I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7796 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to restrict collections of 
consumer debt during a national disaster or emergency, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2020 
Mrs. BEATTY (for herself and Ms. WATERS) 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 
collections of consumer debt during a national disaster 
or emergency, 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 ‘‘Consumer Relief dur-
ing COVID–19 Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON COLLECTIONS OF CONSUMER 
DEBT DURING A NATIONAL DISASTER OR 
EMERGENCY. 
(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. Restrictions on collections of consumer debt 
during a national disaster or emergency 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe-
riod’ means the period beginning on the date of en-
actment of this section and ending 120 days after 
the end of the incident period for the emergency de-
clared on March 13, 2020, by the President under 
section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et 
seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 
(COVID–19) pandemic. 
‘‘(2) CREDITOR.—The term ‘creditor’ means 
any person— 
‘‘(A) who offers or extends credit creating 
a debt or to whom a debt is owed; or 
‘‘(B) to whom any obligation for payment 
is owed. 
‘‘(3) DEBT.—The term ‘debt’— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) means any obligation or alleged obli-
gation that is or during the covered period be-
comes past due, other than an obligation aris-
ing out of a credit agreement entered into after 
the effective date of this section, that arises out 
of a transaction with a consumer; and 
‘‘(B) does not include a mortgage loan. 
‘‘(4) DEBT COLLECTOR.—The term ‘debt col-
lector’ means a creditor and any other person or en-
tity that engages in the collection of debt, including 
the Federal Government and a State government, ir-
respective of whether the applicable debt is allegedly 
owed to or assigned to such creditor, person, or enti-
ty. 
‘‘(5) MORTGAGE
LOAN.—The term ‘mortgage 
loan’ means a Federally backed mortgage loan (as 
defined under section 4022 of the CARES Act) and 
a Federally backed multifamily mortgage loan (as 
defined under section 4023 of the CARES Act). 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, no debt collector may, during a cov-
ered period— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) enforce a security interest securing a 
debt through repossession, limitation of use, or 
foreclosure; 
‘‘(B) take or threaten to take any action to 
deprive an individual of their liberty as a result 
of nonpayment of or nonappearance at any 
hearing relating to an obligation owed by a con-
sumer; 
‘‘(C) collect any debt, by way of garnish-
ment, attachment, assignment, deduction, off-
set, or other seizure, from— 
‘‘(i) wages, income, benefits, bank, 
prepaid or other asset accounts; or 
‘‘(ii) any assets of, or other amounts 
due to, a consumer; 
‘‘(D) commence or continue an action to 
evict a consumer from real or personal property 
for nonpayment; 
‘‘(E) disconnect or terminate service from 
a utility service, including electricity, natural 
gas, telecommunications or broadband, water, 
or sewer, for nonpayment; or 
‘‘(F) threaten to take any of the foregoing 
actions. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this section may be construed to prohibit a consumer 
from voluntarily paying, in whole or in part, a debt. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON FEES AND INTEREST.—After 
the expiration of a covered period, a debt collector may 
not add to any past due debt any interest on unpaid inter-
est, higher rate of interest triggered by the nonpayment 
of the debt, or fee triggered prior to the expiration of the 
covered period by the nonpayment of the debt. 
‘‘(e) VIOLATIONS.—Any person or government entity 
that violates this section shall be liable to the applicable 
consumer as provided under section 813, except that, for 
purposes of applying section 813— 
‘‘(1) such person or government entity shall be 
deemed a debt collector, as such term is defined for 
purposes of section 813; and 
‘‘(2) each dollar figure in such section shall be 
deemed to be 10 times the dollar figure specified. 
‘‘(f) TOLLING.—Any applicable time limitations for 
exercising an action prohibited under subsection (b) shall 
be tolled during a covered period. 
‘‘(g) PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS.— 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no predispute 
arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver 
shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a dispute 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
brought under this section, including a dispute as to the 
applicability of this section, which shall be determined 
under Federal law.’’. 
(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. Restrictions on collections of consumer debt during a national disaster 
or emergency.’’. 
