IB 

Union Calendar No. 538 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4403 

[Report No. 116–654] 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to restrict the debt collection 

practices of certain debt collectors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Mr. HILL of Arkansas) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

DECEMBER 15, 2020 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 19, 2019] 

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A BILL 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to restrict 

the debt collection practices of certain debt collectors. 

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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 ‘‘Stop Debt Collection 

5 Abuse Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 803 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 1692a) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘facilitating 

10 collection of such debt for another’’ and inserting ‘‘col11 lection of such debt’’; 

12 (2) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(5) The term ‘debt’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) any obligation or alleged obligation of 

16 a consumer to pay money arising out of a trans17 action in which the money, property, insurance, 

18 or services which are the subject of the trans19 action are primarily for personal, family, or 

20 household purposes, whether or not such obliga21 tion has been reduced to judgment; or 

22 ‘‘(B) any obligation or alleged obligation of 

23 a consumer— 

24 ‘‘(i) to pay a loan, an overpayment, a 

25 fine, a penalty, a fee, or other money curVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4403.RH H4403
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1 rently or originally owed to a Federal agen2 cy; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) that is not less than 180 days 

4 past due.’’; and 

5 (3) in paragraph (6)— 

6 (A) by striking the first sentence and insert7 ing the following: ‘‘The term ‘debt collector’ 

8 means any person who uses any instrumentality 

9 of interstate commerce or the mails in any busi10 ness the principal purpose of which is the collec11 tion of any debts; who regularly collects or at12 tempts to collect, directly or indirectly, by the 

13 person’s own means or by hiring another debt 

14 collector, debts owed or due or asserted to be 

15 owed or due another or that have been obtained 

16 by assignment or transfer from another; or who 

17 regularly collects debts currently or originally 

18 owed or allegedly owed to a Federal agency.’’; 

19 and 

20 (B) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘or 

21 that has been obtained by assignment or transfer 

22 from another’’ after ‘‘owed or due another’’. 

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1 SEC. 3. DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES FOR DEBT COLLEC2 TORS HIRED BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Debt Collection Practices 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

5 section 812 (15 U.S.C. 1692j) the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 812A. Debt collection practices for debt collectors 

7 hired by Federal agencies 

8 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON TIME TO TURN DEBT OVER TO

9 DEBT COLLECTOR.—A Federal agency that is a creditor 

10 may sell or transfer a debt described in section 803(5)(B) 

11 to a debt collector not earlier than 90 days after the date 

12 on which the obligation or alleged obligation becomes delin13 quent or defaults. 

14 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED NOTICE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before transferring or selling 

16 a debt described in section 803(5)(B) to a debt col17 lector or contracting with a debt collector to collect 

18 such a debt, a Federal agency shall notify the con19 sumer not fewer than 3 times that the Federal agency 

20 will take such action. 

21 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY OF NOTIFICATIONS.—The sec22 ond and third notifications described in paragraph 

23 (1) shall be made not less than 30 days after the date 

24 on which the previous notification is made.’’. 

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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents for 

2 the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is amended by insert3 ing after the item relating to section 812 the following: 

‘‘812A. Debt collection practices for debt collectors hired by Federal agencies.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. UNFAIR PRACTICES. 

5 Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 

6 (15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by striking paragraph (1) 

7 and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) The collection of any amount (including 

9 any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the 

10 principal obligation) unless— 

11 ‘‘(A) such amount is expressly authorized by 

12 the agreement creating the debt or permitted by 

13 law; and 

14 ‘‘(B) in the case of any amount charged by 

15 a debt collector collecting a debt described in sec16 tion 803(5)(B), such amount is— 

17 ‘‘(i) reasonable in relation to the ac18 tual costs of the collection; 

19 ‘‘(ii) authorized by a contract between 

20 the debt collector and the Federal agency; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iii) not greater than 10 percent of 

23 the amount collected by the debt collector.’’. 

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1 SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY 

2 AND REPORT. 

3 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

4 States shall commence a study on the use of debt collectors 

5 by State and local government agencies, including— 

6 (1) the powers given to the debt collectors by 

7 Federal, State, and local government agencies; 

8 (2) the contracting process that allows a Federal, 

9 State, or local government agency to award debt col10 lection to a certain company, including the selection 

11 process; 

12 (3) any fees charged to debtors in addition to 

13 principal and interest on the outstanding debt; 

14 (4) how the fees described in paragraph (3) vary 

15 from State to State; 

16 (5) consumer protection at the State level that 

17 offer recourse to those whom debts have been wrong18 fully attributed; 

19 (6) the revenues received by debt collectors from 

20 Federal, State, and local government agencies; 

21 (7) the amount of any revenue sharing agree22 ments between debt collectors and Federal, State, and 

23 local government agencies; 

24 (8) the difference in debt collection procedures 

25 across geographic regions, including the extent to 

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1 which debt collectors pursue court judgments to collect 

2 debts; and 

3 (9) any legal immunity or other protections 

4 given to the debt collectors hired by State and local 

5 government agencies, including whether the debt col6 lectors are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Prac7 tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.). 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

10 United States shall submit to Congress a report on the com11 pleted study required under subsection (a). 

Union Calendar No. 538 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4403 

[Report No. 116–654] 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to 

debt collectors. restrict the debt collection practices of certain 

DECEMBER 15, 2020 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,