II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 172 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain issues related to 

the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2013 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL) 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 address certain 

issues related to the extension of consumer credit, 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 ‘‘Stopping Abuse and 

5 Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 

6 Lending Act of 2013’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CONSUMER CONTROL OVER BANK ACCOUNTS. 

8 (a) PROHIBITING UNAUTHORIZED REMOTELY CRE9 ATED CHECKS.—Section 905 of the Electronic Fund 


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1 Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693c) is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON REMOTELY CREATED

4 CHECKS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitations 

6 set forth under paragraph (2) and any additional 

7 limitations that the Bureau may establish, by rule, 

8 a remotely created check may only be issued by a 

9 person designated in writing by the consumer, such 

10 designation specifically provided in writing by the 

11 consumer to the insured depository institution at 

12 which the consumer maintains the account from 

13 which the check is to be drawn. 

14 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An authorization pro16 vided under paragraph (1) may be revoked at 

17 any time by the consumer. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

19 LAWS.—No payment order, including a re20 motely created check, may be issued by any per21 son in response to the exercise of, or attempt to 

22 exercise, any rights by a consumer under any 

23 Federal consumer financial law (as defined in 

24 section 1002(14) of the Consumer Financial 

25 Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481(14))) 


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1 or any other provision of any law or regulation 

2 within the jurisdiction of the Bureau. 

3 ‘‘(3) REMOTELY CREATED CHECK DEFINED.— 

4 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘remotely 

5 created check’ means a check (including paper and 

6 electronic checks and any other payment order that 

7 the Bureau, by rule, determines is appropriately cov8 ered by this subsection) that— 

9 ‘‘(A) is not created by the financial institu10 tion that holds the customer account from 

11 which the check is to be paid; and 

12 ‘‘(B) does not bear a signature applied, or 

13 purported to be applied, by the person from 

14 whose account the check is to be paid.’’. 

15 (b) CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR CERTAIN ONE16 TIME ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS.—Section 913 of 

17 the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693k) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

20 ‘‘No person’’; 

21 (2) striking ‘‘preauthorized electronic fund 

22 transfers’’ and inserting ‘‘an electronic fund trans23 fer’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT FOR ELECTRONIC FUND TRANS2 FERS IN CREDIT EXTENSIONS.—If a consumer voluntarily 

3 agrees to repay an extension of small-dollar consumer 

4 credit transaction (as defined in section 110(b) of the 

5 Truth in Lending Act) by means of an electronic fund 

6 transfer, such electronic fund transfer shall be treated as 

7 a preauthorized electronic fund transfer subject to the pro8 tections of this title.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. CONSISTENT APPLICATION OF LAW FOR SMALL10 DOLLAR LENDING. 

11 (a) CONSISTENT APPLICATION OF STATE LAW FOR

12 SMALL-DOLLAR LENDING.—The Truth in Lending Act 

13 (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

14 section 109 the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 110. CONSISTENT APPLICATION OF LAW FOR SMALL16 DOLLAR LENDING. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro18 vision of law, and except to the extent that Federal or 

19 applicable tribal law affords greater protection to the con20 sumer, any small-dollar consumer credit transaction made 

21 over the Internet, telephone, facsimile, mail, electronic 

22 mail, or other electronic communication, and any small23 dollar consumer credit transaction conducted by a national 

24 bank shall comply with the laws of the State in which the 

25 consumer resides with respect to annual percentage rates, 


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1 interest, fees, charges, and such other similar or related 

2 matters as the Bureau may, by rule, determine. 

3 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term 

4 ‘small-dollar consumer credit transaction’ means any 

5 transaction that extends, facilitates, brokers, arranges, or 

6 gathers applications for credit that is— 

7 ‘‘(1) made to a consumer in an amount of not 

8 more than $5,000, or such greater amount as the 

9 Bureau may, by rule, determine, such amount to be 

10 adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Con11 sumer Price Index for all urban consumers published 

12 by the Department of Labor; and 

13 ‘‘(2) extended pursuant to an agreement that 

14 is— 

15 ‘‘(A) other than an open-end credit plan 

16 and is payable in one or more installments of 

17 less than 12 months (or such longer period as 

18 the Bureau may, by rule, determine); 

19 ‘‘(B) an open-end credit plan in which each 

20 advance is fully repayable within a defined time 

21 or in connection with a defined event, or both; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(C) such other plan as the Bureau deter24 mines, by rule.’’. 


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1 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 130 of the Truth in 

2 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1640) is amended by inserting 

3 ‘‘section 110,’’ before ‘‘or chapter 4’’. 

4 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL5 DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS. 

6 The Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 140B. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN 

9 SMALL-DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANS10 ACTIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.—Any person 

12 facilitating, brokering, arranging, gathering applications 

13 for, or distributing sensitive personal financial information 

14 in connection with small-dollar consumer credit trans15 actions shall prominently disclose information by which 

16 they may be contacted or identified, including for service 

17 of process and for identification of the registrant of any 

18 domain name registered or used. 

19 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL20 DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS.—No person 

21 may facilitate, broker, arrange, gather applications for, or 

22 distribute sensitive personal financial information in con23 nection with small-dollar consumer credit transactions, 

24 unless the person is directly providing the small-dollar 

25 consumer credit to the consumer. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

2 ‘‘(1) the term ‘sensitive personal financial infor3 mation’ means the consumer’s Social Security num4 ber, financial account number, bank routing number, 

5 bank account number, or any required security or 

6 access code that is immediately necessary to permit 

7 access to an individual’s financial account; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘small-dollar consumer credit 

9 transaction’ has the same meaning as in section 

10 110(b). 

11 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 

13 may be interpreted to limit the authority of the Bu14 reau to further restrict activities covered by this sec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION.—It shall not be consid17 ered ‘facilitating’ in connection with small-dollar 

18 consumer credit transactions to be engaged solely in 

19 one of the following activities: 

20 ‘‘(A) The provision of a telecommuni21 cations service, or of an Internet access service 

22 or Internet information location tool (as those 

23 terms are defined in section 231 of the Commu24 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231)). 


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1 ‘‘(B) The transmission, storage, retrieval, 

2 hosting, formatting, or translation (or any com3 bination thereof) of a communication, without 

4 selection or alteration of the content of the 

5 communication, except that deletion of a par6 ticular communication or material made by an7 other person in a manner consistent with sec8 tion 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 

9 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)).’’. 

10 SEC. 5. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY AGAINST 

11 CERTAIN INTERNET LENDING. 

12 The Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

13 is amended by inserting after section 108 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 108A. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY RELAT15 ING TO CONSUMER FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES 

16 BY CERTAIN INTERNET SITES. 

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

18 definitions shall apply: 

19 ‘‘(1) COMPLAINANT.—The term ‘complainant’ 

20 means a State attorney general or State or tribal 

21 agency with enforcement authority over prohibited 

22 activity who files a complaint with the Bureau under 

23 subsection (d). 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED ONSHORE PERSON.—The term 

2 ‘covered onshore person’ means a State government 

3 or an Indian tribe. 

4 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL CONSUMER FINANCIAL LAW.— 

5 The term ‘Federal consumer financial law’ has the 

6 same meaning as in section 1002 of the Consumer 

7 Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 

8 ‘‘(4) FINANCIAL TRANSACTION PROVIDER.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), the term ‘financial trans11 action provider’ has the same meaning as in 

12 section 5362(4) of title 31, United States Code. 

13 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘financial 

14 transaction provider’ does not include an Inter15 net service platform or an affiliate of an Inter16 net service platform. 

