IB 

Union Calendar No. 337 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5021 

[Report No. 116–418] 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and the Fair 

Debt Collection Practices Act to improve consumer protections relating 

to debt collection practices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2019 

Ms. PRESSLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

MARCH 19, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. 

OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. LYNCH, and Mr. FOSTER

MARCH 19, 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 November 8, 2019] 


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•HR 5021 RH

A BILL 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 

and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to improve 

consumer protections relating to debt collection practices, 

and for other purposes. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5021 RH

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Debt Collection 

5 Harassment Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS RELATING TO DEBT COL7 LECTION PRACTICES. 

8 (a) REPORTS ON DEBT COLLECTION COMPLAINTS AND

9 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 

10 (1) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 1016(c) of 

11 the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 

12 U.S.C. 5496(c)) is amended— 

13 (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

14 the end; 

15 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the period 

16 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(10) an analysis of the consumer complaints re19 ceived by the Bureau with respect to debt collection, 

20 including a State-by-State breakdown of such com21 plaints; and 

22 ‘‘(11) a list of enforcement actions taken against 

23 debt collectors during the preceding year.’’. 

24 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 815(a) of the 

25 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 


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•HR 5021 RH

1 1692m(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new sentence: ‘‘Each such report shall also in3 clude an analysis of the impact of electronic commu4 nications by debt collectors on consumer experiences 

5 with debt collection, including a consideration of con6 sumer complaints about the use of electronic commu7 nications in debt collection.’’. 

8 (b) LIMITATION ON DEBT COLLECTION RULES.—Sec9 tion 1022 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 

10 (12 U.S.C. 5512) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON DEBT COLLECTION RULES.—The 

13 Director may not issue any rule with respect to debt collec14 tion that allows a debt collector to send unlimited email 

15 and text messages to a consumer.’’. 

16 (c) PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS FROM UNLIMITED

17 TEXTS AND EMAILS USED IN DEBT COLLECTION.—Section 

18 806 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 

19 1692d) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(7) Contacting the consumer electronically, in22 cluding by email or text message, without consent of 

23 the consumer, after such consent has been withdrawn, 

24 or more frequently than the consumer consents to be 

25 contacted.’’. 


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•HR 5021 RH

1 (d) ENSURING CONSUMERS RECEIVE NOTICE OF DEBT

2 COLLECTION PROTECTIONS.—Section 809(a) of the Fair 

3 Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)) is 

4 amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking 

5 ‘‘Within five days’’ and all that follows through ‘‘debt,’’ and 

6 inserting the following: ‘‘NOTICE OF DEBT; CONTENTS.— 

7 Within five days after the initial communication with a 

8 consumer in connection with the collection of any debt,’’. 

9 (e) IMPROVED LIMITATIONS ON DEBT COLLECTION

10 RULES.—Section 814(d) of the Fair Debt Collection Prac11 tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692l(d)) is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following: ‘‘Such rules— 

13 ‘‘(1) may not allow a debt collector to send un14 limited electronic communications to a consumer; 

15 ‘‘(2) shall require debt collectors to obtain con16 sent directly from consumers before contacting them 

17 using a method other than by postal mail or by 

18 phone; 

19 ‘‘(3) may not waive the requirements of the Elec20 tronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce 

21 Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.); and 

22 ‘‘(4) shall allow consumers to opt out of any 

23 method of communication that the debt collector uses 

24 to communicate with consumers, including a method 

25 for which such consumer had given prior consent.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 337 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5021 

[Report No. 116–418] 

A BILL 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

debt collection practices, and for other purposes. Act to improve consumer protections relating to of 2010 and the Fair Debt Collection Practices 

MARCH 19, 2020 

Reported with an amendment; committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS