I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5934 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to safeguard access to 
information for consumers and to stop abusive debt litigation, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 21, 2020 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. FOSTER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to safe-
guard access to information for consumers and to stop 
abusive debt litigation, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Consumers 
Against Misrepresented Debt Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘SCAM 
Debt Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 803 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1692a) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(9) The term ‘legal action’ means any lawsuit 
or legal proceeding (including litigation, arbitration, 
enforcement of security interests, post-judgment ac-
tions, and mediation) pursued, taken, threatened, of-
fered, or requested by debt collectors.’’. 
SEC. 3. FALSE OR MISLEADING REPRESENTATIONS. 
Section 807(11) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692e(11)) is amended by striking ‘‘legal 
action’’ and inserting ‘‘lawsuit’’. 
SEC. 4. VALIDATION OF DEBTS. 
Section 809(a) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
striking ‘‘the following information is contained in 
the initial communication or’’; 
(2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) an itemization of the amount of the debt 
that includes— 
‘‘(A) the total amount of the debt owed on 
the date of the notice; 
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‘‘(B) the most recent date of default on the 
debt; and 
‘‘(C) the amount owed on the most recent 
date of default, the amount of any payments 
made since such date, and the amount of any 
interest or fees accrued on the debt since such 
date;’’; 
(3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(2) the name of the original creditor and, if 
different, the name of the creditor on the most re-
cent date of default and the name of the current 
creditor to whom the debt is owed;’’. 
(4) in paragraph (4)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘in writing’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(5) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘written’’; and 
(B) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting a semicolon; and 
(6) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) the account number of the debt on the 
most recent date of default; and 
‘‘(7) all methods that the consumer can use to 
contact the debt collector.’’. 
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