17 ‘‘(5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

18 has the same meaning as in section 4 of the Indian 

19 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 

20 (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

21 ‘‘(6) INTERNET SERVICE PLATFORM.—The 

22 term ‘Internet service platform’ means an interactive 

23 digital service the provider of which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) does not act merely as a payment 

2 intermediary between a user and a supplier of 

3 goods or services; and 

4 ‘‘(B) provides additional services to facili5 tate interaction between users unrelated to pur6 chases from suppliers of goods and services. 

7 ‘‘(7) INTERNET SITE.—The term ‘Internet site’ 

8 means the collection of digital assets, including links, 

9 indexes, or pointers to digital assets, accessible 

10 through the Internet that are addressed relative to 

11 a common domain name. 

12 ‘‘(8) COVERED OFFSHORE PERSON.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered off14 shore person’ means a person (and if such per15 son is not known, the Internet site or other 

16 electronic representation of such person such as 

17 a telephone number, text message service, or 

18 mobile application) that— 

19 ‘‘(i) conducts business directed to resi20 dents of the United States; 

21 ‘‘(ii) does not have a domain name 

22 that is registered or assigned by a domain 

23 name registrar, domain name registry, or 

24 other domain name registration authority 


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1 that is located within a judicial district of 

2 the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) is not operated by an entity that 

4 is located within a judicial district of the 

5 United States. 

6 ‘‘(B) BUSINESS DIRECTED TO RESIDENTS

7 OF THE UNITED STATES.—For purposes of 

8 making a determination under subparagraph 

9 (A)(i), the Bureau may consider, among other 

10 indicators, whether— 

11 ‘‘(i) the person extends, facilitates, 

12 brokers, arranges, or gathers applications 

13 for credit to persons located in the United 

14 States; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the person has reasonable meas16 ures in place to prevent its services from 

17 being accessed from or delivered to the 

18 United States; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) any prices for goods and services 

20 provided are indicated in the currency of 

21 the United States. 

22 ‘‘(9) OPERATOR.—The term ‘operator’, when 

23 used in connection with an Internet site, includes 

24 any person with authority to operate the Internet 

25 site. 


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1 ‘‘(10) OWNER.—The term ‘owner’, when used 

2 in connection with an Internet site, includes any 

3 owner of a majority interest in the Internet site. 

4 ‘‘(11) STATE CONSUMER FINANCIAL LAW.—The 

5 term ‘State consumer financial law’ means a provi6 sion of State law that either constitutes a ‘State 

7 consumer financial law’ as that term is defined in 

8 section 5136C of title LXII of the Revised Statutes 

9 of the United States (12 U.S.C. 21 et seq.), or pro10 hibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices. 

11 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY OF SECTION.—It shall be a vio12 lation of this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) for a covered offshore person to violate an 

14 applicable Federal, State, or tribal consumer finan15 cial law; and 

16 ‘‘(2) for a covered onshore person to violate an 

17 applicable Federal, State, or tribal consumer finan18 cial law. 

19 ‘‘(c) INVESTIGATION OF VIOLATIONS BY BUREAU.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau— 

21 ‘‘(A) may investigate any alleged violation 

22 of subsection (b) on its own initiative; and 

23 ‘‘(B) shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) review any alleged violation of 

2 subsection (b) upon receiving a complaint 

3 filed under subsection (d); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) adjudicate and otherwise inves5 tigate and respond to such complaint, as 

6 appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATIONS.—In taking action under 

8 paragraph (1), the Bureau shall, as the Bureau de9 termines appropriate, consult with and seek advice 

10 and information from the Attorney General of the 

11 United States, the Federal Trade Commission, the 

12 International Trade Commission, the Bureau of In13 dian Affairs (in the case of matters involving an In14 dian tribe), federally recognized Indian tribes (in the 

15 case of rulemakings involving Indian tribes), and 

16 such other agencies and officials as the Bureau con17 siders appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON INVESTIGATIONS OF DO19 MAIN NAMES; CONSENT TO JURISDICTION.—Subject 

20 to such limitations as the Bureau may, by rule, de21 termine, the Bureau shall terminate, or not initiate, 

