this section, the
term ``covered financial institution'' means the holder of a loan
described under section 2.
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