I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5674 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to provide enhanced protection against debt collector harassment of members of the Armed Forces, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 

Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania (for herself and Mr. DAVIDSON) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to provide 

enhanced protection against debt collector harassment 

of members of the Armed Forces, 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 ‘‘Fair Debt Collection 

5 Practices for Servicemembers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCED PROTECTION AGAINST DEBT COL2 LECTOR HARASSMENT OF 

3 SERVICEMEMBERS. 

4 (a) COMMUNICATION IN CONNECTION WITH DEBT

5 COLLECTION.—Section 805 of the Fair Debt Collection 

6 Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692c) is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING SERVICEMEM9 BER DEBTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) COVERED MEMBER DEFINED.—In this 

11 subsection, the term ‘covered member’ means any of 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) A covered member or a dependent as 

14 defined in section 987(i) of title 10, United 

15 States Code. 

16 ‘‘(B) An individual who was separated, dis17 charged, or released from duty described in 

18 such section 987(i)(1), but only during the 365- 

19 day period beginning on the date of separation, 

20 discharge, or release. 

21 ‘‘(C) A person, with respect to an indi22 vidual described in subparagraph (B), described 

23 in subparagraph (A), (D), (E), or (I) of section 

24 1072(2) of title 10, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITIONS.—A debt collector may not, 

2 in connection with the collection of any debt of a 

3 covered member— 

4 ‘‘(A) threaten to have the covered member 

5 reduced in rank; 

6 ‘‘(B) threaten to have the covered mem7 ber’s security clearance revoked; or 

8 ‘‘(C) threaten to have the covered member 

9 prosecuted under chapter 47 of title 10, United 

10 States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Jus11 tice).’’. 

12 (b) UNFAIR PRACTICES.—Section 808 of the Fair 

13 Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amend14 ed by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(9) The representation or implication to any 

16 covered member (as defined under section 805(e)(1)) 

17 that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will re18 sult in— 

19 ‘‘(A) a reduction in rank of the covered 

20 member; 

21 ‘‘(B) a revocation of the covered member’s 

22 security clearance; or 

23 ‘‘(C) prosecution under chapter 47 of title 

24 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of 

25 Military Justice).’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

2 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

3 conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on the 

4 impact of this Act on— 

5 (1) the timely delivery of information to a cov6 ered member (as defined in section 805(e) of the 

7 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by this 

8 Act); 

9 (2) military readiness; and 

10 (3) national security, including the extent to 

11 which covered members with security clearances 

12 would be impacted by uncollected debt. 

Æ 


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