22 an investigation or adjudication under paragraph (1) 

23 with respect to a person or a domain name— 

24 ‘‘(A) if a person or the operator of the 

25 Internet site associated with the domain name 


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1 provides in a legal notice on the site accurate 

2 information consisting of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the name of an individual author4 ized to receive process on behalf of the site; 

5 ‘‘(ii) an address at which process may 

6 be served; 

7 ‘‘(iii) a telephone number at which the 

8 individual described in clause (i) may be 

9 contacted; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) a statement that the operator of 

11 the site consents to the jurisdiction and 

12 venue of the United States district courts 

13 with respect to a violation of State con14 sumer lending laws; 

15 ‘‘(B) provided that, in the event of the fil16 ing of any civil action in the appropriate United 

17 States district court for a violation of State or 

18 tribal consumer lending laws, the operator of 

19 the Internet site accepts service and waives, in 

20 a timely manner, any objections to jurisdiction, 

21 as set forth in the statement described in sub22 paragraph (A)(iv); and 

23 ‘‘(C) provided that, any limitations on in24 vestigations under this subsection shall not 

25 apply if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any of the information provided 

2 by the operator is inaccurate in any way; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(ii) at any point, the relevant party 

5 fails to respond to or abide by any order 

6 or request of the relevant court. 

7 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—It shall not be 

8 considered a violation of this section to be engaged 

9 solely in one of the following activities: 

10 ‘‘(A) The provision of a telecommuni11 cations service, or of an Internet access service 

12 or Internet information location tool (as those 

13 terms are defined in section 231 of the Commu14 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231)). 

15 ‘‘(B) The transmission, storage, retrieval, 

16 hosting, formatting, or translation (or any com17 bination thereof) of a communication, without 

18 selection or alteration of the content of the 

19 communication, except that deletion of a par20 ticular communication or material made by an21 other person in a manner consistent with sec22 tion 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 

23 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)). 

24 ‘‘(d) COMPLAINTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A complaint alleging, under 

2 oath, that a covered onshore person or a covered off3 shore person is in violation of subsection (b) may be 

4 filed with the Bureau. 

5 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon filing a com7 plaint under paragraph (1), if the identity of 

8 the covered offshore person is not known, but 

9 the Internet site or other electronic representa10 tion is, the complainant shall send a notice of 

11 the violation alleged in the complaint to the reg12 istrant of the domain name of the Internet site 

13 (or relevant operator of the electronic represen14 tation) alleged to be operated or maintained in 

15 violation of subsection (b)— 

16 ‘‘(i) at the postal and e-mail addresses 

17 appearing in the applicable publicly acces18 sible database of registrations, if any, to 

19 the extent such addresses are reasonably 

20 available; 

21 ‘‘(ii) via the postal and e-mail ad22 dresses of the registrar, registry, or other 

23 domain name registration authority that 

24 registered or assigned the domain name, to 


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1 the extent such addresses are reasonably 

2 available; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) in any other such form as the 

4 Bureau finds necessary. 

5 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For pur6 poses of this subsection, the actions described 

7 in this paragraph shall constitute service of 

8 process. 

9 ‘‘(3) IDENTIFICATION OF, AND NOTICE TO, EN10 TITIES THAT MAY BE REQUIRED TO TAKE ACTION

11 PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IDENTIFICATION.—A complaint filed 

13 under paragraph (1) shall identify any financial 

14 transaction provider that may be required to 

15 take measures described in subsection (g)(2) if 

16 the Bureau issues an order under subsection (f) 

17 with respect to the complaint and the order is 

18 served on the provider or service pursuant to 

19 subsection (g)(1). 

20 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—Upon filing a complaint 

21 under paragraph (1), the complainant shall pro22 vide notice to any financial transaction provider 

23 identified in the complaint pursuant to subpara24 graph (A) or any amendments to the complaint. 

