IB 
Union Calendar No. 542 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3948 
[Report No. 116–658] 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to extend the provisions 
of that Act to cover a debt collector who is collecting debt owed to 
a State or local government, to index award amounts under such Act 
for inflation, to provide for civil injunctive relief for violations of such 
Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 24, 2019 
Mr. MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
DECEMBER 16, 2020 
Additional sponsors: Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. CLEAVER, and 
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia 
DECEMBER 16, 2020 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 24, 2019] 
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A BILL 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to extend 
the provisions of that Act to cover a debt collector who 
is collecting debt owed to a State or local government, 
to index award amounts under such Act for inflation, 
to provide for civil injunctive relief for violations of such 
Act, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Debt Collection Practices 
Harmonization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PREVENTING DECEPTIVE AND HARASSING PRAC-
TICES WHEN COLLECTING DEBT OWED TO A 
STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
Section 803(5) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a(5)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘money arising out’’ and insert-
ing the following: ‘‘money— 
‘‘(A) arising out’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘judgment.’’ and inserting ‘‘judg-
ment; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) owed to a State.’’. 
SEC. 3. AWARD OF DAMAGES. 
(a) ADDITIONAL DAMAGES INDEXED
FOR INFLA-
TION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 813 of the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.— 
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‘‘(1) INITIAL ADJUSTMENT.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
the Bureau shall provide a percentage increase 
(rounded to the nearest multiple of $100 or $1,000, as 
applicable) in the amounts set forth in this section 
equal to the percentage by which— 
‘‘(A) the Consumer Price Index for All 
Urban Consumers (all items, United States city 
average) for the 12-month period ending on the 
June 30 preceding the date on which the percent-
age increase is provided, exceeds 
‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12- 
month period preceding January 1, 1978. 
‘‘(2) ANNUAL
ADJUSTMENTS.—With respect to 
any fiscal year beginning after the date of the in-
crease provided under paragraph (1), the Bureau 
shall provide a percentage increase (rounded to the 
nearest multiple of $100 or $1,000, as applicable) in 
the amounts set forth in this section equal to the per-
centage by which— 
‘‘(A) the Consumer Price Index for All 
Urban Consumers (all items, United States city 
average) for the 12-month period ending on the 
June 30 preceding the beginning of the fiscal 
year for which the increase is made, exceeds 
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‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12- 
month period preceding the 12-month period de-
scribed in subparagraph (A).’’. 
(2) APPLICABILITY.—The increases made under 
section 813(f) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act, as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection, 
shall apply with respect to failures to comply with a 
provision of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) occur-
ring on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Section 813(d) of the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(d)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In a civil 
action alleging a violation of this title, the court may award 
appropriate relief, including injunctive relief.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE REFERRAL OF EMERGENCY 
INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE DEBT. 
Chapter 3 of title 31, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subchapter II, by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘§ 334. Prohibition on the referral of emergency indi-
vidual assistance debt 
‘‘With respect to any assistance provided by the Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency to an individual or 
household pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
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and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122 et seq.), if 
the Secretary of the Treasury seeks to recoup any amount 
of such assistance because of an overpayment, the Secretary 
may not contract with any debt collector or other private 
party to collect such amounts, unless the overpayment oc-
curred because of fraud or deceit and the recipient of such 
assistance knew or should have known about such fraud or 
deceit.’’; and 
(2) in the table of contents for such chapter, by 
inserting after the item relating to section 333 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘334. Prohibition on the referral of emergency individual assistance debt.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 542 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3948 
[Report No. 116–658] 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to 
extend the provisions of that Act to cover a debt 
collector who is collecting debt owed to a State 
or local government, to index award amounts 
under such Act for inflation, to provide for civil 
injunctive relief for violations of such Act, and 
for other purposes. 
DECEMBER 16, 2020 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:38 Dec 17, 2020
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PO 00000
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