I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6795 
To prohibit confessions of judgment in connection with the extension of 
covered credit or creation of covered debt, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2020 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To prohibit confessions of judgment in connection with the 
extension of covered credit or creation of covered debt, 
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. CONFESSIONS OF JUDGMENT PROHIBITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—During the covered period, in con-
nection with an extension of covered credit or the creation 
of a covered debt in or affecting commerce (including any 
advance of funds or sale or assignment of future income 
or receivables that may or may not be credit), no person 
may directly or indirectly take or receive from another per-
son, or seek to enforce, an obligation that constitutes or 
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contains a cognovit or confession of judgment (for pur-
poses other than executory process in the State of Lou-
isiana), warrant of attorney, or other waiver of the right 
to notice and the opportunity to be heard in the event of 
suit or process thereon. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Any person who fails to comply 
with the requirements of this section with respect to any 
obligation owed by a covered borrower shall— 
(1) be held liable under section 813 of the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) 
where— 
(A) the covered borrower is deemed to be 
a ‘‘consumer’’, as defined in section 803 of such 
Act; and 
(B) the person is deemed to be a ‘‘debt col-
lector’’, as defined in such section; and 
(2) be liable to the covered borrower in an 
amount equal to 10 times the maximum amount of 
damages allowed under section 813 of such Act for 
each violation of the requirements of this section. 
(c) CONSIDERATION.—At the end of the covered pe-
riod, a person to whom an obligation described in sub-
section (a) is owed shall take into consideration the finan-
cial situation of the covered borrower that owes such obli-
gation for the repayment of such obligation. 
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(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COMMERCE.—The term ‘‘commerce’’ has 
the meaning given in section 4 of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44). 
(2) COVERED BORROWER.—The term ‘‘covered 
borrower’’ means a person that— 
(A) receives credit or an advance of funds; 
or 
(B) makes an assignment of future income 
or receivables. 
(3) COVERED
CREDIT.—The term ‘‘covered 
credit’’ means credit provided to a covered borrower 
in an amount that is less than or equal to 
$2,000,000. 
(4) COVERED DEBT.—The term ‘‘covered debt’’ 
means any obligation of a covered borrower to pay 
to another person an amount that is less than or 
equal to $2,000,000— 
(A) regardless of whether such obligation 
is absolute or contingent if the understanding 
between the parties is that any part of such 
amount shall be or may be returned; 
(B) that includes the right of the person 
providing the money to an equitable remedy for 
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breach of performance if the breach gives rise 
to a right to payment; and 
(C) regardless of whether the obligation or 
right to an equitable remedy described in sub-
paragraph (B) has been reduced to judgment, 
fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, dis-
puted, undisputed, secured, or unsecured. 
(5) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe-
riod’’ means the period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this section and ending 120 days after 
the end of the incident period for the emergency de-
clared on March 13, 2020, by the President under 
Section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-
lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 
et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 
(COVID–19) pandemic. 
Æ 
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