25 ‘‘(C) INTERVENTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A financial trans2 action provider or identified in a complaint 

3 pursuant to subparagraph (A) may inter4 vene upon timely request filed with the Bu5 reau in— 

6 ‘‘(I) an investigation initiated 

7 under subsection (c) pursuant to the 

8 complaint; or 

9 ‘‘(II) pursuant to subsection 

10 (f)(3), an action to modify, suspend, 

11 or vacate an order issued pursuant to 

12 the complaint. 

13 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Fail14 ure to intervene under clause (i) in an in15 vestigation under subsection (c) does not 

16 preclude a financial transaction provider 

17 notified of the investigation from subse18 quently seeking an order to modify, sus19 pend, or vacate an order issued by the Bu20 reau under subsection (f). 

21 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall deter23 mine, with respect to each investigation initiated 

24 under subsection (c), whether the respective covered 


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1 onshore person or covered offshore person under in2 vestigation is in violation of subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A determination made 

4 under paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date on 

5 which the Bureau publishes the determination in the 

6 Federal Register. 

7 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF INFORMA8 TION AND PROCEEDINGS.—The Bureau may, in 

9 making any determination under this section— 

10 ‘‘(A) allow the submission of information 

11 electronically; and 

12 ‘‘(B) hold hearings electronically or obtain 

13 testimony or other information electronically or 

14 by such means as the Bureau determines allows 

15 participation in proceedings under this section 

16 at as low a cost as possible to participants in 

17 the proceedings. 

18 ‘‘(f) CEASE AND DESIST ORDERS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Bureau determines 

20 under subsection (e) that the covered onshore person 

21 or covered offshore person is in violation of sub22 section (b), in addition to any actions which the Bu23 reau could otherwise take, the Bureau may— 

24 ‘‘(A) issue an order to cease and desist 

25 from violation of subsection (b) to the covered 


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1 onshore person or covered offshore person (and 

2 if the identity of the covered offshore person is 

3 not known, to the relevant Internet site and to 

4 the owner and the operator of the Internet site 

5 or relevant electronic representation); and 

6 ‘‘(B) cause the order to be served on the 

7 relevant person. 

8 ‘‘(2) TEMPORARY AND PRELIMINARY CEASE

9 AND DESIST ORDERS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) PETITION BY COMPLAINANT.—A 

11 complainant may file with the Bureau a peti12 tion, in accordance with this paragraph, for the 

13 issuance of a temporary or preliminary order. 

14 ‘‘(B) ISSUANCE OF ORDER.—If, upon re15 ceiving a petition under subparagraph (A) and 

16 after providing an opportunity to be heard 

17 under subparagraph (C), the Bureau deter18 mines that the covered onshore person or cov19 ered offshore person is in violation of subsection 

20 (b), in addition to any actions which the Direc21 tor could otherwise take, the Bureau may issue 

22 a temporary or preliminary cease and desist 

23 order against, and cause the order to be served 

24 on the relevant person pursuant to paragraph 

25 (1). 


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1 ‘‘(C) OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Before issuing a 

3 temporary or preliminary cease and desist 

4 order under this paragraph, the Bureau 

5 shall provide to any person (including any 

6 applicable Internet site or electronic rep7 resentation and the owner and the oper8 ator of such Internet site or electronic rep9 resentation) alleged to be in violation of 

10 subsection (b) an opportunity to be heard 

11 and to submit relevant information to the 

12 Bureau. 

13 ‘‘(ii) ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF IN14 FORMATION AND PROCEEDINGS.—The Bu15 reau may provide an opportunity to be 

16 heard and to submit information under 

17 clause (i) electronically or in such other 

18 manner as the Bureau determines appro19 priate. 

20 ‘‘(D) STANDARD FOR RELIEF.—If the Bu21 reau issues a temporary or preliminary cease 

22 and desist order under this paragraph, the 

23 order shall be issued in a manner consistent 

24 with the provisions of rule 65 of the Federal 

25 Rules of Civil Procedure, or any successor 


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1 thereto, relating to preliminary injunctions and 

2 temporary restraining orders. 

