II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2508 

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 

JULY 28, 2021 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. 

SMITH, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. WYDEN) 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 ‘‘Veterans and Con5 sumers Fair Credit 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 (commonly referred to as the ‘Military Lending 

13 Act’), shall apply to a creditor who extends con14 sumer credit to a consumer to the same extent as 

15 such section applies to a creditor who extends con16 sumer credit to a covered member or a dependent 

17 with respect to a covered member (as those terms 

18 are defined in such section 987). 

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

20 apply to— 

21 ‘‘(A) a residential mortgage; 

22 ‘‘(B) a loan procured in the course of pur23 chasing a car when that loan is offered for the 

24 express purpose of financing the purchase and 

25 is secured by the car; or 


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

2 union, as that term is defined in section 101 of 

3 the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 

4 1752), subject to the usury limit provided under 

5 section 107(5)(A) of the Federal Credit Union 

6 Act (12 U.S.C. 1757(5)(A)), as implemented by 

7 the National Credit Union Administration 

8 Board. 

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

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

11 apply with respect to this section. 

12 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF THE ANNUAL PERCENTAGE

13 RATE FOR OPEN-END CREDIT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec15 tion, the annual percentage rate applicable to an 

16 open-end credit plan shall be calculated under sec17 tion 107(a)(2), subject to adjustments to the 

18 amount considered a finance charge, as provided in 

19 the rules issued by the Secretary of Defense on July 

20 22, 2015, to carry out section 987 of title 10, 

21 United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION TO FINANCE CHARGE CAL23 CULATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para25 graph (1), for consumer credit extended in a 


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1 credit card account under an open-end (not 

2 home-secured) consumer credit plan, a bona 

3 fide fee other than a periodic rate is not a 

4 charge required to be included within the fi5 nance charge for purposes of this section if the 

6 fee is assessed in compliance with section 

7 127(n). 

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 

9 shall not apply to— 

10 ‘‘(i) any credit insurance premium or 

11 fee, including any charge for single pre12 mium credit insurance, any fee for a debt 

13 cancellation contract, or any fee for a debt 

14 suspension agreement; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) any fee for a credit-related ancil16 lary product sold in connection with the 

17 credit card account under an open-end (not 

18 home-secured) consumer credit plan. 

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

20 section may be construed to preempt any provision of 

21 State law that provides greater protection to consumers 

22 than is provided under this section. 

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

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

25 extends consumer credit to a consumer in violation of this 


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

2 to a creditor who extends consumer credit to a covered 

3 member or a dependent with respect to a covered member 

4 (as those terms are defined in such section 987). 

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

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

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

8 this section occurs, the attorney general of a State 

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

10 the name of that State— 

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

12 States that is located in that State or in a 

13 State court that is located in that State and 

14 that has jurisdiction over the defendant; and 

15 ‘‘(B) to— 

16 ‘‘(i) enforce provisions of this section 

17 or rules issued under this section; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) secure remedies under provisions 

19 of this section or remedies otherwise pro20 vided under other law. 

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

22 years after the date on which a violation of this sec23 tion occurs, a State regulator may bring a civil ac24 tion or initiate another appropriate proceeding to— 


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

2 or regulations issued under this section with re3 spect to any entity that is, or is required to be, 

4 State-chartered, incorporated, licensed, or oth5 erwise authorized to do business under State 

6 law; and 

7 ‘‘(B) secure remedies under provisions of 

8 this section or remedies otherwise provided 

9 under other provisions of law with respect to an 

10 entity described in subparagraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(3) NOTICE REQUIREMENT; ADDITIONAL REG12 ULATIONS.—Subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 

13 1042 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

14 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5552), shall apply to a civil action 

15 or other appropriate proceeding brought or initiated 

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

17 those subsections apply to actions and other admin18 istrative and regulatory proceedings described in 

19 subsection (a) of such section 1042. 

20 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.— 

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

22 1027(o) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

23 (12 U.S.C. 5517(o)), not later than 1 year after the 

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

25 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall— 


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

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) notify Congress and the public, in4 cluding on the website of the Bureau, regarding 

5 the issuance of the rules required under sub6 paragraph (A). 

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

8 Bureau under paragraph (1)— 

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

10 by the Secretary of Defense to carry out section 

11 987 of title 10, United States Code; and 

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

13 consumers than the protection afforded covered 

14 members, as that term is defined in section 987 

15 of title 10, United States Code, in applicable 

16 provisions in the rules issued by the Secretary 

17 of Defense on July 22, 2015, to carry out such 

18 section 987.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 for chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

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

22 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub23 section (a) shall apply to an extension of credit made after 

24 the earlier of— 


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

2 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection under 

3 subsection (g) of section 140B of the Truth in Lend4 ing Act, as added by subsection (a) of this section, 

5 require compliance; and 

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

7 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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