I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5023 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain issues related to 
the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2016 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. JUDY 
CHU of California, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TAKANO, and Ms. 
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain 
issues related to the extension of consumer credit, 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. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Abuse and 
Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 
Lending Act of 2016’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSUMER CONTROL OVER BANK ACCOUNTS. 
(a) PROHIBITING UNAUTHORIZED REMOTELY CRE-
ATED CHECKS.—Section 905 of the Electronic Fund 
Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693c) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(d) 
LIMITATIONS
ON
REMOTELY
CREATED 
CHECKS.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘remotely created check’ means a check, including a 
paper or electronic check and any other payment 
order that the Bureau, by rule, determines is appro-
priately covered by this subsection, that— 
‘‘(A) is not created by the financial institu-
tion that holds the customer account from 
which the check is to be paid; and 
‘‘(B) does not bear a signature applied, or 
purported to be applied, by the person from 
whose account the check is to be paid. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—Subject to the limitations 
in paragraph (3) and any additional limitations that 
the Bureau may establish, by rule, a remotely cre-
ated check may only be issued by a person des-
ignated in writing by the consumer with the designa-
tion specifically provided in writing by the consumer 
to the insured depository institution at which the 
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consumer maintains the account from which the 
check is to be drawn. 
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An authorization pro-
vided under paragraph (2) may be revoked at 
any time by the consumer. 
‘‘(B) CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 
LAWS.—No payment order, including a re-
motely created check, may be issued by any per-
son in response to the exercise of, or attempt to 
exercise, any rights by a consumer under any 
Federal consumer financial law, as defined in 
section 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protec-
tion Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481), or any 
other provision of any law or regulation within 
the jurisdiction of the Bureau.’’. 
(b) CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR CERTAIN ONE- 
TIME ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS.—Section 913 of 
the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693k) is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 
‘‘No person’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)(1), as so designated, by 
striking ‘‘preauthorized electronic fund transfers’’ 
and inserting ‘‘an electronic fund transfer’’; and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) TREATMENT FOR ELECTRONIC FUND TRANS-
FERS IN CREDIT EXTENSIONS.—If a consumer voluntarily 
agrees to repay an extension of a small-dollar consumer 
credit transaction, as defined in section 110(a) of the 
Truth in Lending Act, by means of an electronic fund 
transfer, the electronic fund transfer shall be treated as 
a preauthorized electronic fund transfer subject to the pro-
tections of this title.’’. 
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT 
IN SMALL-DOLLAR LENDING. 
(a) SMALL-DOLLAR
CONSUMER
CREDIT
TRANS-
ACTIONS.—The Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 
et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by inserting after section 109 (15 U.S.C. 
1608) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 110. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL-DOL-
LAR LENDERS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘small- 
dollar consumer credit transaction’ means any transaction 
that extends, facilitates, brokers, arranges, or gathers ap-
plications for credit that is— 
‘‘(1) made to a consumer in an amount of not 
more than $5,000, or such greater amount as the 
Bureau may, by rule, determine, with the amount to 
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be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Con-
sumer Price Index for all urban consumers published 
by the Department of Labor; and 
‘‘(2) extended pursuant to an agreement that 
is— 
‘‘(A)(i) other than an open-end credit plan; 
and 
‘‘(ii) payable in 1 or more installments of 
less than 12 months (or such longer period as 
the Bureau may, by rule, determine); 
‘‘(B) an open-end credit plan in which each 
advance is fully repayable within a defined time 
or in connection with a defined event, or both; 
or 
‘‘(C) any other plan as the Bureau deter-
mines, by rule. 