3 ‘‘(E) PROCEDURES FOR TEMPORARY

4 CEASE AND DESIST ORDER.— 

5 ‘‘(i) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.— 

6 Upon a showing of extraordinary cir7 cumstances by the complainant filing a pe8 tition for a temporary cease and desist 

9 order under subparagraph (A), the Bureau 

10 may make a determination with respect to 

11 the petition on an expedited basis. 

12 ‘‘(ii) EXPIRATION OF ORDER.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

14 provided in subclause (II), a tem15 porary cease and desist order issued 

16 under this paragraph shall expire at a 

17 time determined by the Bureau that is 

18 not later than 14 days after the 

19 issuance of the order. 

20 ‘‘(II) EXTENSION OF ORDER.— 

21 The Bureau may extend a temporary 

22 cease and desist order issued under 

23 this paragraph for additional periods 

24 of not more than 14 days for good 


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1 cause or with the consent of the entity 

2 against which the order is issued. 

3 ‘‘(F) PROCEDURES FOR PRELIMINARY

4 CEASE AND DESIST ORDER.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro6 vided in clause (ii), the Bureau shall make 

7 a determination with respect to a petition 

8 for a preliminary cease and desist order 

9 not later than 30 days after the Bureau 

10 publishes notice of the initiation of an in11 vestigation under subsection (c) in the 

12 Federal Register. 

13 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSIONS OF TIME FOR DE14 TERMINATION.—The Bureau may extend 

15 the date by which the Bureau is required 

16 to make a determination under clause (i) 

17 with respect to a petition for a preliminary 

18 cease and desist order for an additional 30 

19 days, if the Bureau— 

20 ‘‘(I) determines that the petition 

21 presents a more complicated case; and 

22 ‘‘(II) publishes in the Federal 

23 Register an explanation of why the 

24 Bureau determined that the case is 

25 more complicated under subclause (I). 


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1 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATION OR REVOCATION OF OR2 DERS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At any time after the 

4 issuance of an order under this subsection, a 

5 motion to modify, suspend, or vacate the order 

6 may be filed by— 

7 ‘‘(i) any covered onshore person or 

8 covered offshore person bound by the 

9 order; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the owner or operator of any 

11 Internet site or electronic representation 

12 subject to the order; 

13 ‘‘(iii) any domain name registrar or 

14 registry that has registered or assigned the 

15 domain name of the Internet site subject 

16 to the order; or 

17 ‘‘(iv) a financial transaction provider 

18 on which a copy of an order has been 

19 served pursuant to paragraph (1) of sub20 section (g) requiring the provider or service 

21 to take action described in paragraph (2) 

22 of that subsection. 

23 ‘‘(B) RELIEF.—The Bureau shall modify, 

24 suspend, or vacate an order, as appropriate, if 

25 the Bureau determines that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the subject to the order is no 

2 longer, or never was in violation of sub3 section (b); or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the interests of justice require 

5 that the order be modified, suspended, or 

6 vacated. 

7 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION.—In making a de8 termination under subparagraph (B), the Bu9 reau may consider whether any domain name of 

10 an Internet site (or the relevant electronic rep11 resentation) subject to the order has expired or 

12 has been re-registered by a different entity. 

13 ‘‘(4) AMENDMENT OF ORDERS.—A complainant 

14 may petition the Bureau to amend an order issued 

15 under this subsection if any relevant an Internet site 

16 or electronic representation determined under sub17 section (e) to be in violation of subsection (b) is ac18 cessible or has been reconstituted at a different do19 main name. 

20 ‘‘(5) OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD FOR CERTAIN

21 ENTITIES.—Before the Bureau issues an order 

22 under this subsection or modifies, suspends, vacates, 

23 or amends such an order under paragraph (3) or 

24 (4), a financial transaction provider that intervened 

25 pursuant to subsection (d)(3) in an investigation or 


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1 action relating to the order shall have an oppor2 tunity to be heard before the Bureau with respect to 

3 whether the Bureau should issue the order and the 

4 scope of relief available under the order or whether 

5 the Bureau should modify, suspend, vacate, or 

6 amend the order, as the case may be. 

