I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8196 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to safeguard access to 

information for consumers and to stop abusive debt litigation, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2024 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. COHEN, Ms. CHU, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to safeguard access to information for consumers and to stop 

abusive debt litigation, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Securing Consumers 

5 Against Misrepresented Debt Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘SCAM 

6 Debt Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 803 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 1692a) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(9) The term ‘legal action’ means any lawsuit 

6 or legal proceeding (including litigation, arbitration, 

7 enforcement of security interests, post-judgment ac8 tions, and mediation) pursued, taken, threatened, of9 fered, or requested by debt collectors.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. FALSE OR MISLEADING REPRESENTATIONS. 

11 Section 807(11) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 

12 Act (15 U.S.C. 1692e(11)) is amended by striking ‘‘legal 

13 action’’ and inserting ‘‘lawsuit’’. 

14 SEC. 4. VALIDATION OF DEBTS. 

15 Section 809(a) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 

16 Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)) is amended— 

17 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

18 striking ‘‘the following information is contained in 

19 the initial communication or’’; 

20 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(1) an itemization of the amount of the debt 

23 that includes— 

24 ‘‘(A) the total amount of the debt owed on 

25 the date of the notice; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the most recent date of default on the 

2 debt; and 

3 ‘‘(C) the amount owed on the most recent 

4 date of default, the amount of any payments 

5 made since such date, and the amount of any 

6 interest or fees accrued on the debt since such 

7 date;’’; 

8 (3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(2) the name of the original creditor and, if 

11 different, the name of the creditor on the most re12 cent date of default and the name of the current 

13 creditor to whom the debt is owed;’’. 

14 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘in writing’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (5) in paragraph (5)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘written’’; and 

19 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

20 inserting a semicolon; and 

21 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(6) the account number of the debt on the 

23 most recent date of default; and 

24 ‘‘(7) all methods that the consumer can use to 

25 contact the debt collector.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. LEGAL ACTIONS BY DEBT COLLECTORS. 

2 Section 811 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 1692i) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub5 section (c); and 

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR DEBT COLLECTORS.—A 

9 debt collector that takes legal action to collect or attempt 

10 to collect a debt shall comply with the following require11 ments: 

12 ‘‘(1) Provide the consumer written notice of the 

13 intent to take legal action, sent to the consumer’s 

14 last known address at least 30 days in advance of 

15 commencing the legal action, that shall include all 

16 information contained in the notice required under 

17 section 809(a) (excluding the information described 

18 in paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of such section), up19 dated to ensure correctness. 

20 ‘‘(2) In the initial pleading filed by a debt col21 lector to commence a legal action to collect a debt, 

22 include— 

23 ‘‘(A) all information contained in the no24 tice required under section 809(a) (excluding 

25 the information described in paragraphs (3), 

26 (4), and (5) of such section), except any acVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 May 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196

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1 count numbers and any personally identifiable 

2 information, updated to ensure correctness; 

3 ‘‘(B) the last four digits of the account 

4 number of the original debt; 

5 ‘‘(C) admissible documentary evidence of— 

6 ‘‘(i) the written agreement, contract, 

7 or instrument creating the debt, if any, or 

8 other documents showing that the con9 sumer agreed to the agreement, contract, 

10 or instrument creating the debt; 

11 ‘‘(ii) any terms and conditions rel12 evant to the debt; 

13 ‘‘(iii) that the consumer incurred the 

14 debt and the amount owed; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) that there is a chain of title of 

16 the ownership of debt and the right to col17 lect the debt, including documents showing 

18 the date of each transfer of ownership of 

19 the debt and the identity of each owner of 

20 the debt; and 

21 ‘‘(D) a sworn affidavit stating— 

22 ‘‘(i) that the applicable statute of limi23 tations for collecting the debt has not ex24 pired and the date on which such statute 

25 of limitations expires; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) that the debt collector personally 

2 reviewed all applicable records and docu3 ments relating to the debt to be collected.’’. 

Æ 


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