SAFE Lending Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2760
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2016-04-07
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital

Banking and financial institutions regulation

Computer security and identity theft

Congressional oversight

Consumer credit

Economic development

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Government studies and investigations

Indian social and development programs

Licensing and registrations

Minority and disadvantaged businesses
Latest action: action_date: 2016-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1811-1812)

Summaries:
action_date: 2016-04-07
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2016 or the SAFE Lending Act of 2016</b></p> <p>This bill amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) to declare that a remotely created check may only be issued by a person specifically designated in writing by the consumer to the insured depository institution at which the consumer maintains the account from which the check is drawn.</p> <p> A remotely created check is a paper or electronic check that:</p> <ul> <li>is not created by the financial institution that holds the customer account from which the check is to be paid; and</li> <li>does not bear a signature applied, or purported to be applied, by the account holder.</li> </ul> <p>A consumer may revoke authorization for remotely created checks at any time. </p> <p>The bill prohibits issuance of any payment order in response to a consumer's exercise of federal consumer financial rights.</p> <p>Any voluntary electronic fund transfer to repay a small-dollar consumer credit transaction shall be treated as preauthorized under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).</p> <p>The TILA is amended to require registration with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by any small-dollar lender that facilitates, brokers, arranges, or gathers applications for small-dollar consumer credit (of up to $5,000, adjusted for inflation) extended pursuant to an open-end, non-open-end, or other CFPB-determined credit plan meeting specified criteria.</p> <p>Small-dollar consumer credit transactions must comply with state law where the consumer resides.</p> <p>The EFTA is amended to:</p> <ul> <li>declare unlawful overdraft fees charged on a general-use prepaid card; and</li> <li>authorize the CFPB to prohibit fees for declined transactions involving such a card. </li> </ul> <p>The TILA is further amended to prohibit a person from certain activities, including distributing sensitive personal financial information, in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit transaction, if that person (&quot;lead generator&quot;) does not itself grant the credit directly to the consumer.</p> <p>The Government Accountability Office (GAO) shall study: (1) the availability of capital on Indian reservations, and (2) the impact on tribal economic opportunity and wealth of small-dollar consumer credit extensions to tribal members through Internet and non-Internet means.</p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2760 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 7, 2016 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Udall , Mr. Sanders , Mr. Franken , Mrs. Murray , Mr. Wyden , Mr. Durbin , Mr. Blumenthal , Ms. Warren , Ms. Baldwin , Mr. Markey , Mr. Booker , and Mr. Heinrich ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain issues related to the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2016 or the SAFE Lending Act of 2016 . 2. Consumer control over bank accounts (a) Prohibiting unauthorized remotely created checks Section 905 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1693c ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (d) Limitations on remotely created checks (1) Definition In this subsection, the term remotely created check means a check, including a paper or electronic check and any other payment order that the Bureau, by rule, determines is appropriately covered by this subsection, that— (A) is not created by the financial institution that holds the customer account from which the check is to be paid; and (B) does not bear a signature applied, or purported to be applied, by the person from whose account the check is to be paid. (2) Limitations Subject to the limitations in paragraph (3) and any additional limitations that the Bureau may establish, by rule, a remotely created check may only be issued by a person designated in writing by the consumer with the designation specifically provided in writing by the consumer to the insured depository institution at which the consumer maintains the account from which the check is to be drawn. (3) Additional limitations (A) In general An authorization provided under paragraph (2) may be revoked at any time by the consumer. (B) Consumer financial protection laws No payment order, including a remotely created check, may be issued by any person in response to the exercise of, or attempt to exercise, any rights by a consumer under any Federal consumer financial law, as defined in section 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 ( 12 U.S.C. 5481 ), or any other provision of any law or regulation within the jurisdiction of the Bureau. . (b) Consumer Protections for Certain One-Time Electronic Fund Transfers Section 913 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1693k ) is amended— (1) by inserting (a) In general.— before No person ; (2) in subsection (a)(1), as so designated, by striking preauthorized electronic fund transfers and inserting an electronic fund transfer ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (b) Treatment for electronic fund transfers in credit extensions If a consumer voluntarily agrees to repay an extension of a small-dollar consumer credit transaction, as defined in section 110(a) of the Truth in Lending Act, by means of an electronic fund transfer, the electronic fund transfer shall be treated as a preauthorized electronic fund transfer subject to the protections of this title. . 