7 ‘‘(6) EXPIRATION OF ORDERS WITH RESPECT

8 TO INTERNET SITE.—An order issued under this 

9 subsection against an Internet site (or relevant elec10 tronic representation) shall cease to have any force 

11 or effect upon expiration of the registration of the 

12 domain name of the Internet site (or relevant elec13 tronic representation). 

14 ‘‘(g) REQUIRED ACTIONS BASED ON BUREAU OR15 DERS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Bureau reasonably 

17 believes that a financial transaction provider identi18 fied in a complaint pursuant to subsection (d)(3), or 

19 any amendment to the complaint, supplies services 

20 to the covered onshore person or covered offshore 

21 person subject to the order issued under subsection 

22 (f) with respect to the complaint— 

23 ‘‘(A) the Bureau may give permission to 

24 the complainant to serve a copy of the order on 

25 the financial transaction provider; 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the Bureau gives permission to the 

2 complainant under subparagraph (A), the com3 plainant shall file proof of service with the Bu4 reau; and 

5 ‘‘(C) upon receiving a copy of the order 

6 pursuant to subparagraph (A), the financial 

7 transaction provider shall implement the meas8 ures described in paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(2) MEASURES TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY FI10 NANCIAL TRANSACTION PROVIDERS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara12 graph (B), a financial transaction provider 

13 shall, as expeditiously as is reasonable, take 

14 reasonable and technically feasible measures, as 

15 expeditiously as reasonable, designed to prevent 

16 or prohibit the completion of payment trans17 actions by the provider that involve customers 

18 located in the United States and the covered 

19 onshore person or covered offshore person (in20 cluding the relevant Internet site or electronic 

21 representation) subject to the order issued 

22 under subsection (f). 

23 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON MEASURES.—A fi24 nancial transaction provider may not be re25 quired pursuant to subparagraph (A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to implement measures that are 

2 not commercially reasonable; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to modify services or facilities of 

4 the provider to comply with the order 

5 issued under subsection (f); or 

6 ‘‘(iii) to prevent or prohibit the com7 pletion of a payment transaction if the pro8 vider could not reasonably determine in ad9 vance whether the entity was using the 

10 Internet site subject to the order. 

11 ‘‘(3) COMMUNICATION WITH USERS.—A finan12 cial transaction provider required to implement 

13 measures described in paragraph (2) shall determine 

14 how to communicate with the users or customers of 

15 the provider or service, as the case may be, with re16 spect to those measures. 

17 ‘‘(4) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION ON OBLIGATIONS.—A fi19 nancial transaction provider required to imple20 ment measures described in paragraph (2) shall 

21 not be required to take measures or actions in 

22 addition to the measures described in para23 graph (2) pursuant to this section or an order 

24 issued under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) MANNER OF COMPLIANCE.—A finan2 cial transaction provider required to implement 

3 measures described in paragraph (2) shall be in 

4 compliance with this subsection if the provider 

5 implements the measures described in that 

6 paragraph with respect to accounts of the pro7 vider, as of the date on which a copy of an 

8 order is served under paragraph (1) or, if appli9 cable, the date on which the order is modified 

10 or amended under paragraph (3) or (4) of sub11 section (f). 

12 ‘‘(5) ACTIONS PURSUANT TO BUREAU ORDER.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL ACTIONS.—No 

14 cause of action shall lie in any court against a 

15 financial transaction provider on which a copy 

16 of an order is served under paragraph (1), or 

17 against any director, officer, employee, or agent 

18 thereof, other than in an action pursuant to 

19 subsection (h), for— 

20 ‘‘(i) any act reasonably designed to 

21 comply with this subsection or reasonably 

22 arising from the order; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) any act, failure, or inability to 

24 meet the obligations under this subsection 

25 of the provider or service if the provider or 


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1 service, as the case may be, makes a good 

2 faith effort to comply with such obliga3 tions. 

