I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3175
To prohibit creditors from imposing late fees, increasing interest rates, or
submitting adverse credit information with regard to the account of
a consumer whose mail service has been disrupted due to a biological,
chemical, or radiological attack, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 29, 2001
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To prohibit creditors from imposing late fees, increasing in-
terest rates, or submitting adverse credit information
with regard to the account of a consumer whose mail
service has been disrupted due to a biological, chemical,
or radiological attack, 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 ‘‘Late Fee Emergency
Relief Act of 2001’’.
than an increase in the annual percentage rate due
to a change in an index or rate of interest—
‘‘(A) on which such annual percentage rate
is based;
‘‘(B) which is publicly available; and
‘‘(C) which is not under the control of the
creditor.
‘‘(3) No payment information that is adverse to
the interest of the consumer or would adversely af-
fect the consumer’s credit rating or credit standing
may be submitted by a creditor to a consumer re-
porting agency.
‘‘(4) If the date by which or the end of the pe-
riod within which, a payment must be made in con-
nection with the consumer credit transaction under
the terms of the agreement falls within the effective
period of the designation, such date or period shall
be extended for an additional 30 days.
‘‘(b) DESIGNATION AS A BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, OR
RADIOLOGICAL
ATTACK-RELATED
MAIL
DISRUPTION
AREA.—
‘‘(1) DESIGNATION REQUIRED.—If the collec-
tion, transmission, or distribution of any mail by the
United States Postal Service is disrupted due, in
whole or in part, to a biological, chemical, or radio-
logical attack, the Postmaster General shall prompt-
ly designate the postal zip code in which such dis-
ruption occurs for purposes of subsection (a) effec-
tive for a 30-day period beginning on the date the
disruption first occcured.
‘‘(2) EXTENSION
OF
PERIOD.—If the Post-
master General determines that mail service in any
postal zip code designated under paragraph (1) has
not been fully restored at least 7 days before the end
of the period referred to in such paragraph, such
designation shall continue in effect until the end of
the 7-day period beginning on the date the Post-
master General determines that such mail service
has been fully restored.
‘‘(3) PUBLICATION OF DESIGNATIONS.—Before
the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date
of the enactment of the Late Fee Emergency Relief
Act of 2001 and each 30 days thereafter, the Post-
master General shall—
‘‘(A) compile a list of all the postal zip
codes for which a designation is in effect under
paragraph (1) as of the date of publication and
the date each such designation became effective;
‘‘(B) immediately transmit such list to the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem, the Federal Trade Commission, and each
other agency referred to in section 108(a); and
‘‘(C) publish such list in the Federal Reg-
ister.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended
by inserting after the item relating to section 129 the fol-
lowing new item:
‘‘129A. Requirements in the case of a biological, chemical, or radiological at-
tack-related mail disruption.’’.
Æ