I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4347 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to extend the provisions 
of that Act to cover a debt collector who is collecting debt owed to 
a State or local government, to index award amounts under such Act 
for inflation, to provide for civil injunctive relief for violations of such 
Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2016 
Mr. MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to extend 
the provisions of that Act to cover a debt collector who 
is collecting debt owed to a State or local government, 
to index award amounts under such Act for inflation, 
to provide for civil injunctive relief for violations of such 
Act, 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 ‘‘Debt Collection Prac-
tices Harmonization Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PREVENTING DECEPTIVE AND HARASSING PRAC-
TICES WHEN COLLECTING DEBT OWED TO A 
STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
Section 803(5) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a(5)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘money arising out’’ and insert-
ing the following: ‘‘money— 
‘‘(A) arising out’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘judgment.’’ and inserting 
‘‘judgment; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) owed to a State.’’. 
SEC. 3. AWARD OF DAMAGES. 
(a) ADDITIONAL DAMAGES INDEXED
FOR INFLA-
TION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 813 of the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.— 
‘‘(1) INITIAL ADJUSTMENT.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, the Bureau shall provide a percentage in-
crease (rounded to the nearest multiple of $100 or 
$1,000, as applicable) in the amounts set forth in 
this section equal to the percentage by which— 
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‘‘(A) the Consumer Price Index for All 
Urban Consumers (all items, United States city 
average) for the 12-month period ending on the 
June 30 preceding the date on which the per-
centage increase is provided, exceeds 
‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12- 
month period preceding January 1, 1978. 
‘‘(2) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS.—With respect to 
any fiscal year beginning after the date of the in-
crease provided under paragraph (1), the Bureau 
shall provide a percentage increase (rounded to the 
nearest multiple of $100 or $1,000, as applicable) in 
the amounts set forth in this section equal to the 
percentage by which— 
‘‘(A) the Consumer Price Index for All 
Urban Consumers (all items, United States city 
average) for the 12-month period ending on the 
June 30 preceding the beginning of the fiscal 
year for which the increase is made, exceeds 
‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12- 
month period preceding the 12-month period 
described in subparagraph (A).’’. 
(2) APPLICABILITY.—The increases made under 
section 813(f) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act, as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection, 
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shall apply with respect to failures to comply with a 
provision of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) oc-
curring on or after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(b) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Section 813(d) of the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(d)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In a civil 
action alleging a violation of this title, the court may 
award appropriate relief, including injunctive relief.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE REFERRAL OF EMERGENCY 
INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE DEBT. 
Chapter 3 of title 31, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subchapter II, by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘§ 334. Prohibition on the referral of emergency indi-
vidual assistance debt 
‘‘With respect to any assistance provided by the Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency to an individual or 
household pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-
lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122 et 
seq.), if the Secretary of the Treasury seeks to recoup any 
amount of such assistance because of an overpayment, the 
Secretary may not contract with any debt collector or 
other private party to collect such amounts.’’; and 
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