Title: Relief for Consumers During COVID–19 Act of 2020
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Relief for Consumers During COVID-19 Act of 2020
This bill places restrictions on the collection of consumer debts during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency period. Among other things, debt collectors may not during such a period
After such a period, debt collectors must provide certain repayment options including extending the repayment period for debts.
Violations of these provisions are subject to civil enforcement.
The Federal Reserve Board must establish a facility to compensate financial institutions for losses caused by the suspension of payments.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6332 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6332

   To suspend payments on certain consumer loans during the COVID-19 
                   emergency, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2020

 Mrs. Beatty introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To suspend payments on certain consumer loans during the COVID-19 
                   emergency, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Relief for Consumers During COVID-19 
Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF OTHER CONSUMER LOAN PAYMENTS.

    (a) In General.--During the COVID-19 emergency, a debt collector 
may not, with respect to a debt of a consumer (other than debt related 
to a federally related mortgage loan)--
            (1) capitalize unpaid interest;
            (2) apply a higher interest rate triggered by the 
        nonpayment of a debt to the debt balance;
            (3) charge a fee triggered by the nonpayment of a debt;
            (4) sue or threaten to sue for nonpayment of a debt;
            (5) continue litigation to collect a debt that was 
        initiated before the date of enactment of this section;
            (6) submit or cause to be submitted a confession of 
        judgment to any court;
            (7) enforce a security interest through repossession, 
        limitation of use, or foreclosure;
            (8) take or threaten to take any action to enforce 
        collection, or any adverse action for nonpayment of a debt, or 
        for nonappearance at any hearing relating to a debt;
            (9) commence or continue any action to cause or to seek to 
        cause the collection of a debt, including pursuant to a court 
        order issued before the end of the 120-day period following the 
        end of the COVID-19 emergency, from wages, Federal benefits, or 
        other amounts due to a consumer by way of garnishment, 
        deduction, offset, or other seizure;
            (10) cause or seek to cause the collection of a debt, 
        including pursuant to a court order issued before the end of 
        the 120-day period following the end of the COVID-19 emergency, 
        by levying on funds from a bank account or seizing any other 
        assets of a consumer;
            (11) commence or continue an action to evict a consumer 
        from real or personal property; or
            (12) disconnect or terminate service from utility service, 
        including electricity, natural gas, telecommunications or 
        broadband, water, or sewer.
    (b) 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) Repayment Period.--After the expiration of the COVID-19 
emergency, with respect to a debt described under subsection (a), a 
debt collector--
            (1) may not add to the debt balance any interest or fee 
        prohibited by subsection (a);
            (2) shall, for credit with a defined term or payment 
        period, extend the time period to repay the debt balance by 1 
        payment period for each payment that a consumer missed during 
        the COVID-19 emergency, with the payments due in the same 
        amounts and at the same intervals as the pre-existing payment 
        schedule;
            (3) shall, for an open end credit plan (as defined under 
        section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act) or other credit 
        without a defined term, allow the consumer to repay the debt 
        balance in a manner that does not exceed the amounts permitted 
        by formulas under section 170(c) of the Truth in Lending Act 
        and regulations promulgated thereunder; and
            (4) shall, when the consumer notifies the debt collector, 
        offer reasonable and affordable repayment plans, loan 
        modifications, refinancing, options with a reasonable time in 
        which to repay the debt.
    (d) Communications in Connection With the Collection of a Debt.--
            (1) In general.--During the COVID-19 emergency, without 
        prior consent of a consumer given directly to a debt collector 
        during the COVID-19 emergency, or the express permission of a 
        court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may only 
        communicate in writing in connection with the collection of any 
        debt (other than debt related to a federally related mortgage 
        loan).
            (2) Required disclosures.--
                    (A) In general.--All written communications 
                described under paragraph (1) shall inform the consumer 
                that the communication is for informational purposes 
                and is not an attempt to collect a debt.
                    (B) Requirements.--The disclosure required under 
                subparagraph (A) shall be made--
                            (i) in type or lettering not smaller than 
                        14-point bold type;
                            (ii) separate from any other disclosure;
                            (iii) in a manner designed to ensure that 
                        the recipient sees the disclosure clearly;
                            (iv) in English and Spanish and in any 
                        additional languages in which the debt 
                        collector communicates, including the language 
                        in which the loan was negotiated, to the extent 
                        known by the debt collector; and
                            (v) may be provided by first-class mail or 
                        electronically, if the borrower has otherwise 
                        consented to electronic communication with the 
                        debt collector and has not revoked such 
                        consent.
                    (C) Oral notification.--Any oral notification shall 
