I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5021 
To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act to improve consumer protections relating 
to debt collection practices, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 8, 2019 
Ms. PRESSLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 
and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to improve 
consumer protections relating to debt collection practices, 
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 ‘‘Ending Debt Collection 
Harassment Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS RELATING TO DEBT COL-
LECTION PRACTICES. 
(a) REPORTS ON DEBT COLLECTION COMPLAINTS 
AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 
(1) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 1016(c) of 
the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 
U.S.C. 5496(c)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(10) an analysis of the consumer complaints 
received by the Bureau with respect to debt collec-
tion, including a State-by-State breakdown of such 
complaints; and 
‘‘(11) a list of enforcement actions taken 
against debt collectors during the preceding year.’’. 
(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 815(a) of the 
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692m(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new sentence: ‘‘Each such report shall also 
include an analysis of the impact of electronic com-
munications by debt collectors on consumer experi-
ences with debt collection, including a consideration 
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of consumer complaints about the use of electronic 
communications in debt collection.’’. 
(b) LIMITATION ON DEBT COLLECTION RULES.— 
Section 1022 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 
of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5512) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON DEBT COLLECTION RULES.— 
The Director may not issue any rule with respect to debt 
collection that allows a debt collector to send unlimited 
email and text messages to a consumer.’’. 
(c) PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS FROM UNLIMITED 
TEXTS AND EMAILS USED IN DEBT COLLECTION.—Sec-
tion 806 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 
U.S.C. 1692d) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) Contacting the consumer electronically, in-
cluding by email or text message, without consent of 
the consumer, after such consent has been with-
drawn, or more frequently than the consumer con-
sents to be contacted.’’. 
(d) ENSURING CONSUMERS RECEIVE NOTICE
OF 
DEBT COLLECTION PROTECTIONS.—Section 809(a) of the 
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)) 
is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by 
striking ‘‘Within five days’’ and all that follows through 
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‘‘debt,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘NOTICE OF DEBT; 
CONTENTS.—Within five days after the initial commu-
nication with a consumer in connection with the collection 
of any debt,’’. 
(e) LIMITATIONS ON DEBT COLLECTION RULES.— 
Section 814(d) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1692l(d)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: ‘‘Such rules— 
‘‘(1) may not allow a debt collector to send un-
limited electronic communications to a consumer; 
‘‘(2) shall require debt collectors to obtain con-
sent directly from consumers before contacting them 
using a method other than by postal mail or by 
phone; 
‘‘(3) may not waive the requirements of the 
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Com-
merce Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.); and 
‘‘(4) shall allow consumers to opt out of any 
method of communication that the debt collector 
uses to communicate with consumers, including a 
method for which such consumer had given prior 
consent.’’. 
Æ 
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