I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3310 

To provide for additional protections and disclosures to consumers when 

financial products or services are related to the consumers’ military 

or Federal pensions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 23, 2013 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. CONYERS, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. MORAN, Mr. FARR, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. LEWIS, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Ms. 

SPEIER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ENYART, Mr. POCAN, 

Mr. LYNCH, Ms. HAHN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. DELANEY, 

Mr. NADLER, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 

addition to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Armed Services, and 

Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for additional protections and disclosures to consumers when financial products or services are related 

to the consumers’ military or Federal pensions, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Annuity Safety and 

5 Security Under Reasonable Enforcement Act of 2013’’ or 

6 the ‘‘ASSURE Act of 2013’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF FEDERAL AND MILITARY PEN8 SIONS IN EXTENSIONS OF CREDIT. 

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

10 is amended— 

11 (1) in section 104(3), by inserting after ‘‘other 

12 than’’ the following: ‘‘payments described under sec13 tion 126(a) and’’; 

14 (2) by inserting after section 125 the following: 

15 ‘‘§ 126. Payments in consideration of Federal and 

16 military pensions 

17 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE.—The Bureau shall issue regula18 tions requiring any payment to a benefit recipient, wheth19 er or not such payment is an extension of credit, that di20 minishes the benefit recipient’s ability to control the pay21 ments from their Federal or military pension in any way, 

22 to be treated as an extension of credit for purposes of the 

23 disclosures required under this title. 


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1 ‘‘(b) INTEREST RATE CAP.—With respect to a pay2 ment to a benefit recipient described under subsection 

3 (a)— 

4 ‘‘(1) if such payment is an extension of con5 sumer credit, a creditor may not impose an annual 

6 percentage rate of interest greater than the Federal 

7 funds rate plus 6 percent; and 

8 ‘‘(2) if such payment is not an extension of con9 sumer credit, the Bureau shall issue regulations re10 quiring that the aggregate amount of cash and prop11 erty paid in exchange for such payment may not ex12 ceed an amount that is equivalent to the interest 

13 rate described under paragraph (1). 

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

15 ‘‘(1) BENEFIT RECIPIENT.—The term ‘benefit 

16 recipient’ means a person who is entitled to pay17 ments under a Federal or military pension. 

18 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL OR MILITARY PENSION.—The 

19 term ‘Federal or military pension’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) a benefit described under section 

21 5301(a) of title 38, United States Code; 

22 ‘‘(B) retired pay to an enlisted member of 

23 the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) an annuity described under section 

2 8345 or 8465 of title 5, United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL FUNDS RATE.—For purposes of 

4 this section, the term ‘Federal funds rate’ means the 

5 Federal funds rate published in the Federal Reserve 

6 Statistical Release on selected interest rates (daily or 

7 weekly), and commonly referred to as the H.15 re8 lease (or any successor publication).’’; and 

9 (3) in the table of contents for chapter 2 of 

10 such Act, by inserting after the item relating to sec11 tion 125 the following: 

‘‘126. Consideration of Federal pensions in extensions of credit’’. 

12 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ASSIGNMENTS; PRIVATE 

13 RIGHTS OF ACTIONS. 

14 (a) VETERANS BENEFITS.—Section 5301 of title 38, 

15 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(f) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A benefit recipient may 

19 bring an action against a pension assignee in the ap20 propriate Federal or State court and recover— 

21 ‘‘(A) three times the damages suffered due 

22 to the assignment made in violation of this sec23 tion; 

24 ‘‘(B) court costs; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) reasonable attorneys’ fees and ex2 penses. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(A) BENEFIT RECIPIENT.—The term 

6 ‘benefit recipient’ means a person with respect 

7 to which payments of benefits described under 

8 this section are due or are to become due. 

9 ‘‘(B) PENSION ASSIGNEE.—With respect to 

10 a benefit recipient, the term ‘pension assignee’ 

11 means a person who has been assigned the ben12 efits of the benefit recipient in violation of this 

13 section.’’. 

14 (b) MILITARY RETIRED PAY.—Section 701 of title 

15 37, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) CLARIFICATION ON NON-ASSIGNMENT OF RE18 TIRED PAY FOR ENLISTED MEMBERS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sub20 section (c), in any case where an enlisted member is 

21 entitled to retired pay and enters into an agreement 

22 with another person under which agreement such 

23 other person acquires for consideration the right to 

24 receive payment of such retired pay, whether by pay25 ment from the member to such other person, deposit 


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1 into an account from which such other person may 

2 make withdrawals, or otherwise, such agreement 

3 shall be deemed to be an assignment and is prohib4 ited. Any agreement or arrangement for collateral 

5 for security for an agreement that is prohibited 

6 under the previous sentence is also prohibited. 

7 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A retired pay recipi9 ent may bring an action against a retired pay 

10 assignee in the appropriate Federal or State 

11 court and recover— 

12 ‘‘(i) three times the damages suffered 

13 due to the assignment of retired pay made 

14 in violation of this section; 

15 ‘‘(ii) court costs; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) reasonable attorneys’ fees and 

17 expenses. 

18 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

19 subsection: 

20 ‘‘(i) RETIRED PAY RECIPIENT.—The 

21 term ‘retired pay recipient’ means a person 

22 with respect to which retired pay described 

23 under this section is due or is to become 

24 due. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) RETIRED PAY ASSIGNEE.—With 

2 respect to a retired pay recipient, the term 

3 ‘retired pay assignee’ means a person who 

4 has been assigned or allotted the retired 

5 pay of the retired pay recipient in violation 

6 of this section.’’. 