                be provided in the language the debt collector 
                otherwise uses to communicate with the borrower.
                    (D) Written translations.--In providing written 
                notifications in languages other than English in this 
                section, a debt collector may rely on written 
                translations developed by the Bureau of Consumer 
                Financial Protection.
    (e) Violations.--
            (1) In general.--Any person who violates this section 
        shall--
                    (A) except as provided under subparagraph (B), be 
                subject to civil liability in accordance with section 
                813 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as if 
                the person is a debt collector for purposes of that 
                section; and
                    (B) be liable to the consumer for an amount 10 
                times the amounts described in such section 813.
            (2) 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 brought under this section, including 
        a dispute as to the applicability of this section, which shall 
        be determined under Federal law.
    (f) Tolling.--Except as provided in subsection (g)(5), any 
applicable time limitations, including statutes of limitations, related 
to a debt under Federal or State law shall be tolled during the COVID-
19 emergency.
    (g) Claims of Affected Creditors and Debt Collectors.--
            (1) Valuation of property.--With respect to any action 
        asserting a taking under the Fifth Amendment of the 
        Constitution of the United States as a result of this section 
        or seeking a declaratory judgment regarding the 
        constitutionality of this section, the value of the property 
        alleged to have been taken without just compensation shall be 
        evaluated--
                    (A) with consideration of the likelihood of full 
                and timely payment of the obligation without the 
                actions taken pursuant to this section; and
                    (B) without consideration of any assistance 
                provided directly or indirectly to the consumer from 
                other Federal, State, and local government programs 
                instituted or legislation enacted in response to the 
                COVID-19 emergency.
            (2) Scope of just compensation.--In an action described in 
        paragraph (1), any assistance or benefit provided directly or 
        indirectly to the person from other Federal, State, and local 
        government programs instituted in or legislation enacted 
        response to the COVID-19 emergency, shall be deemed to be 
        compensation for the property taken, even if such assistance or 
        benefit is not specifically provided as compensation for 
        property taken by this section.
            (3) Appeals.--Any appeal from an action under this section 
        shall be treated under section 158 of title 28, United States 
        Code, as if it were an appeal in a case under title 11, United 
        States Code.
            (4) Repose.--Any action asserting a taking under the Fifth 
        Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as a result 
        of this section shall be brought within not later than 180 days 
        after the end of the COVID-19 emergency.
            (5) Severability.--If any provision of this section or the 
        application of such provision to any person or circumstance is 
        held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this 
        section and the application of the provisions of this section 
        to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Consumer.--The term ``consumer'' means any individual 
        obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt.
            (2) COVID-19 emergency.--The term ``COVID-19 emergency'' 
        means the period that begins upon the date of the enactment of 
        this Act and ends on the date of the termination by the Federal 
        Emergency Management Agency of the emergency declared on March 
        13, 2020, by the President under 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.
            (3) Creditor.--The term ``creditor'' means--
                    (A) any person who offers or extends credit 
                creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed or other 
                obligation for payment;
                    (B) any lessor of real or personal property; or
                    (C) any provider of utility services.
            (4) Debt.--The term ``debt''--
                    (A) means any past due obligation or alleged past 
                due obligation that--
                            (i) was created before the COVID-19 
                        emergency, whether or not such obligation has 
                        been reduced to judgment; and
                            (ii) arises out of a transaction with a 
                        consumer in which the money, property, 
                        insurance or services which are the subject of 
                        the transaction, are primarily for personal, 
                        family, or household purposes; and
                    (B) does not include a federally related mortgage 
                loan.
            (5) Debt collector.--The term ``debt collector'' means a 
        creditor, and any person or entity that engages in the 
        collection of debt, including the Federal Government and a 
        State government, irrespective of whether the debt is allegedly 
        owed to or assigned to that person or to the entity.
            (6) Federally related mortgage loan.--The term ``federally 
        related mortgage loan'' has the meaning given that term under 
        section 3 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 
        (12 U.S.C. 2602).

SEC. 3. CREDIT FACILITY FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

    (a) Establishment.--The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System shall establish a facility that the Board of Governors shall use 
to make payments to covered financial institutions to compensate such 
institutions for documented financial losses caused by the suspension 
of payments required under section 2.
    (b) Covered Financial Institution Defined.--In this section, the 
term ``covered financial institution'' means the holder of a loan 
described under section 2.
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