‘‘(b) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.—A person shall 
register with the Bureau before issuing credit in a small- 
dollar consumer credit transaction.’’; 
(2) in section 173 (15 U.S.C. 1666j), by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this 
title, any small-dollar consumer credit transaction, as de-
fined in section 110(a), shall comply with the laws of the 
State in which the consumer resides with respect to annual 
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percentage rates, interest, fees, charges, and such other 
similar or related matters as the Bureau may, by rule, 
determine if the small-dollar consumer credit transaction 
is— 
‘‘(1) made over— 
‘‘(A) the Internet; 
‘‘(B) telephone; 
‘‘(C) facsimile; 
‘‘(D) mail; 
‘‘(E) electronic mail; or 
‘‘(F) other electronic communication; or 
‘‘(2) conducted by a national bank.’’; and 
(3) in the table of sections of chapter 1, by in-
serting after the item relating to section 109 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘110. Registration requirement for small-dollar lenders.’’. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FEES.—Section 915 
of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693l– 
1) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL FEES PROHIBITED.— 
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‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘general-use prepaid card’ has the meaning given the 
term— 
‘‘(A) in subsection (a)(2); or 
‘‘(B) by rule of the Bureau. 
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—With respect to the use of 
a general-use prepaid card by a consumer— 
‘‘(A) it shall be unlawful for any person to 
charge the consumer a fee for an overdraft, in-
cluding a shortage of funds or a transaction 
processed for an amount exceeding the account 
balance on the general-use prepaid card; 
‘‘(B) any transaction for an amount ex-
ceeding the account balance on the general-use 
prepaid card may be declined, except that the 
consumer may not be charged a fee for that 
purpose; and 
‘‘(C) the Bureau may, by rule, prohibit the 
charging of any fee so that the Bureau may— 
‘‘(i) prevent unfair, deceptive, or abu-
sive practices; and 
‘‘(ii) promote the ability of the con-
sumer to understand and compare the 
costs of general-use prepaid cards.’’. 
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SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL- 
DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS. 
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. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN 
SMALL-DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANS-
ACTIONS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘sensitive personal financial infor-
mation’ means the social security number, financial 
account number, bank routing number, bank ac-
count number, or any required security or access 
code that is immediately necessary to permit access 
to the financial account of an individual; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘small-dollar consumer credit 
transaction’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 110(a). 
‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.—Any person 
facilitating, brokering, arranging, gathering applications 
for, or distributing sensitive personal financial information 
in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit trans-
action shall prominently disclose information by which the 
person may be contacted or identified, including for serv-
ice of process and for identification of the registrant of 
any domain name registered or used. 
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‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL- 
DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS.—No person 
may facilitate, broker, arrange, gather applications for, or 
distribute sensitive personal financial information in con-
nection with a small-dollar consumer credit transaction, 
unless the person is directly providing the small-dollar 
consumer credit to the consumer. 
‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 
may be interpreted to limit the authority of the Bu-
reau to further restrict activities covered by this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION.—It shall not be consid-
ered ‘facilitating’ in connection with a small-dollar 
consumer credit transaction to be engaged solely in 
1 of the following activities: 
‘‘(A) The provision of a telecommuni-
cations service, or of an Internet access service 
or Internet information location tool (as those 
terms are defined in section 231 of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231)). 
‘‘(B) The transmission, storage, retrieval, 
hosting, formatting, or translation (or any com-
bination thereof) of a communication, without 
selection or alteration of the content of the 
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communication, except that deletion of a par-
ticular communication or material made by an-
other person in a manner consistent with sec-
tion 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 230(c)).’’. 
SEC. 5. STUDIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Government Account-
ability Office (in this section referred to as the ‘‘GAO’’) 
shall conduct a study regarding— 
(1) the availability of capital on reservations of 
Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 
(25 U.S.C. 450b)); and 
(2) the impact that small-dollar consumer credit 
extended through Internet and non-Internet means 
to members of Indian tribes has had on economic 
opportunity and wealth for members of Indian 
tribes. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study de-
scribed in subsection (a), the GAO shall consult, as appro-
priate, with— 
(1) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec-
tion; 
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(2) the Board of Governors of the Federal Re-
serve System; 
(3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 
(4) federally recognized Indian tribes; and 
(5) community development financial institu-
tions operating in Indian lands. 
(c) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The study 
described in subsections (a) and (b) shall be presented to 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and 
the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee 
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives. 
SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 
shall adopt any final rules necessary to implement the pro-
visions of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 
Æ 
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