I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2549
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit creditors from 
taking action that is adverse to the interests of a consumer with respect 
to certain payments that are due in or shortly after the period of 
a disruption of the mail resulting from a national emergency declared 
under the National Emergencies Act. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2003
Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. MCHUGH, Ms. LEE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, and Mrs. MALONEY) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit 
creditors from taking action that is adverse to the inter-
ests of a consumer with respect to certain payments 
that are due in or shortly after the period of a disruption 
of the mail resulting from a national emergency declared 
under the National Emergencies Act.
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 ‘‘Bill Payment Grace 
Period Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR MAKING CERTAIN PAY-
MENTS DUE TO A NATIONAL EMERGENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Debt Collection Prac-
tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended by redesig-
nating sections 813 through 818 in order as sections 814 
through 819, and by inserting after section 812 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 813. Extension of period for making certain pay-
ments due to national emergency 
‘‘(a) The Secretary of the Treasury may designate 
a grace period under this section for the making of pay-
ments of debts by mail from or to any location within an 
area in which there occurs a disruption of the mail—
‘‘(1) in the period of a national emergency de-
clared under the National Emergencies Act (50 
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and 
‘‘(2) as a result of the circumstances that re-
sulted in such declaration. 
‘‘(b) In designating a grace period under this section, 
the Secretary shall determine, in consultation with the 
Postmaster General, and specify—
‘‘(1) the geographic area in which occurred the 
disruption of the mail for which the grace period is 
designated; and 
‘‘(2) the period of time during which such dis-
ruption of the mail occurred.
‘‘(c) A grace period under this section—
‘‘(1) shall be comprised of a period of consecu-
tive days designated by the Secretary; 
‘‘(2) shall begin upon the first day of the period 
of the disruption of the mail for which it is des-
ignated, as such period is specified under subsection 
(b)(2); and 
‘‘(3) except as provided in subsection (d), shall 
end not later than 7 days after the end of such pe-
riod of the disruption of the mail. 
‘‘(d) The Secretary—
‘‘(1) may designate a grace period under this 
section with respect each disruption of the mail oc-
curring in the same national emergency period; 
‘‘(2) may extend the duration of a grace period 
under this section by up to 7 days, by publishing no-
tice of such extension before the end of the grace pe-
riod; and 
‘‘(3) may issue more than one extension under 
paragraph (2) for the same grace period.
‘‘(e) A creditor or debt collector shall not—
‘‘(1) impose any late fee or additional financing 
fee in connection with an affected mail payment by 
a consumer that is received after its due date;
‘‘(2) provide to a credit reporting agency (as 
that term is defined in section 603) any information 
with respect to such payment that is adverse to the 
interests of the consumer or would adversely affect 
the credit standing of the consumer; or 
‘‘(3) take any other action that is adverse to 
the interests of the consumer as a consequence of 
the failure of the consumer to make such payment 
in a timely manner. 
‘‘(f) This section shall not apply to any payment by 
mail made by a consumer on a debt to a creditor if, before 
the disruption of the mail with respect to which a grace 
period is designated under this section—
‘‘(1) the creditor or its debt collector gave the 
consumer, by mail, telephone, or otherwise, notice 
regarding alternative payment options that are avail-
able to such consumer without any fee or other 
charge; and 
‘‘(2) the consumer, with or without fee or 
charge, agreed to use an alternative payment option, 
or actually made one or more payments using an al-
ternative payment option, within the 6-month period 
preceding the due date of the payment made by 
mail.
‘‘(g) For the purposes of this section, evidence in the 
form of business records indicating that notice regarding 
alternative payment options was given before the date re-
quired by subsection (f) shall establish a conclusive pre-
sumption that such notice had been received by the con-
sumer by such date. 
‘‘(h) In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘affected mail payment’ means 
any payment by mail of the full amount due on a 
debt owed by a consumer—
‘‘(A) for which the due date occurs—
‘‘(i) in the period of a disruption of 
the mail with respect to which a grace pe-
riod is designated under this section; or 
‘‘(ii) within seven calendar days fol-
lowing the end of such disruption of the 
mail; 
‘‘(B) that is sent from, or addressed to, a 
location that is within the area in which the dis-
ruption of the mail occurred, as such area is 
specified under subsection (b)(1) for that grace 
period; 
‘‘(C) that is postmarked by not later than 
the expiration of the grace period; and 
‘‘(D) that is less than $10,000.