I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4403 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to restrict the debt collection 
practices of certain debt collectors. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 
Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Mr. HILL of Arkansas) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to restrict 
the debt collection practices of certain debt collectors. 
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 ‘‘Stop Debt Collection 
Abuse Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 803 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1692a) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘facilitating 
collection of such debt for another’’ and inserting 
‘‘collection of such debt’’; 
(2) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(5) The term ‘debt’ means— 
‘‘(A) any obligation or alleged obligation of 
a consumer to pay money arising out of a 
transaction in which the money, property, in-
surance, or services which are the subject of the 
transaction are primarily for personal, family, 
or household purposes, whether or not such ob-
ligation has been reduced to judgment; or 
‘‘(B) any obligation or alleged obligation of 
a consumer— 
‘‘(i) to pay a loan, an overpayment, a 
fine, a penalty, a fee, or other money cur-
rently or originally owed to a Federal 
agency; and 
‘‘(ii) that is not less than 180 days 
past due.’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) by striking the first sentence and in-
serting the following: ‘‘The term ‘debt collector’ 
means any person who uses any instrumentality 
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of interstate commerce or the mails in any busi-
ness the principal purpose of which is the col-
lection of any debts; who regularly collects or 
attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, by the 
person’s own means or by hiring another debt 
collector, debts owed or due or asserted to be 
owed or due another or that have been obtained 
by assignment or transfer from another; or who 
regularly collects debts currently or originally 
owed or allegedly owed to a Federal agency.’’; 
and 
(B) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘or 
that has been obtained by assignment or trans-
fer from another’’ after ‘‘owed or due another’’. 
SEC. 3. DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES FOR DEBT COLLEC-
TORS HIRED BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Debt Collection Prac-
tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 812 (15 U.S.C. 1692j) the following: 
‘‘§ 812A. Debt collection practices for debt collectors 
hired by Federal agencies 
‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON TIME TO TURN DEBT OVER TO 
DEBT COLLECTOR.—A Federal agency that is a creditor 
may sell or transfer a debt described in section 803(5)(B) 
to a debt collector not earlier than 90 days after the date 
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on which the obligation or alleged obligation becomes de-
linquent or defaults. 
‘‘(b) REQUIRED NOTICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before transferring or sell-
ing a debt described in section 803(5)(B) to a debt 
collector or contracting with a debt collector to col-
lect such a debt, a Federal agency shall notify the 
consumer not fewer than 3 times that the Federal 
agency will take such action. 
‘‘(2) FREQUENCY
OF
NOTIFICATIONS.—The 
second and third notifications described in para-
graph (1) shall be made not less than 30 days after 
the date on which the previous notification is 
made.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 812 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘812A. Debt collection practices for debt collectors hired by Federal agencies.’’. 
SEC. 4. UNFAIR PRACTICES. 
Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by striking paragraph (1) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) The collection of any amount (including 
any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the 
principal obligation) unless— 
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‘‘(A) such amount is expressly authorized 
by the agreement creating the debt or permitted 
by law; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of any amount charged by 
a debt collector collecting a debt described in 
section 803(5)(B), such amount is— 
‘‘(i) reasonable in relation to the ac-
tual costs of the collection; 
‘‘(ii) authorized by a contract between 
the debt collector and the Federal agency; 
and 
‘‘(iii) not greater than 10 percent of 
the amount collected by the debt col-
lector.’’. 
SEC. 5. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall commence a study on the use of debt collec-
tors by State and local government agencies, including— 
(1) the powers given to the debt collectors by 
Federal, State, and local government agencies; 
(2) the contracting process that allows a Fed-
eral, State, or local government agency to award 
debt collection to a certain company, including the 
selection process; 
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(3) any fees charged to debtors in addition to 
principal and interest on the outstanding debt; 
(4) how the fees described in paragraph (3) 
vary from State to State; 
(5) consumer protection at the State level that 
offer recourse to those whom debts have been wrong-
fully attributed; 
(6) the revenues received by debt collectors 
from Federal, State, and local government agencies; 
(7) the amount of any revenue sharing agree-
ments between debt collectors and Federal, State, 
and local government agencies; 
(8) the difference in debt collection procedures 
across geographic regions, including the extent to 
which debt collectors pursue court judgments to col-
lect debts; and 
(9) any legal immunity or other protections 
given to the debt collectors hired by State and local 
government agencies, including whether the debt col-
lectors are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Prac-
tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.). 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
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United States shall submit to Congress a report on the 
completed study required under subsection (a). 
Æ 
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