I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3977 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish limits on certain fees 

with regard to credit card accounts under open-end consumer credit 

plans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2009 

Ms. SUTTON (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, 

Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. HARE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. HASTINGS of 

Florida, Mr. SIRES, Mr. COURTNEY, and Ms. MARKEY of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish limits 

on certain fees with regard to credit card accounts under 

open-end consumer credit plans, 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 ‘‘Credit Card Fee Limi5 tation and Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ESTABLISHED. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127 of the Truth in Lend8 ing Act (U.S.C. 1637) is amended by inserting after subVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:13 Oct 31, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3977.IH H3977

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1 section (r) (as added by the Credit CARD Act of 2009) 

2 the following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(s) LIMITATIONS ON FEES AND OTHER ACTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FEES.—A cred5 itor may not impose any of the following on any 

6 credit card account under an open-end consumer 

7 credit plan: 

8 ‘‘(A) Any fee directly or indirectly related 

9 to the failure of the consumer to use the credit 

10 card to obtain an extension of credit during any 

11 period. 

12 ‘‘(B) Any fee directly or indirectly related 

13 to the failure of the consumer to carry an out14 standing balance from any billing cycle to an15 other. 

16 ‘‘(C) Any fee directly or indirectly related 

17 to the failure of the consumer to obtain a min18 imum amount of credit under such account dur19 ing any specified period. 

20 ‘‘(2) NO-EFFECT CANCELLATION OF ACCOUNT

21 UPON INTRODUCTION OF ANNUAL FEE.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, in the case of a 

23 credit card account under an open-end con24 sumer credit plan which did not require the 

25 payment of an annual fee under the terms of 


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1 such plan at the time the account was first 

2 opened, a creditor imposes an annual fee at any 

3 time after such account is opened, the consumer 

4 may— 

5 ‘‘(i) cancel such account within 45 

6 days of receiving notice of such fee imposi7 tion; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) pay any outstanding balance on 

9 the account at the time of cancellation in 

10 accordance with the terms in effect at the 

11 time of such cancellation. 

12 ‘‘(B) NO ADVERSE EFFECTS.—No creditor 

13 may take any action with respect to any con14 sumer who cancels a credit card account in ac15 cordance with subparagraph (A), as a direct or 

16 indirect result of such cancellation, which would 

17 have any adverse effect on such consumer and 

18 such consumer’s ability to obtain credit under a 

19 credit card account under an open-end con20 sumer credit plan. 

21 ‘‘(3) REASONABLE ANNUAL FEES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of any 

23 annual fee that a card issuer may impose with 

24 respect to a credit card account under an open25 end consumer credit plan, shall be reasonable. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—The 

2 Board, in consultation with the Comptroller of 

3 the Currency, the Board of Directors of the 

4 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Di5 rector of the Office of Thrift Supervision, and 

6 the National Credit Union Administration 

7 Board, shall issue final rules not later than 6 

8 months after the date of enactment of this sec9 tion, to establish standards for assessing wheth10 er the amount of any annual fee is reasonable. 

11 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing rules 

12 required by this section, the Board shall con13 sider— 

14 ‘‘(i) the purported reason the creditor 

15 is instituting an annual fee; 

16 ‘‘(ii) if the credit card account had an 

17 annual fee at the opening of the account; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iii) such other factors as the Board 

20 may deem necessary or appropriate.’’. 

21 (b) LIMITATION ON ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CAN22 CELLATION ON CREDIT SCORE.—Section 609 of the Fair 

23 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended by 

24 adding at the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(h) LIMITATION ON ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CAN2 CELLATION ON CREDIT SCORE.—No consumer reporting 

3 agency or other person who develops a credit score (as 

4 defined in subsection (f)(2)) for any consumer may take 

5 any action with respect to, or make any determination 

6 based on, the cancellation by the consumer of a credit card 

7 account under an open-end consumer credit plan in ac8 cordance with section 127(s)(2) which would result in the 

9 development or distribution of a credit score for such con10 sumer which is lower than a credit score that would result 

11 for such consumer without taking into account such can12 cellation.’’. 

Æ 


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