IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3705 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 9, 2017 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to require the 
use of certified mail and plain language in certain debt 
collection activities. 
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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 ‘‘Veterans Fair Debt 
Notice Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NOTICE RE-
LATING TO DEBT COLLECTION ACTIVITIES. 
(a) DEBT NOTIFICATION LETTERS.—The Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall collaborate with veterans service 
organizations to write a standard letter to be provided to 
individuals who the Secretary determines owe debts to the 
Department of Veterans Affairs. Such letter shall be writ-
ten in plain language and shall include a notice of the debt 
and a clear explanation of— 
(1) why the individual owes money to the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs; and 
(2) the options available to the individual. 
(b) DELIVERY OF LETTERS.—The Secretary shall de-
velop a method by which individuals may elect to receive 
debt notification letters by electronic means and shall en-
sure, to the extent practicable, that the letter developed 
under subsection (a) is delivered to intended recipients 
who have made such an election by both standard mail 
and by electronic means and to intended recipients who 
have not made such an election only by standard mail. 
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(c) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) NOTICE
OF
COMPLETION.—Upon comple-
tion of the letter required under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress notice of the 
completion of the letter. 
(2) PROGRESS REPORTS.—If the Secretary has 
not submitted the notice required by paragraph (1) 
by the date that is 90 days after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 
(A) submit to Congress a report describing 
the progress of the Secretary toward imple-
menting subsection (a) and an explanation for 
why the letter has not been completed; and 
(B) every 30 days thereafter until the sub-
mittal of the notice required by paragraph (1), 
submit to Congress an update to the report 
under subparagraph (A) that includes an addi-
tional explanation for the failure to complete 
the letter. 
(d) STUDY; REPORT.— 
(1) STUDY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall conduct a study on the process by which the 
Department of Veterans Affairs notifies veterans of 
debt collection efforts. Such study shall include— 
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(A) an analysis of the scope of the problem 
of veterans not receiving debt collection notices; 
(B) a description of any non-legislative ac-
tions the Secretary could take to reduce the 
number of incorrect or unknown addresses of 
veterans in the databases of the Department 
and a timeline for adopting such actions; and 
(C) an estimate of the costs associated 
with sending debt collection notices by certified 
mail. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a report on the study con-
ducted under paragraph (1). 
Passed the House of Representatives November 8, 
2017. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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