I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3760 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish a national usury rate 
for consumer credit transactions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 13, 2017 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. LANGEVIN, 
Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. POCAN, Ms. CLARK of 
Massachusetts, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. PRICE of North 
Carolina, and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish a national 
usury rate for consumer credit transactions. 
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 ‘‘Protecting Consumers 
from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) attempts have been made to prohibit usu-
rious interest rates in America since colonial times; 
(2) at the Federal level, in 2006, Congress en-
acted a Federal 36-percent annualized usury cap for 
servicemembers and their families for covered credit 
products, as defined by the Department of Defense, 
which curbed payday, car title, and tax refund lend-
ing around military bases; 
(3) notwithstanding such attempts to curb 
predatory lending, high-cost lending persists in all 
50 States due to loopholes in State laws, safe harbor 
laws for specific forms of credit, and the exportation 
of unregulated interest rates permitted by preemp-
tion; 
(4) due to the lack of a comprehensive Federal 
usury cap, consumers annually pay approximately 
$14,000,000,000 on high-cost overdraft loans, as 
much as approximately $7,000,000,000 on store-
front and online payday loans, $3,800,000,000 on 
car title loans, and additional amounts in unreported 
revenues on high-cost online installment loans; 
(5) cash-strapped consumers pay on average 
approximately 400 percent annual interest for pay-
day loans, 300 percent annual interest for car title 
loans, up to 17,000 percent or higher for bank over-
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draft loans, and triple-digit rates for online install-
ment loans; 
(6) a national maximum interest rate that in-
cludes all forms of fees and closes all loopholes is 
necessary to eliminate such predatory lending; and 
(7) alternatives to predatory lending that en-
courage small dollar loans with minimal or no fees, 
installment payment schedules, and affordable re-
payment periods should be encouraged. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL MAXIMUM INTEREST RATE. 
Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 
1631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 140B. MAXIMUM RATES OF INTEREST. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law, a creditor may not make an extension of 
credit to a consumer with respect to which the fee and 
interest rate, as defined in subsection (b), exceeds 36 per-
cent. 
‘‘(b) FEE AND INTEREST RATE DEFINED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘fee and interest rate’ includes all 
charges payable (directly or indirectly) that are inci-
dent to, ancillary to, or as a condition of an exten-
sion of credit, including— 
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‘‘(A) any payment compensating a creditor 
or prospective creditor for— 
‘‘(i) an extension of credit or making 
available a line of credit, such as fees con-
nected with credit extension or availability 
(including numerical periodic rates, annual 
fees, cash advance fees, and membership 
fees); or 
‘‘(ii) any fees for default or breach by 
a borrower of a condition upon which cred-
it was extended, such as late fees, creditor- 
imposed fees charged when a borrower 
tenders payment on a debt with a check 
drawn on insufficient funds, overdraft fees, 
and over limit fees; 
‘‘(B) all fees which constitute a finance 
charge, as defined by rules of the Bureau in ac-
cordance with this title; 
‘‘(C) credit insurance premiums, whether 
optional or required; and 
‘‘(D) all charges and costs for ancillary 
products sold in connection with or incidental to 
the credit transaction. 
‘‘(2) TOLERANCES.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—With respect to a 
credit obligation that is payable in at least 3 
fully amortizing installments over a period of 
90 days or more, the term ‘fee and interest 
rate’ does not include— 
‘‘(i) an application or participation fee 
that in total do not exceed the greater of 
$30 or, if there is a limit to the credit line, 
5 percent of the credit limit, up to $120, 
if— 
‘‘(I) such fees are excludable 
from the finance charge determined 
under section 106; 
‘‘(II) such fees cover all credit 
extended or renewed by the creditor to 
the borrower for 12 months; and 
‘‘(III) the minimum amount of 
credit extended or available on a cred-
it line is equal to $300 or more; 
‘‘(ii) a late fee that does not exceed ei-
ther $20 per late payment or $20 per 
month, charged as authorized by State law 
or by an agreement between the creditor 
and the borrower; or 
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‘‘(iii) a creditor-imposed fee that does 
not exceed $15, charged when a borrower 
tenders payment on a debt with a check 
drawn on insufficient funds. 
‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENTS
FOR
INFLATION.— 
The Bureau may adjust the amounts of the tol-
erances established under this paragraph for in-
flation over time, consistent with the primary 
goals of protecting consumers and preventing 
circumvention of the 36-percent fee and interest 
rate limitation established under subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) CALCULATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) OPEN END CREDIT PLANS.—For an open 
end credit plan— 
‘‘(A) the fee and interest rate shall be cal-
culated each month, based upon the sum of all 
fees, charges, and payments described in sub-
section (b) charged by the creditor during the 
preceding 1-year period, divided by the average 
daily balance; and 
‘‘(B) if the credit account has been open 
less than 1 year, the fee and interest rate shall 
be calculated based upon the total of all fees, 
charges, and payments described in subsection 
(b)(1) charged by the creditor since the plan 
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was opened, divided by the average daily bal-
ance, and multiplied by the quotient of 12 di-
vided by the number of full months that the 
credit plan has been in existence. 
‘‘(2) OTHER CREDIT PLANS.—For purposes of 
this section, in calculating the fee and interest rate, 
the Bureau shall require the method of calculation 
of annual percentage rate specified in section 
107(a)(1), except that the amount referred to in 
that section 107(a)(1) as the ‘finance charge’ shall 
include all fees, charges, and payments described in 
subsection (b)(1) of this section. 
‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS
AUTHORIZED.—The Bu-
reau may make adjustments to the calculations in 
paragraphs (1) and (2), if the primary goal of such 
adjustment is to protect consumers and to prevent 
circumvention of the 36-percent fee and interest rate 
limitation established under subsection (a). 
‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF CREDITOR.—As used in this 
section, the term ‘creditor’ has the same meaning as in 
section 702(e) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 
U.S.C. 1691a(e)). 
‘‘(e) NO EXEMPTIONS PERMITTED.—The exemption 
authority of the Bureau under section 105 shall not apply 
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to this section or to the disclosure requirements under sec-
tion 127(b)(6). 
‘‘(f) DISCLOSURE OF FEE AND INTEREST RATE FOR 
CREDIT OTHER THAN OPEN END CREDIT PLANS.—In 
addition to the disclosure requirements under section 
127(b)(6), the Bureau may prescribe regulations requiring 
disclosure of the fee and interest rate established under 
this section. 
‘‘(g) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—Nothing in this 
section may be construed to preempt any provision of 
State law that provides greater protection to consumers 
than is provided in this section. 
‘‘(h) CIVIL LIABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT.—In addi-
tion to remedies available to the consumer under section 
130(a), any payment compensating a creditor or prospec-
tive creditor, to the extent that such payment is a trans-
action made in violation of this section, shall be null and 
void, and not enforceable by any party in any court or 
alternative dispute resolution forum, and the creditor or 
any subsequent holder of the obligation shall promptly re-
turn to the consumer any principal, interest, charges, and 
fees, and any security interest associated with such trans-
action. Notwithstanding any statute of limitations or 
repose, a violation of this section may be raised as a mat-
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