7 (c) CSRS ANNUITIES.—Section 8345(h) of title 5, 

8 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(h) NON-ASSIGNMENT OF ANNUITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual entitled to an 

11 annuity from the Fund may not make allotments or 

12 assignments of amounts from such annuity. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of this 

14 subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) in any case where an individual enti16 tled to an annuity from the Fund enters into an 

17 agreement with another person under which 

18 agreement such other person acquires for con19 sideration the right to receive payment of such 

20 annuity, whether by payment from the indi21 vidual to such other person, deposit into an ac22 count from which such other person may make 

23 withdrawals, or otherwise, such agreement shall 

24 be deemed to be an assignment and is prohib25 ited; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any agreement or arrangement for 

2 collateral for security for an agreement that is 

3 prohibited under subparagraph (A) is also pro4 hibited. 

5 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) 

6 shall not apply to amounts used to pay dues to 

7 unions or other employee organizations. 

8 ‘‘(4) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An annuity recipient 

10 may bring an action against an annuity as11 signee in the appropriate Federal or State court 

12 and recover— 

13 ‘‘(i) three times the damages suffered 

14 due to the assignment made in violation of 

15 this subsection or the regulations issued 

16 pursuant to this subsection; 

17 ‘‘(ii) court costs; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) reasonable attorneys’ fees and 

19 expenses. 

20 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(i) ANNUITY ASSIGNEE.—With re23 spect to an annuity recipient, the term ‘an24 nuity assignee’ means a person who has 

25 been assigned or allotted all or part of an 


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1 annuity from the Fund in violation of this 

2 subsection or the regulations issued pursu3 ant to this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(ii) ANNUITY RECIPIENT.—The term 

5 ‘annuity recipient’ means an individual en6 titled to an annuity from the Fund.’’. 

7 (d) FERS ANNUITIES.—Section 8465(b) of title 5, 

8 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(b) NON-ASSIGNMENT OF ANNUITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual entitled to an 

11 annuity from the Fund may not make allotments or 

12 assignments of amounts from such annuity. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of this 

14 subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) in any case where an individual enti16 tled to an annuity from the Fund enters into an 

17 agreement with another person under which 

18 agreement such other person acquires for con19 sideration the right to receive payment of such 

20 annuity, whether by payment from the indi21 vidual to such other person, deposit into an ac22 count from which such other person may make 

23 withdrawals, or otherwise, such agreement shall 

24 be deemed to be an assignment and is prohib25 ited; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any agreement or arrangement for 

2 collateral for security for an agreement that is 

3 prohibited under subparagraph (A) is also pro4 hibited. 

5 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) 

6 shall not apply to amounts used to pay dues to 

7 unions or other employee organizations. 

8 ‘‘(4) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An annuity recipient 

10 may bring an action against an annuity as11 signee in the appropriate Federal or State court 

12 and recover— 

13 ‘‘(i) three times the damages suffered 

14 due to the assignment made in violation of 

15 this subsection or the regulations issued 

16 pursuant to this subsection; 

17 ‘‘(ii) court costs; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) reasonable attorneys’ fees and 

19 expenses. 

20 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(i) ANNUITY ASSIGNEE.—With re23 spect to an annuity recipient, the term ‘an24 nuity assignee’ means a person who has 

25 been assigned or allotted all or part of an 


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1 annuity from the Fund in violation of this 

2 subsection or the regulations issued pursu3 ant to this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(ii) ANNUITY RECIPIENT.—The term 

5 ‘annuity recipient’ means an individual en6 titled to an annuity from the Fund.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 

8 PROVISIONS. 

9 (a) REGULATION OF FEDERAL OR MILITARY PEN10 SION-RELATED PRODUCTS.—Section 1032(f) of the Con11 sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

12 5532(f)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(g) REGULATION OF FEDERAL OR MILITARY PEN14 SION-RELATED PRODUCTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall issue 

16 regulations to require a person offering a Federal or 

17 military pension-related product to provide addi18 tional disclosures when advertising or selling such 

19 product, sufficient to allow consumers to understand 

20 how their pension relates to the product. 

21 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS DEFINED.—For purposes of 

22 this subsection: 

23 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL OR MILITARY PENSION.— 

24 The term ‘Federal or military pension’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a benefit described under section 

2 5301(a) of title 38, United States Code; 

3 ‘‘(ii) retired pay to an enlisted mem4 ber of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Ma5 rine Corps; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) an annuity described under sec7 tion 8345 or 8465 of title 5, United States 

8 Code. 

9 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL OR MILITARY PENSION-RE10 LATED PRODUCT.—The term ‘Federal or mili11 tary pension-related product’ means a financial 

12 product or service related to a Federal or mili13 tary pension, including any extension of credit 

14 if the creditor, when determining a consumer’s 

15 ability to repay the extension of credit, takes 

16 the pension into consideration.’’. 

17 (b) STUDY BY THE BUREAU.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of Consumer 

19 Financial Protection shall carry out a study of fi20 nancial products and services that target military re21 tirees and Federal employee retirees. 

22 (2) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 3- 

23 month period beginning on the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Bureau shall issue a report to 

25 the Congress containing all findings and determinaVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:15 Oct 24, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3310.IH H3310

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1 tions made in carrying out the study required under 

2 this subsection. 

Æ 


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