4 ‘‘(B) IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY.—A fi5 nancial transaction provider on which a copy of 

6 an order is served under paragraph (1), and 

7 any director, officer, employee, or agent thereof, 

8 shall not be liable to any person for any acts 

9 reasonably designed to comply with this sub10 section or reasonably arising from the order, 

11 other than in an action pursuant to subsection 

12 (h). 

13 ‘‘(C) IMMUNITY FROM ACTIONS OF THIRD

14 PARTIES.—An action taken by a third party to 

15 circumvent any measures implemented pursuant 

16 to an order served on a financial transaction 

17 provider under paragraph (1) may not be used 

18 by any person in any claim or cause of action 

19 against the provider or service, as the case may 

20 be, other than in an action pursuant to sub21 section (h). 

22 ‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to compel compli24 ance with this section, the Bureau and any State at25 torney general (or other appropriate State or tribal 


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1 entity) having enforcement authority over prohibited 

2 activity may bring an action for injunctive relief 

3 against any person subject to an order issued under 

4 subsection (f) or on which such an order is served 

5 under subsection (g) that fails to comply with the 

6 order. 

7 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The authority 

8 granted to the Bureau, State, and tribal authorities 

9 under paragraph (1) shall be the sole legal remedy 

10 for enforcing the obligations under subsection (g) of 

11 a financial transaction provider on which an order is 

12 served under paragraph (1) of that subsection. 

13 ‘‘(3) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES.—A defendant in 

14 an action commenced under paragraph (1) may es15 tablish an affirmative defense by showing that the 

16 defendant does not have the technical means to com17 ply with this section without incurring an unreason18 able economic burden or that the order is incon19 sistent with this section. That showing shall serve as 

20 a defense only to the extent of the inability of the 

21 defendant to comply or to the extent of the incon22 sistency. 

23 ‘‘(i) SANCTIONS FOR ABUSE OF PROCESS AND DIS24 COVERY.—The Bureau may, by rule, prescribe sanctions 

25 for abuse of process in a manner consistent with the proviVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:05 Feb 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S172.IS S172

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1 sions of rule 11 and rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil 

2 Procedure. 

3 ‘‘(j) IMMUNITY FOR ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS.— 

4 No cause of action shall lie in any court, no person may 

5 rely on any claim or cause of action, and no liability for 

6 damages to any person shall be granted, against a finan7 cial transaction provider for taking any action pursuant 

8 to subsection (g)(2). 

9 ‘‘(k) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section, in10 cluding subsection (c), may be construed to limit the au11 thority or jurisdiction of the Bureau or any State or tribe 

12 to review, regulate, investigate, enforce against, or other13 wise restrict activities covered by this section.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. STUDIES. 

15 Not later than 180 days after enactment of this sec16 tion, the Government Accountability Office (in this section 

17 referred to as the ‘‘GAO’’) shall conduct a study regarding 

18 the availability of capital on reservations of Indian tribes 

19 (as such term is defined in section 4 of the Indian Self20 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

21 450b)) and the impact that small-dollar consumer credit 

22 extended through Internet and non-Internet means to 

23 members of Indian tribes has had on economic opportunity 

24 and wealth for members of Indian tribes. In conducting 

25 the study, the GAO shall consult, as appropriate, with the 


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1 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Board of 

2 Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Bureau of 

3 Indian Affairs, federally recognized Indian tribes, and 

4 community development financial institutions operating in 

5 Indian lands. The report shall be presented to the Com6 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the 

7 Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Com8 mittee on Financial Services and the Committee on Nat9 ural Resources of the House of Representatives. 

10 SEC. 7. RULEMAKING. 

11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Bureau shall adopt any final rules nec13 essary to implement the provisions of this Act and the 

14 amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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