[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6423 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6423
To provide for a temporary debt collection moratorium during the COVID-
19 emergency period, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 31, 2020
Mr. Lawson of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for a temporary debt collection moratorium during the COVID-
19 emergency period, 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. DEBT COLLECTION.
(a) Temporary Debt Collection Moratorium During the COVID-19
Emergency Period.--
(1) In general.--The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15
U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 812
the following:
``Sec. 812A. Temporary debt collection moratorium during the COVID-19
emergency period
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Consumer.--The term `consumer' means any natural
person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt.
``(2) COVID-19 emergency period.--The term `COVID-19
emergency period' means the period that begins upon the date of
the enactment of this Act and ends upon the date of the
termination by the Federal Emergency Management Administration
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 any person who
offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is
owed or other obligation of payment.
``(4) Debt.--The term `debt'--
``(A) means any past due obligation or alleged
obligation of a consumer, non-profit organization, or
small business to pay money--
``(i) arising out of a transaction in which
the money, property, insurance, or services
which are the subject of the transaction are
primarily for personal, family, business, non-
profit, or household purposes, whether or not
such obligation has been reduced to judgment;
and
``(ii) owed to a local, State, or Federal
government; and
``(B) does not include federally related mortgages
(as defined under section 3 of the Real Estate
Settlement Procedures Act of 1974) unless a deficiency
judgment has been made with respect to such federally
related mortgage.
``(5) Debt collector.--The term `debt collector' includes a
creditor and any person or entity that engages in the
collection of debt (including the Federal Government or a State
government) whether or not the debt is allegedly owed to or
assigned to that person or entity.
``(6) Depository institution.--The term `depository
institution'--
``(A) has the meaning given that term under section
3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; and
``(B) means a Federal or State credit union (as
such terms are defined, respectively, under section 101
of the Federal Credit Union Act).
``(7) Non-profit organization.--The term `non-profit
organization' means an organization described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from
taxation under subsection (a) of such section.
``(8) Small business.--The term `small business' has the
meaning given the term `small business concern' under section 3
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
``(b) Prohibitions.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
during COVID-19 emergency period and the 120-day period immediately
following, a debt collector is prohibited from--
``(1) capitalizing or adding extra interest or fees
triggered by the non-payment of an obligation by a consumer,
small business, or non-profit organization to the balance of an
account;
``(2) suing or threatening to sue a consumer, small
business, or non-profit for a past-due debt;
``(3) continuing litigation initiated before the date of
enactment of this section to collect a debt from a consumer,
small business, or non-profit organization;
``(4) enforcing a security interest, including through
repossession or foreclosure, against a consumer, small
business, or non-profit organization;
``(5) reporting a past due debt of a consumer, small
business, or non-profit organization to a consumer reporting
agency;
``(6) taking or threatening to take any action to enforce
collection, or any adverse action against a consumer, small
business, or non-profit organization for non-payment or for
non-appearance at any hearings related to a debt;
``(7) except with respect to enforcing an order for child
support or spousal support, initiating or continuing any action
to cause or to seek to cause the collection of a debt from
wages, Federal benefits, or other amounts due to a consumer,
small business, or non-profit organization, by way of
garnishment, deduction, offset, or other seizure, or to cause
or seek to cause the collection of a debt by seizing funds from
a bank account or any other assets held by such consumer, small
business, or non-profit organization;
``(8) in the case of action or collection described under
paragraph (7) that was initiated prior to the beginning of the
date of such disaster or emergency, failing to suspend the
action or collection until 120 days after the end of the COVID-
19 emergency period;
``(9) upon the termination of the incident period for such
disaster or emergency, failing to extend the time period to pay
an obligation by one payment period for each payment that a
consumer, small business, or non-profit organization missed
during the incident period, with the payments due in the same
amounts and at the same intervals as the pre-existing payment
schedule of the consumer, small business, or non-profit
organization (as applicable) or, if the debt has no payment
periods, allow the consumer, small business, or non-profit a
reasonable time in which to repay the debt in affordable
payments;
``(10) disconnecting a consumer, small business, or non-
profit organization from a utility prepaid or post-paid
electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, broadband, water,
or sewer service; or
``(11) exercising a right to set off provision contained in
any consumer, small business, or non-profit organization
account agreement with a depository institution.
``(c) Violation.--Any person who violates a provision of this
section shall--
``(1) be treated as a debt collector for purposes of
section 813; and
``(2) be liable to the consumer, small business, or non-
profit organization an amount equal to 10 times the damages
allowed under section 813 for each such violation.''.
(2) Table of contents amendment.--The table of contents at
the beginning of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15
U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 812 the following new item:
``812A. Temporary debt collection moratorium during the COVID-19
emergency period.''.
(b) Confessions of Judgment Prohibition.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15
U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended--
(A) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 140B. Confessions of judgment prohibition
``(a) In General.--During a period described under section 812A(b)
of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, no person may directly or
indirectly take or receive from another person or seek to enforce an
obligation that constitutes or contains a cognovit or confession of
judgment (for purposes other than executory process in the State of
Louisiana), warrant of attorney, or other waiver of the right to notice
and the opportunity to be heard in the event of suit or process
thereon.
``(b) Exemption.--The exemption in section 104(1) shall not apply
to this section.
``(c) Debt Defined.--In this section, the term `debt' means any
obligation of a person to pay to another person money--
``(1) regardless of whether the obligation is absolute or
contingent, if the understanding between the parties is that
any part of the money shall be or may be returned;
``(2) that includes the right of the person providing the
money to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if the
breach gives rise to a right to payment; and
``(3) regardless of whether the obligation or right to an
equitable remedy described in paragraph (2) has been reduced to
judgment or is fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed,
undisputed, secured, or unsecured.''; and
(B) in the table of contents for such chapter, by
adding at the end the following:
``140B. Confessions of judgment prohibition.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Section 130(a) of the Truth in
Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1640(a)) is amended by adding at the end
the following: ``For purposes of this section, the term
`creditor' refers to any person charged with compliance.''.
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