SEC. 3. REPAYMENT PERIOD AND FORBEARANCE FOR CON-
SUMERS. 
Section 812A of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.), as added by section 2, is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) REPAYMENT PERIOD.—After the expiration of 
a covered period, a debt collector shall comply with the 
following: 
‘‘(1) DEBT ARISING FROM CREDIT WITH A DE-
FINED
PAYMENT
PERIOD.—For any debt arising 
from credit with a defined term, the debt collector 
shall extend the time period to repay any past due 
balance of the debt by— 
‘‘(A) 1 payment period for each payment 
that a consumer missed during the covered pe-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
riod, with the payments due in the same 
amounts and at the same intervals as the pre- 
existing payment schedule; and 
‘‘(B) 1 payment period in addition to the 
payment periods described under subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(2) DEBT ARISING FROM AN OPEN END CRED-
IT PLAN.—For debt arising from an open end credit 
plan, as defined in section 103 of the Truth in 
Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1602), the debt collector 
shall allow the consumer to repay the past-due bal-
ance in a manner that does not exceed the amounts 
permitted by the methods described in section 
171(c) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 
1666i–1(c)) and regulations promulgated under that 
section. 
‘‘(3) DEBT ARISING FROM OTHER CREDIT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—For debt not de-
scribed under paragraph (2) or (3), the debt 
collector shall— 
‘‘(i) allow the consumer to repay the 
past-due balance of the debt in substan-
tially equal payments over time; and 
‘‘(ii) provide the consumer with— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(I) for past due balances of 
$2,000 or less, 12 months to repay, or 
such longer period as the debt col-
lector may allow; 
‘‘(II) for past due balances be-
tween $2,001 and $5,000, 24 months 
to repay, or such longer period as the 
debt collector may allow; or 
‘‘(III) for past due balances 
greater than $5,000, 36 months to 
repay, or such longer period as the 
debt collector may allow. 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS.—The Di-
rector of the Bureau may issue rules to provide 
greater repayment protections to consumers 
with debts described under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) RELATION
TO
STATE
LAW.—This 
paragraph shall not preempt any State law that 
provides for greater consumer protections than 
this paragraph.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) FORBEARANCE FOR AFFECTED CONSUMERS.— 
‘‘(1) FORBEARANCE PROGRAM.—Each debt col-
lector that makes use of the credit facility described 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
in paragraph (4) shall establish a forbearance pro-
gram for debts available during the covered period. 
‘‘(2) AUTOMATIC
GRANT
OF
FORBEARANCE 
UPON REQUEST.—Under a forbearance program re-
quired under paragraph (1), upon the request of a 
consumer experiencing a financial hardship due, di-
rectly or indirectly, to COVID–19, the debt collector 
shall grant a forbearance on payment of debt for 
such time as needed until the end of the covered pe-
riod, with no additional documentation required 
other than the borrower’s attestation to a financial 
hardship caused by COVID–19 and with no fees, 
penalties, or interest (beyond the amounts scheduled 
or calculated as if the borrower made all contractual 
payments on time and in full under the terms of the 
loan contract) charged to the borrower in connection 
with the forbearance. 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTION
FOR
CERTAIN
MORTGAGE 
LOANS
SUBJECT
TO
THE
CARES
ACT.—This sub-
section shall not apply to a mortgage loan subject to 
section 4022 or 4023 of the CARES Act.’’. 
SEC. 4. CREDIT FACILITY. 
Section 812A(h) of the Fair Debt Collection Prac-
tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.), as added by section 
3, is amended by adding at the end the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(4) CREDIT
FACILITY.—The Board of Gov-
ernors of the Federal Reserve System shall— 
‘‘(A) establish a facility, using amounts 
made available under section 4003(b)(4) of the 
CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9042(b)(4)), to make 
long-term, low-cost loans to debt collectors to 
temporarily compensate such debt collectors for 
documented financial losses caused by forbear-
ance of debt payments under this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(B) defer debt collectors’ required pay-
ments on such loans until after consumers’ debt 
payments resume.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:41 Aug 15, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H7796.IH
H7796
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS