II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3350 

To make improvements to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2012 

Mr. FRANKEN (for himself 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 make improvements to the Fair Debt Collection Practices 

Act, 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 ‘‘End Debt Collector 

5 Abuse Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENHANCED VALIDATION NOTICES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 809(a) of the Fair Debt 

8 Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)) is amend9 ed— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; and 

3 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(5) the date of the last payment made by or 

6 on behalf of the consumer on the subject debt and 

7 the amount of the debt at that time; 

8 ‘‘(6) the name and address of the last person 

9 to extend credit with respect to the debt; 

10 ‘‘(7) an itemization of the principal, fees, inter11 est, and any other charges that make up the debt, 

12 including any other charges added after the date of 

13 the last payment made by or on behalf of the con14 sumer on the subject debt; 

15 ‘‘(8) a description of the rights of the con16 sumer— 

17 ‘‘(A) to request that the debt collector 

18 cease communication with the consumer under 

19 section 805(c); and 

20 ‘‘(B) to have collection efforts stopped 

21 under subsection (b); and 

22 ‘‘(9) the name and contact information of the 

23 person responsible for handling complaints on behalf 

24 of the debt collector.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend2 ments made by this section shall become effective 1 year 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 3. MEDICAL DEBT PROVISIONS. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 802 of the Fair Debt Collec6 tion Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub8 section (f); and 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(e) Medical debt is unique among types of consumer 

12 debt in that— 

13 ‘‘(1) with very few exceptions, consumers seek 

14 out health care services out of medical need, not 

15 choice; 

16 ‘‘(2) consumers typically do not know the cost 

17 of health care services in advance and are not in a 

18 position to negotiate a lower price; and 

19 ‘‘(3) overly aggressive medical debt collection 

20 can discourage consumers from seeking needed 

21 healthcare services, with dire financial, physical and 

22 public health consequences for themselves and their 

23 communities.’’. 

24 (b) PROHIBITING MEDICAL FACILITY CONTACTS.— 

25 Section 806 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 


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1 U.S.C. 1692d) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(7) Communicating or attempting to commu4 nicate with a consumer in connection with the collec5 tion of any debt in a hospital emergency department, 

6 labor and delivery department, or any department 

7 where critical care medical services are provided, 

8 such as the intensive care unit. Nothing in this para9 graph prohibits a health care provider from pro10 viding information to a consumer about a debt in re11 sponse to a direct request from the consumer or dis12 cussing a debt at the time the consumer is dis13 charged.’’. 

14 (c) ACTIONS CONSTITUTING UNFAIR MEDICAL DEBT

15 COLLECTION PRACTICES.—Section 808 of the Fair Debt 

16 Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(9) Withholding emergency medical services, 

19 taking action to delay such services, threatening to 

20 withhold such services, or giving the impression that 

21 such services will be withheld until a debt is paid. 

22 ‘‘(10) Using protected health information, as 

23 defined in regulations promulgated pursuant to sec24 tion 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and 

25 Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 


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1 note), except to the extent as is absolutely necessary 

2 to provide adequate information to consumers.’’. 

3 (d) TREATMENT OF MEDICAL DEBT.—The Fair 

4 Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 820. TREATMENT OF MEDICAL DEBT. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 806, 807 (other than 

8 paragraph (11)), 808, 811, and 813, shall apply to the 

9 collection of a medical debt, whether or not the debt is 

10 being collected directly by the creditor or on behalf of the 

11 creditor by a third party, and regardless of whether such 

12 debt is current or past due. 

