I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1509 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain issues relating to 
the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 5, 2019 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself and Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain 
issues relating to the extension of consumer credit, 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 ‘‘Stopping Abuse and 
Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 
Lending Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. CONSUMER CONTROL OVER BANK ACCOUNTS. 
(a) PROHIBITING UNAUTHORIZED REMOTELY CRE-
ATED CHECKS.—Section 905 of the Electronic Fund 
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Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693c) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(d) 
LIMITATIONS
ON
REMOTELY
CREATED 
CHECKS.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘remotely created check’ 
means a check, including a paper or electronic 
check and any other payment order that the 
Bureau, by rule, determines is appropriately 
covered under this subsection, that— 
‘‘(i) is not created by the financial in-
stitution that holds the customer account 
from which the check is to be paid; and 
‘‘(ii) does not bear a signature ap-
plied, or purported to be applied, by the 
person from whose account the check is to 
be paid; and 
‘‘(B) the term ‘Federal consumer financial 
law’ has the meaning given the term in section 
1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 
of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—Subject to the limitations 
in paragraph (3) and any additional limitations that 
the Bureau may establish, by rule, a remotely cre-
ated check may only be issued by a person des-
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ignated in writing by a consumer with that written 
designation specifically provided by the consumer to 
the insured depository institution at which the con-
sumer maintains the account from which the check 
is to be drawn. 
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A designation pro-
vided by a consumer under paragraph (2) may 
be revoked at any time by the consumer. 
‘‘(B) CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 
LAWS.—No payment order, including a re-
motely created check, may be issued by any per-
son in response to the exercise of, or attempt to 
exercise, any right by a consumer under— 
‘‘(i) any Federal consumer financial 
law; or 
‘‘(ii) any other provision of any law or 
regulation within the jurisdiction of the 
Bureau.’’. 
(b) CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR CERTAIN ONE- 
TIME ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS.—Section 913 of 
the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693k) is 
amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before ‘‘No person’’; 
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(2) in subsection (a)(1), as so designated, by 
striking ‘‘preauthorized electronic fund transfers’’ 
and inserting ‘‘an electronic fund transfer’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) TREATMENT FOR ELECTRONIC FUND TRANS-
FERS IN CREDIT EXTENSIONS.—If a consumer voluntarily 
agrees to repay an extension of a small-dollar consumer 
credit transaction, as defined in section 110(a) of the 
Truth in Lending Act, by means of an electronic fund 
transfer, the electronic fund transfer shall be treated as 
a preauthorized electronic fund transfer subject to the pro-
tections of this title.’’. 
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT 
IN SMALL-DOLLAR LENDING. 
(a) SMALL-DOLLAR
CONSUMER
CREDIT
TRANS-
ACTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Truth in Lending Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended— 
(A) by inserting after section 109 (15 
U.S.C. 1608) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 110. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL-DOL-
LAR LENDERS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘small- 
dollar consumer credit transaction’— 
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‘‘(1) means any transaction that extends credit 
that is— 
‘‘(A) made to a consumer in an amount 
that— 
‘‘(i) is not more than— 
‘‘(I) $5,000; or 
‘‘(II) such greater amount as the 
Bureau may, by rule, determine; and 
‘‘(ii) shall be adjusted annually to re-
flect changes in the Consumer Price Index 
for all urban consumers published by the 
Department of Labor; and 
‘‘(B) extended pursuant to an agreement 
that is— 
‘‘(i)(I) other than an open end credit 
plan; and 
‘‘(II) payable in one or more install-
ments of less than 12 months (or such 
longer period as the Bureau may, by rule, 
determine); 
‘‘(ii) an open end credit plan in which 
each advance is fully repayable within a 
defined time or in connection with a de-
fined event, or both; or 
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‘‘(iii) any other plan as the Bureau 
determines, by rule; and 
‘‘(2) includes any action that facilitates, bro-
kers, arranges, or gathers applications for a trans-
action described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(b) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.—A person shall 
register with the Bureau before issuing credit in a small- 
dollar consumer credit transaction.’’; and 
(B) in section 173 (15 U.S.C. 1666j), by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this 
title, any small-dollar consumer credit transaction, as de-
fined in section 110(a), shall comply with the laws of the 
State in which the consumer to which the transaction is 
made resides with respect to annual percentage rates, in-
terest, fees, charges, and such other similar or related 
matters as the Bureau may, by rule, determine if the 
small-dollar consumer credit transaction is— 
‘‘(1) made over— 
‘‘(A) the Internet; 
‘‘(B) telephone; 
‘‘(C) facsimile; 
‘‘(D) mail; 
‘‘(E) electronic mail; or 
‘‘(F) other electronic communication; or 
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‘‘(2) conducted by a national bank.’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 1 of the 
Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 109 the following: 
‘‘110. Registration requirement for small-dollar lenders.’’. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FEES.—Section 915 
of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693l– 
1) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(2)(A), in the matter pre-
ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘The term’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Subject to subsection (d)(1), the term’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL FEES PROHIBITED.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘prepaid account’ has the meaning given the term by 
rule of the Bureau. 
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—With respect to the use of 
a prepaid account by a consumer— 
‘‘(A) it shall be unlawful for any person to 
charge the consumer a fee for an overdraft, in-
cluding a shortage of funds or a transaction 
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processed for an amount exceeding the account 
balance of the prepaid account; 
‘‘(B) any transaction for an amount ex-
ceeding the account balance of the prepaid ac-
count may be declined, except that the con-
sumer may not be charged a fee for that pur-
pose; and 
‘‘(C) the Bureau may, by rule, prohibit the 
charging of any fee so that the Bureau may— 
‘‘(i) prevent unfair, deceptive, or abu-
sive practices; and 
‘‘(ii) promote the ability of the con-
sumer to understand and compare the 
costs of prepaid accounts.’’. 
SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL- 
DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend-
ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 140B. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN 
SMALL-DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANS-
ACTIONS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the terms ‘Internet access service’ and 
‘Internet information location tool’ have the mean-
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ings given those terms in section 231(e) of the Com-
munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)); 
‘‘(2) the term ‘sensitive personal financial infor-
mation’ means a Social Security number, financial 
account number, bank routing number, bank ac-
count number, or security or access code that is im-
mediately necessary to permit access to the financial 
account of an individual; and 
‘‘(3) the term ‘small-dollar consumer credit 
transaction’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 110(a). 
‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.—Any person 
facilitating, brokering, arranging for, or gathering applica-
tions for, the distribution of sensitive personal financial 
information in connection with a small-dollar consumer 
credit transaction shall prominently disclose information 
by which the person may be contacted or identified, includ-
ing for service of process and for identification of the reg-
istrant of any domain name registered or used. 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL- 
DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS.—No person 
may facilitate, broker, arrange for, or gather applications 
for the distribution of sensitive personal financial informa-
tion in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit 
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transaction, unless the person is directly providing the 
small-dollar consumer credit to a consumer. 
‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 
may be construed to limit the authority of the Bu-
reau to further restrict activities covered by this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION.—For the purposes of this 
section, it shall not be considered facilitating the dis-
tribution of sensitive personal financial information 
in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit 
transaction to be engaged solely in one of the fol-
lowing activities: 
‘‘(A) The provision of a telecommuni-
cations service, an Internet access service, or an 
Internet information location tool. 
‘‘(B) The transmission, storage, retrieval, 
hosting, formatting, or translation (or any com-
bination thereof) of a communication, without 
selection or alteration of the content of the 
communication, except the deletion of a par-
ticular communication or material made by an-
other person in a manner that is consistent 
with section 230(c) of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)).’’. 
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(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend-
ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘140B. Restrictions on lead generation in small-dollar consumer credit trans-
actions.’’. 
SEC. 5. STUDIES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 
(B) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 
Senate; 
(C) the Committee on Financial Services of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(D) the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives; and 
(2) the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-
mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
5304). 
(b) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall conduct a study regard-
ing— 
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(1) the availability of capital on reservations of 
Indian tribes; and 
(2) the impact that small-dollar consumer credit 
extended through Internet and non-Internet means 
to members of Indian tribes has had on economic 
opportunity and wealth for members of Indian 
tribes. 
(c) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study re-
quired under subsection (b), the Comptroller General of 
the United States shall consult, as appropriate, with— 
(1) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec-
tion; 
(2) the Board of Governors of the Federal Re-
serve System; 
(3) the Director of the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs; 
(4) federally recognized Indian tribes; and 
(5) community development financial institu-
tions operating in Indian lands. 
(d) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit to the 
appropriate committees of Congress the study required 
under subsection (b). 
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SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 
shall adopt any final rules necessary to implement the pro-
visions of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 
Æ 
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