II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3549 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to extend the consumer credit protections 

provided to members of the Armed Forces and their dependents under 

title 10, United States Code, to all consumers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BROWN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. PADILLA, and Ms. BUTLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to extend the consumer 

credit protections provided to members of the Armed 

Forces and their dependents under title 10, United 

States Code, to all consumers. 

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 ‘‘Predatory Lending 

5 Elimination Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON CONSUMER CREDIT AND MAX2 IMUM RATES OF INTEREST. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend4 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 140B. Limitations on consumer credit and max7 imum rates of interest 

8 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION OF THE MILITARY LENDING

9 ACT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), section 987(b) of title 10, United States 

12 Code, shall apply to a creditor who extends con13 sumer credit to a consumer to the same extent as 

14 that section applies to a creditor who extends con15 sumer credit to a covered member or a dependent, 

16 as those terms are defined in such section 987. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

18 apply to— 

19 ‘‘(A) a residential mortgage; 

20 ‘‘(B) a loan procured in the course of pur21 chasing a car if the loan is offered— 

22 ‘‘(i) for the express purpose of financ23 ing the purchase; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) is secured by the car; or 

25 ‘‘(C) a loan made by a Federal credit 

26 union, as defined in section 101 of the Federal 


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1 Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752), subject to 

2 the rate of interest limit provided under section 

3 107(5)(A)(vi) of that Act, as implemented by 

4 the National Credit Union Administration 

5 Board. 

6 ‘‘(b) NO EXEMPTIONS PERMITTED.—The exemption 

7 authority of the Bureau under section 105(f) shall not 

8 apply with respect to this section. 

9 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF THE ANNUAL PERCENTAGE

10 RATE FOR OPEN-END CREDIT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec12 tion, the annual percentage rate applicable to an 

13 open-end credit plan shall be calculated under sec14 tion 107(a)(2), subject to adjustments to the 

15 amount considered a finance charge, as provided in 

16 the rules issued by the Secretary of Defense on July 

17 22, 2015, to carry out section 987 of title 10, 

18 United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION TO FINANCE CHARGE CAL20 CULATION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para22 graph (1), for consumer credit extended in a 

23 credit card account under an open-end (not 

24 home-secured) consumer credit plan, a bona 

25 fide fee other than a periodic rate is not a 


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1 charge required to be included in the finance 

2 charge for purposes of this section if the fee is 

3 assessed in compliance with section 127(n). 

4 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 

5 shall not apply to— 

6 ‘‘(i) any credit insurance premium or 

7 fee, including any charge for single pre8 mium credit insurance, any fee for a debt 

9 cancellation contract, or any fee for a debt 

10 suspension agreement; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) any fee for a credit-related ancil12 lary product sold in connection with the 

13 credit card account under an open-end (not 

14 home-secured) consumer credit plan. 

15 ‘‘(d) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—Nothing in this 

16 section may be construed to preempt any provision of 

17 State law that provides greater protection to consumers 

18 than is provided under this section. 

19 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES AND REMEDIES.—Section 987(f) of 

20 title 10, United States Code, shall apply to a creditor who 

21 extends consumer credit to a consumer in violation of this 

22 section to the same extent as such section 987(f) applies 

23 to a creditor who extends consumer credit to a covered 

24 member or a dependent, as those terms are defined in such 

25 section 987. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PRESERVATION OF STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.—Not later 

3 than 3 years after the date on which a violation of 

4 this section occurs, the attorney general of a State 

5 (or an equivalent official) may bring a civil action in 

6 the name of that State— 

7 ‘‘(A) in any district court of the United 

8 States that is located in that State or in a 

9 State court that is located in that State and 

10 that has jurisdiction over the defendant; and 

11 ‘‘(B) to— 

12 ‘‘(i) enforce provisions of this section 

13 or rules issued under this section; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) secure remedies under provisions 

15 of this section or remedies otherwise pro16 vided under other law. 

17 ‘‘(2) STATE REGULATORS.—Not later than 3 

18 years after the date on which a violation of this sec19 tion occurs, a State regulator may bring a civil ac20 tion or initiate another appropriate proceeding to— 

21 ‘‘(A) enforce the provisions of this section 

22 or regulations issued under this section with re23 spect to any entity that is, or is required to be, 

24 State-chartered, incorporated, licensed, or othVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jan 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3549.IS S3549

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1 erwise authorized to do business under State 

2 law; and 

3 ‘‘(B) secure remedies under provisions of 

4 this section or remedies otherwise provided 

5 under other provisions of law with respect to an 

6 entity described in subparagraph (A). 

7 ‘‘(3) NOTICE REQUIREMENT; ADDITIONAL REG8 ULATIONS.—Subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 

9 1042 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

10 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5552), shall apply to a civil action 

11 or other appropriate proceeding brought or initiated 

12 under paragraph (1) or (2) to the same extent as 

13 those subsections apply to actions and other admin14 istrative and regulatory proceedings described in 

15 subsection (a) of that section. 

16 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

18 1027(o) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

19 (12 U.S.C. 5517(o)), not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this section, the Bureau, in 

21 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) issue rules carrying out this section; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) notify Congress and the public, in25 cluding on the website of the Bureau, regarding 


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1 the issuance of the rules required under sub2 paragraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(2) CONSISTENCY.—The rules issued by the 

4 Bureau under paragraph (1)— 

5 ‘‘(A) shall be consistent with rules issued 

6 by the Secretary of Defense to carry out section 

7 987 of title 10, United States Code; and 

8 ‘‘(B) may not provide lesser protection to 

9 consumers than the protection afforded covered 

10 members, as defined in section 987 of title 10, 

11 United States Code, in applicable provisions in 

12 the rules issued by the Secretary of Defense on 

13 July 22, 2015, to carry out that section.’’. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

15 The table of contents for chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend16 ing Act is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘140B. Limitations on consumer credit and maximum rates of interest.’’. 

17 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub18 section (a) shall apply to an extension of credit made after 

19 the earlier of— 

20 (1) the date on which the rules issued by the 

21 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection under 

22 subsection (g) of section 140B of the Truth in Lend23 ing Act, as added by subsection (a) of this section, 

24 require compliance; and 


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1 (2) the date that is 18 months after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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