13 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—Any person 

14 attempting to collect a medical debt shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) in the initial written communication to the 

16 consumer— 

17 ‘‘(A) prominently disclose the availability 

18 of any charity care coverage (or the equivalent 

19 thereof), financial assistance, discounts based 

20 on income eligibility, or public or private insur21 ance coverage that may assist in the payment 

22 of all or part of the debt; and 

23 ‘‘(B) provide the consumer with informa24 tion regarding how to apply for such programs; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(2) in the initial oral communication to the 

2 consumer— 

3 ‘‘(A) orally disclose the availability of any 

4 charity care coverage (or the equivalent there5 of), financial assistance, discounts based on in6 come eligibility, or public or private insurance 

7 coverage that may assist in the payment of all 

8 or part of the debt; and 

9 ‘‘(B) provide the consumer with informa10 tion regarding how to apply for such programs. 

11 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

12 term ‘medical debt’ means debt arising from the receipt 

13 of medical services, products, or devices.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. DISPUTE INVESTIGATIONS AND VERIFICATION. 

15 Section 809(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 

16 Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(b)) is amended— 

17 (1) by inserting after ‘‘(b)’’ the following: ‘‘DIS18 PUTED DEBTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—’’; and 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘Collection activities’’ and in21 serting the following: 

22 ‘‘(2) REASONABLE INVESTIGATION AND

23 VERIFICATION REQUIRED.—Upon receipt of a notifi24 cation under paragraph (1) that a debt is disputed 

25 by the consumer, the debt collector shall undertake 


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1 a thorough investigation of the substance of the dis2 pute, and shall timely provide to the consumer spe3 cific responsive information and verification of the 

4 disputed debt. 

5 ‘‘(3) COLLECTION ACTIVITIES.—Collection ac6 tivities’’. 

7 SEC. 5. AWARD OF DAMAGES. 

8 (a) ADDITIONAL DAMAGES INDEXED FOR INFLA9 TION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 813 of the Fair 

11 Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(f) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) INITIAL ADJUSTMENT.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the date of the enactment of this sub16 section, the Bureau shall provide a percentage in17 crease (rounded to the nearest multiple of $100 or 

18 $1,000, as applicable) in the amounts set forth in 

19 such section equal to the percentage by which— 

20 ‘‘(A) the Consumer Price Index for All 

21 Urban Consumers (all items, United States city 

22 average) for the 12-month period ending on the 

23 June 30 preceding the date on which the per24 centage increase is provided, exceeds 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12- 

2 month period preceding January 1, 1978. 

3 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS.—With respect to 

4 any fiscal year beginning after the date of the in5 crease provided under paragraph (1), the Bureau 

6 shall provide a percentage increase (rounded to the 

7 nearest multiple of $100 or $1,000, as applicable) in 

8 the amounts set forth in this section equal to the 

9 percentage by which— 

10 ‘‘(A) the Consumer Price Index for All 

11 Urban Consumers (all items, United States city 

12 average) for the 12-month period ending on the 

13 June 30 preceding the beginning of the fiscal 

14 year for which the increase is made, exceeds 

15 ‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12- 

16 month period preceding the 12-month period 

17 described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

18 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The increases made under 

19 section 813(f) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 

20 Act, as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection, 

21 shall apply with respect to failures to comply with a 

22 provision of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) oc23 curring on or after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act. 


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1 (b) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Section 813(d) of the Fair 

2 Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(d)) is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In a civil 

4 action alleging a violation of this title, the court may 

5 award appropriate relief, including injunctive relief.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. WARRANT FOR ARREST AS UNFAIR DEBT COLLEC7 TION PRACTICE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 808 of the Fair Debt Col9 lection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(11) A request by a debt collector to a court 

12 or any law enforcement agency for the issuance of 

13 a warrant for the arrest of a debtor or any other 

14 similar request that a debt collector knows or should 

15 know would lead to the issuance of an arrest war16 rant, in relation to collection of a debt.’’. 

17 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (11) of section 808 

18 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by 

19 subsection (a), shall not be construed to limit the inherent 

20 authority of a court to hold a debtor in civil contempt, 

21 nor to limit the ability of a debt collector to seek a writ 

22 of execution or similar remedy to take possession of prop23 erty in order to satisfy a valid judgment of debt. 

Æ 


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