I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6814 
To apply the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to small business debt 
to the same extent as such Act applies to consumers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 22, 2022 
Mr. LAWSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To apply the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to small 
business debt to the same extent as such Act applies 
to consumers, 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 ‘‘Small Business Fair 
Debt Collection Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES FOR LOANS TO 
SMALL BUSINESSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Debt Collection Prac-
tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 803— 
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(A) by amending paragraph (5) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(5) The term ‘debt’ means any obligation or 
alleged obligation to pay money arising out of a 
transaction, whether or not such obligation has been 
reduced to judgment.’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(9) The term ‘commercial credit bureau’ 
means any person which, for monetary fees, dues, or 
on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages 
in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or 
evaluating commercial credit information or other 
information on businesses for the purpose of fur-
nishing credit reports to third parties, and which 
uses any means or facility of interstate commerce 
for the purpose of preparing or furnishing credit re-
ports.’’; 
(2) by redesignating section 819 as section 820; 
and 
(3) by inserting after section 818 the following: 
‘‘§ 819. Application to small business debt 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall apply to small 
business debt to the same extent as this Act applies to 
debt of consumers. 
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‘‘(b) SMALL BUSINESS DEBT DEFINED.—The term 
‘small business debt’— 
‘‘(1) means any non-equity obligation or alleged 
obligation of a partnership, corporation, trust, es-
tate, cooperative, association, government or govern-
mental subdivision or agency, or other entity that is 
less than $5,000,000; and 
‘‘(2) does not include any obligation or alleged 
obligation— 
‘‘(A) of an individual; or 
‘‘(B) that is primarily for personal, family, 
or household purposes.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is amended by 
striking the item relating to section 819 and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘819. Application to small business debt. 
‘‘820. Effective date.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) in section 805(b), by inserting ‘‘or a com-
mercial credit bureau (as applicable)’’ after ‘‘con-
sumer reporting agency’’; 
(2) in section 806(3)— 
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