IB 

Union Calendar No. 652 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8338 

[Report No. 118–789] 

To regulate small-dollar, short-term credit products, to protect the privacy 

of lenders, and to improve the unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or 

practices authority of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 10, 2024 

Mrs. KIM of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

DECEMBER 3, 2024 

Additional sponsor: Mr. FLOOD

DECEMBER 3, 2024 

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 May 10, 2024] 


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A BILL 

To regulate small-dollar, short-term credit products, to protect the privacy of lenders, and to improve the unfair, 

deceptive, or abusive acts or practices authority of the 

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other 

purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Clarity in Lending Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—SMALL-DOLLAR CREDIT PRODUCTS 

Sec. 101. Safe harbor for small-dollar credit products. 

TITLE II—RECTIFYING UNDEFINED DESCRIPTIONS OF ABUSIVE 

ACTS AND PRACTICES 

Sec. 201. Mitigating factors in assessing civil penalties. 

Sec. 202. Rulemaking relating to unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices. 

Sec. 203. Authority to declare an act unlawful based on discrimination or service 

as government contractor. 

Sec. 204. Clarifying the abusive standard for the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

Sec. 205. Notice and opportunity to cure. 

Sec. 206. Abusive, unfair, or deceptive acts or practices enforcement actions. 

Sec. 207. Look-back provisions for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. 

TITLE III—SMALL LENDERS EXEMPT FROM NEW DATA AND 

EXCESSIVE REPORTING 

Sec. 301. Small business loan data collection. 

TITLE IV—BANK LOAN PRIVACY 

Sec. 401. Rulemaking requirement. 

8 TITLE I—SMALL-DOLLAR CREDIT 

9 PRODUCTS 

10 SEC. 101. SAFE HARBOR FOR SMALL-DOLLAR CREDIT PROD11 UCTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Truth in Lending Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

14 109 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 110. Safe harbor for small-dollar credit products 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a covered entity complies with 

3 the requirements set forth in subsections (b), (c), and (e) 

4 with respect to the offering of a small-dollar product to a 

5 consumer, such covered entity shall not be liable in connec6 tion with such offering of a small-dollar product, for— 

7 ‘‘(1) any civil money penalties from any enforce8 ment action brought by the Bureau, the appropriate 

9 Federal banking agency, or the National Credit 

10 Union Administration for a violation of this title; or 

11 ‘‘(2) any damages or other monetary relief 

12 through a private right of action brought under this 

13 title. 

14 ‘‘(b) PRODUCT STRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN THE CASE OF AN INSTALLMENT LOAN.— 

16 If a small-dollar credit product is structured by a 

17 covered entity as an installment loan— 

18 ‘‘(A) the repayment term shall be more than 

19 45 days; 

20 ‘‘(B) payments shall be fully amortized 

21 across more than one payment; 

22 ‘‘(C) rollovers into new small-dollar credit 

23 products shall be prohibited; and 

24 ‘‘(D) the covered entity may not issue any 

25 small-dollar credit product to a consumer if such 

26 consumer has a small-dollar credit product open 


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1 with such covered entity at the time such con2 sumer applies for a small-dollar credit product. 

3 ‘‘(2) IN THE CASE OF A LINE OF CREDIT.—If a 

4 small-dollar credit product is structured by a covered 

5 entity as a line of credit— 

6 ‘‘(A) the repayment term for each draw 

7 shall be more than 45 days unless a single pay8 ment is used and the draw is not more than 10 

9 percent of the lesser of $3,500 or 20 percent of 

10 the total amount of a consumer’s average month11 ly direct deposits during the preceding six 

12 months; and 

13 ‘‘(B) payments for each draw shall be fully 

14 amortized across more than one payment, except 

15 in the case of any single-payment loans. 

16 ‘‘(3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub18 section may be construed to prohibit the Bureau, 

19 a Federal banking agency, or the National Cred20 it Union Administration from issuing a cease21 and-desist order or restitution order under this 

22 title against a covered entity. 

23 ‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT OF OTHER STAT24 UTES.—Nothing in this subsection may be con25 strued to prohibit the Bureau, a Federal banking 


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1 agency, or the National Credit Union Adminis2 tration from enforcing any provision of law not 

3 contained within this title against a covered en4 tity. 

5 ‘‘(c) UNDERWRITING REQUIREMENTS.—When consid6 ering whether to offer a small-dollar credit product to a spe7 cific consumer, a covered entity— 

8 ‘‘(1) shall use sound underwriting processes; and 

9 ‘‘(2) may analyze internal or external data 

10 sources, including consumer deposit account activity, 

11 to assess the creditworthiness of a consumer. 

12 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

13 may be construed to prohibit a covered entity from offering 

14 a small-dollar product that does not comply with the safe 

15 harbor requirements set forth under this section. 

16 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS AND REQUIRE17 MENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) BALLOON PAYMENTS.—No payment re19 quired in association with a small-dollar credit prod20 uct offered by a covered entity may be greater than 

21 double the amount of any other payment required in 

22 association with such product. 

23 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURES.—Each covered entity that 

24 offers a small-dollar credit product shall comply with 

25 all disclosure requirements set forth by this title. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PENALTIES AND FEES.—A covered entity 

2 may not impose any prepayment penalty, overdraft 

3 fee, or nonsufficient funds fee in connection with a 

4 small-dollar credit product. 

5 ‘‘(4) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts made 

6 available to a consumer through a small-dollar credit 

7 product offered by a covered entity shall be disbursed 

8 to the account of such consumer by such covered enti9 ty not later than 5 days after the approval of the con10 sumer for the small-dollar credit product. 

11 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered enti13 ty’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) an insured depository institution; 

15 ‘‘(B) an insured credit union; 

16 ‘‘(C) a third-party with whom an insured 

17 depository institution has contracted for prod18 ucts or services related to origination, servicing, 

19 or administrative management of a small-dollar 

20 credit product; or 

21 ‘‘(D) a third-party with whom an insured 

22 credit union has contracted for products or serv23 ices related to origination, servicing, or adminis24 trative management of a small-dollar credit 

25 product. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL BANKING AGENCY DEFINITIONS.— 

2 The terms ‘appropriate Federal banking agency’ and 

3 ‘Federal banking agency’ have the meaning given 

4 those terms, respectively, in section 3 of the Federal 

5 Deposit Insurance Act. 

6 ‘‘(3) INSURED CREDIT UNION.—The term ‘in7 sured credit union’ has the meaning given the term 

8 in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act. 

9 ‘‘(4) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The 

10 term ‘insured depository institution’ has the meaning 

11 given the term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit In12 surance Act. 

13 ‘‘(5) SMALL-DOLLAR CREDIT PRODUCT.—The 

14 term ‘small-dollar product’ means a loan or line of 

15 credit with a value of $3,500 or less.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents for 

17 chapter 1 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended by insert18 ing after the item for section 109 the following: 

‘‘110. Safe harbor for small-dollar credit products.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—RECTIFYING UNDE2 FINED DESCRIPTIONS OF 

3 ABUSIVE ACTS AND PRAC4 TICES 

5 SEC. 201. MITIGATING FACTORS IN ASSESSING CIVIL PEN6 ALTIES. 

7 Section 1055(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection 

8 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5565(c)) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(6) RULEMAKING.—The Bureau shall, not later 

11 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

12 paragraph, issue a rule that establishes policies and 

13 procedures relating to the imposition of civil mone14 tary penalties sought under this subsection, including 

15 the application of the mitigating factors described in 

16 paragraph (3).’’. 

17 SEC. 202. RULEMAKING RELATING TO UNFAIR, DECEPTIVE 

18 OR ABUSIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1031 of the Consumer Fi20 nancial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531) is amended 

21 by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau may prescribe 

24 rules applicable to a covered person or service pro25 vider identifying as unlawful unfair, deceptive, or 


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1 abusive acts or practices in connection with any 

2 transaction with a consumer for a consumer financial 

3 product or service, or the offering of a consumer fi4 nancial product or service. Rules under this section 

5 may include requirements for the purpose of pre6 venting such acts or practices. 

7 ‘‘(2) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS REQUIRED.—Any 

8 final rule issued by the Bureau relating to abusive, 

9 unfair, or deceptive acts or practices shall include a 

10 cost-benefit analysis. 

11 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF ABUSIVE ACT OR PRAC12 TICE.—The Bureau shall, not later than 180 days 

13 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, issue 

14 a rule that defines the term ‘abusive act or practice’ 

15 for the purposes of this section.’’. 

16 (b) OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT.—The Bureau of 

17 Consumer Financial Protection shall, not later than 180 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, allow 

19 the public to submit comments with respect to any confu20 sion about how the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec21 tion uses its authority with respect to unfair, deceptive, or 

22 abusive acts or practices. 


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1 SEC. 203. AUTHORITY TO DECLARE AN ACT UNLAWFUL 

2 BASED ON DISCRIMINATION OR SERVICE AS 

3 GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR. 

4 Section 1031 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

5 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531), as amended by section 204, 

6 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(h) AUTHORITY TO DECLARE AN ACT UNLAWFUL

8 BASED ON DISCRIMINATION OR SERVICE AS GOVERNMENT

9 CONTRACTOR.—The Bureau may not interpret the author10 ity of the Bureau relating to unfair, deceptive, or abusive 

11 acts and practices to include— 

12 ‘‘(1) discriminatory practices; or 

13 ‘‘(2) acts or practices by a covered person per14 forming the acts or practices pursuant to a contract 

15 with a Federal agency (as defined under section 

16 701(b) of title 5, United States Code).’’. 

17 SEC. 204. CLARIFYING THE ABUSIVE STANDARD FOR THE 

18 BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTEC19 TION. 

20 Section 1031 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

21 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

23 subsections (f) and (g); and 

24 (2) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 

25 following: 

26 ‘‘(d) ABUSIVE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall have no 

2 authority under this section to declare an act or prac3 tice of a covered person abusive in connection with 

4 the provision of a consumer financial product or serv5 ice, unless the act or practice— 

6 ‘‘(A) intentionally and materially interferes 

7 with the ability of a consumer to understand a 

8 term or condition of a consumer financial prod9 uct or service; or 

10 ‘‘(B) takes unreasonable advantage of— 

11 ‘‘(i) a lack of understanding by the 

12 consumer with respect to the possible im13 pact, material risks, costs, or conditions of 

14 the product or service, or the likelihood of 

15 the risks, costs, or conditions of the product 

16 or service negatively affecting the consumer; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the reasonable reliance the con19 sumer places on an affirmative action or 

20 representation of such covered person to in21 duce such consumer to rely on such action 

22 or representation. 

23 ‘‘(2) ABUSIVE ACTIONS.—An act or practice shall 

24 not be considered abusive if the act or practice— 

25 ‘‘(A) is also unfair or deceptive; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) is otherwise prohibited by Federal con2 sumer financial law. 

3 ‘‘(e) GOOD-FAITH EFFORT TO COMPLY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau may not seek 

5 monetary relief from a covered person under this sec6 tion unless the covered person has not established by 

7 a preponderance of the evidence that they made a 

8 good-faith effort to comply. 

9 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO SEEK LEGAL OR EQUITABLE

10 REMEDIES.—The limitation described in paragraph 

11 (1) shall not restrict the authority of the Bureau to 

12 seek legal or equitable remedies, such as damages and 

13 restitution, to redress an identifiable consumer injury 

14 caused by the abusive acts or practices of such covered 

15 person.’’. 

16 SEC. 205. NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE. 

17 Section 1031 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

18 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531), as amended by section 203, 

19 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a covered person self-iden22 tifies a potential unfair, deceptive, or abusive act or 

23 practice carried out by such covered person, the Bu24 reau shall, not later than 90 days after such self-iden25 tification, provide a written notice in the form of a 


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1 potential action and request for response letter or a 

2 notice and opportunity to respond and advise letter 

3 of the potential unfair, deceptive, or abusive act or 

4 practice to such covered person and inform the cov5 ered person that such person has 180 days after the 

6 date the covered person receives such notice to cure 

7 such potential unfair, deceptive, or abusive act before 

8 the Bureau may pursue other legal action. 

9 ‘‘(2) TOLLING OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 

10 Any applicable statute of limitations that applies to 

11 conduct under which the Bureau has given notice and 

12 an opportunity to cure shall not toll until— 

13 ‘‘(A) the covered person cures the potential 

14 unfair, deceptive, or abusive act or practice and 

15 notifies the Bureau that such act or practice has 

16 been cured; 

17 ‘‘(B) the covered person notifies the Bureau 

18 that such covered person will not cure the act or 

19 practice; or 

20 ‘‘(C) the 180-day period to cure ends.’’. 

21 SEC. 206. ABUSIVE, UNFAIR, OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC22 TICES ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 

23 Section 1031 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

24 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531), as amended by section 205, 

25 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(j) UNFAIR, DECEPTIVE, OR ABUSIVE ACTS OR PRAC2 TICES ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—Enforcement actions 

3 brought by the Bureau under this section shall be brought 

4 in— 

5 ‘‘(1) the United States district court located 

6 where the covered person has its headquarters loca7 tion; or 

8 ‘‘(2) the United States District Court for the 

9 District of Columbia. 

10 ‘‘(k) ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Bureau brings an en12 forcement action under this section, the Bureau shall 

13 state with particularity the circumstances that the 

14 Bureau alleges constitute a violation of this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE CLAIMS.—If the Bureau 

16 brings an enforcement action under this section— 

17 ‘‘(A) claiming that an activity is unfair or 

18 deceptive, the Bureau may not claim in the al19 ternative that the activity is abusive; and 

20 ‘‘(B) claiming that an activity is abusive, 

21 the Bureau may not claim in the alternative 

22 that the activity is unfair or deceptive.’’. 


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1 SEC. 207. LOOK-BACK PROVISIONS FOR THE BUREAU OF 

2 CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title X of the Con4 sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5511 

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 1029B. EXAMINATION PERIOD LIMITATIONS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—When enforcing Federal consumer 

9 financial laws, the Bureau may not seek a civil money pen10 alty for any violation that occurred prior to the most recent 

11 assignment of a consumer compliance rating that had not 

12 been identified in writing as a material finding or super13 visory concern at the time the rating was assigned. 

14 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION IN CASES OF FRAUD OR A MATERIAL

15 MISREPRESENTATION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

16 a violation that involved fraud or a material misrepresenta17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The limitation de19 scribed in subsection (a) may not be construed to restrict 

20 the ability of the Bureau to seek other forms of legal or equi21 table relief available under subparagraphs (A) through (G) 

22 of section 1055(a)(2).’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

24 section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 


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1 Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting after the 

2 item relating to section 1029A the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1029B. Examination period limitations,’’. 

3 TITLE III—SMALL LENDERS EX4 EMPT FROM NEW DATA AND 

5 EXCESSIVE REPORTING 

6 SEC. 301. SMALL BUSINESS LOAN DATA COLLECTION. 

7 Section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 1691c–2) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE WITH COVERED RULE.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the cov13 ered rule, the Bureau shall provide a financial 

14 institution a 3-year period beginning on the date 

15 the covered rule was issued to comply with the 

16 rule. 

17 ‘‘(B) SAFE HARBOR.—After the end of the 

18 3-year period described under subparagraph (A), 

19 the Bureau shall provide a 2-year safe harbor to 

20 a financial institution during which the finan21 cial institution is required to comply with the 

22 covered rule but is not subject to any penalties 

23 for failure to comply with the covered rule. 

24 ‘‘(C) COVERED RULE DEFINED.—In this 

25 paragraph, the term ‘covered rule’ means the 


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1 final rule of the Bureau titled ‘Small Business 

2 Lending Under the Equal Credit Opportunity 

3 Act (Regulation B)’ (88 Fed. Reg. 35150, pub4 lished May 31, 2023).’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (h)— 

6 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘finan9 cial institution’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) any partnership, company, corpora11 tion, association (incorporated or unincor12 porated), trust, estate, cooperative organization, 

13 or other entity that engages in any financial ac14 tivity; and 

15 ‘‘(B) in each of the previous 2 calendar 

16 years originated not less than 500 credit trans17 actions for small businesses.’’; and 

18 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘small busi21 ness’ means any entity with gross annual revenues of 

22 $1,000,000 or less in the most recently completed fis23 cal year.’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—BANK LOAN PRIVACY 

2 SEC. 401. RULEMAKING REQUIREMENT. 

3 Section 704B(e)(4) of the Equal Credit Opportunity 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 1691c–2(e)(4)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘The Bureau may,’’ and insert6 ing: 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau may,’’; 

8 and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(B) RULEMAKING REQUIREMENT.—The 

11 Bureau shall, before deleting or modifying data 

12 under this paragraph, issue, through advance no13 tice and comment, a rule that includes a descrip14 tion of what modifications and deletions the Bu15 reau intends to make to the data and how such 

16 modifications and deletions will advance a pri17 vacy interest.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 652 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8338 

[Report No. 118–789] 

A BILL 

To regulate small-dollar, short-term credit prodFinancial Protection, and for other purposes. practices authority of the Bureau of Consumer prove the unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or ucts, to protect the privacy of lenders, and to imDECEMBER 3, 2024 

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


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