I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5300 

To establish requirements with respect to the terms of consumer credit extended by a creditor to a servicemember or the dependent of a 

servicemember, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2004 

Mr. GRAVES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish requirements with respect to the terms of consumer credit extended by a creditor to a servicemember 

or the dependent of a servicemember, 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 ‘‘Servicemembers Anti5 Predatory Lending Protection Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. TERMS OF CONSUMER CREDIT EXTENDED TO 

2 SERVICEMEMBER OR SERVICEMEMBER’S DE3 PENDENT. 

4 (a) TERMS OF CONSUMER CREDIT.—Title II of the 

5 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521 et 

6 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 208. TERMS OF CONSUMER CREDIT. 

9 ‘‘(a) INTEREST.—A creditor who extends consumer 

10 credit to a servicemember or a servicemember’s dependent 

11 shall not require the servicemember or the 

12 servicemember’s dependent to pay interest with respect to 

13 the extension of such credit, except as— 

14 ‘‘(1) agreed to under the terms of the credit 

15 agreement or promissory note; 

16 ‘‘(2) authorized by the applicable State law; and 

17 ‘‘(3) not specifically prohibited by this section. 

18 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE.—A creditor de19 scribed in subsection (a) shall not impose an annual per20 centage rate greater than 36 percent with respect to the 

21 consumer credit extended to a servicemember or a 

22 servicemember’s dependent. 

23 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY LOAN DISCLOSURES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—With respect 

25 to any extension of consumer credit to a 

26 servicemember or a servicemember’s dependent, a 
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1 creditor shall provide to the servicemember or the 

2 servicemember’s dependent the following information 

3 in writing at or before the issuance of the credit: 

4 ‘‘(A) A statement of the annual percentage 

5 rate applicable to the extension of credit. 

6 ‘‘(B) Any disclosures required under the 

7 Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

8 ‘‘(C) A clear description of the payment 

9 obligations of the servicemember or the 

10 servicemember’s dependent, as applicable. 

11 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—Such disclosures shall be pre12 sented in accordance with terms prescribed by the 

13 regulations issued by the Board of Governors of the 

14 Federal Reserve System to implement the Truth in 

15 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—A creditor described in sub17 section (a) shall not automatically renew, repay, refinance, 

18 or consolidate with the proceeds of other credit extended 

19 by the same creditor any consumer credit extended to a 

20 servicemember or a servicemember’s dependent without— 

21 ‘‘(1) executing new loan documentation signed 

22 by the servicemember or the servicemember’s de23 pendent, as applicable; and 
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1 ‘‘(2) providing the loan disclosures described in 

2 subsection (c) to the servicemember or the 

3 servicemember’s dependent. 

4 ‘‘(e) PREEMPTION.—Except as provided in subsection 

5 (f)(2), this section preempts any State or Federal law, 

6 rule, or regulation, including any State usury law, to the 

7 extent that such laws, rules, or regulations are incon8 sistent with this section, except that this section shall not 

9 preempt any such law, rule, or regulation that provides 

10 additional protection to a servicemember or a 

11 servicemember’s dependent. 

12 ‘‘(f) PENALTIES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) MISDEMEANOR.—Any creditor who know14 ingly violates this section shall be fined as provided 

15 in title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for 

16 not more than one year, or both. 

17 ‘‘(2) PRESERVATION OF OTHER REMEDIES.— 

18 The remedies and rights provided under this section 

19 are in addition to and do not preclude any remedy 

20 otherwise available under law to the person claiming 

21 relief under this section, including any award for 

22 consequential and punitive damages. 

23 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

24 term ‘interest’ includes service charges, renewal charges, 
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1 fees, or any other charges (except bona fide insurance) 

2 with respect to the extension of consumer credit.’’. 

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

4 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 

5 501) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

6 section 207 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 208. Terms of consumer credit.’’. 

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