3. Transparency and consumer empowerment in small-dollar lending (a) Small-Dollar consumer credit transactions The Truth in Lending Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. ) is amended— (1) by inserting after section 109 ( 15 U.S.C. 1608 ) the following: 110. Registration requirement for small-dollar lenders (a) Definition In this section, the term small-dollar consumer credit transaction means any transaction that extends, facilitates, brokers, arranges, or gathers applications for credit that is— (1) made to a consumer in an amount of not more than $5,000, or such greater amount as the Bureau may, by rule, determine, with the amount to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers published by the Department of Labor; and (2) extended pursuant to an agreement that is— (A) (i) other than an open-end credit plan; and (ii) payable in 1 or more installments of less than 12 months (or such longer period as the Bureau may, by rule, determine); (B) an open-end credit plan in which each advance is fully repayable within a defined time or in connection with a defined event, or both; or (C) any other plan as the Bureau determines, by rule. (b) Registration requirement A person shall register with the Bureau before issuing credit in a small-dollar consumer credit transaction. ; (2) in section 173 ( 15 U.S.C. 1666j ), by adding at the end the following: (d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title, any small-dollar consumer credit transaction, as defined in section 110(a), shall comply with the laws of the State in which the consumer resides with respect to annual percentage rates, interest, fees, charges, and such other similar or related matters as the Bureau may, by rule, determine if the small-dollar consumer credit transaction is— (1) made over— (A) the Internet; (B) telephone; (C) facsimile; (D) mail; (E) electronic mail; or (F) other electronic communication; or (2) conducted by a national bank. ; and (3) in the table of sections of chapter 1, by inserting after the item relating to section 109 the following: 110. Registration requirement for small-dollar lenders. . (b) Prohibition on certain fees Section 915 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1693l–1 ) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: (d) Additional fees prohibited (1) Definition In this subsection, the term general-use prepaid card has the meaning given the term— (A) in subsection (a)(2); or (B) by rule of the Bureau. (2) Prohibition With respect to the use of a general-use prepaid card by a consumer— (A) it shall be unlawful for any person to charge the consumer a fee for an overdraft, including a shortage of funds or a transaction processed for an amount exceeding the account balance on the general-use prepaid card; (B) any transaction for an amount exceeding the account balance on the general-use prepaid card may be declined, except that the consumer may not be charged a fee for that purpose; and (C) the Bureau may, by rule, prohibit the charging of any fee so that the Bureau may— (i) prevent unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices; and (ii) promote the ability of the consumer to understand and compare the costs of general-use prepaid cards. . 4. Restrictions on lead generation in small-dollar consumer credit transactions Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 140B. Restrictions on lead generation in small-dollar consumer credit transactions (a) Definitions In this section— (1) the term sensitive personal financial information means the social security number, financial account number, bank routing number, bank account number, or any required security or access code that is immediately necessary to permit access to the financial account of an individual; and (2) the term small-dollar consumer credit transaction has the meaning given the term in section 110(a). (b) Identification information Any person facilitating, brokering, arranging, gathering applications for, or distributing sensitive personal financial information in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit transaction shall prominently disclose information by which the person may be contacted or identified, including for service of process and for identification of the registrant of any domain name registered or used. (c) Prohibition on lead generation in small-Dollar consumer credit transactions No person may facilitate, broker, arrange, gather applications for, or distribute sensitive personal financial information in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit transaction, unless the person is directly providing the small-dollar consumer credit to the consumer. (d) Rule of construction (1) In general Nothing in this section may be interpreted to limit the authority of the Bureau to further restrict activities covered by this section. (2) Clarification It shall not be considered facilitating in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit transaction to be engaged solely in 1 of the following activities: (A) The provision of a telecommunications service, or of an Internet access service or Internet information location tool (as those terms are defined in section 231 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 231 )). (B) The transmission, storage, retrieval, hosting, formatting, or translation (or any combination thereof) of a communication, without selection or alteration of the content of the communication, except that deletion of a particular communication or material made by another person in a manner consistent with section 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 230(c) ). . 5. Studies (a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Government Accountability Office (in this section referred to as the GAO ) shall conduct a study regarding— (1) the availability of capital on reservations of Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 450b )); and (2) the impact that small-dollar consumer credit extended through Internet and non-Internet means to members of Indian tribes has had on economic opportunity and wealth for members of Indian tribes. (b) Consultation In conducting the study described in subsection (a), the GAO shall consult, as appropriate, with— (1) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection; (2) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; (3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; (4) federally recognized Indian tribes; and (5) community development financial institutions operating in Indian lands. (c) Congressional consideration The study described in subsections (a) and (b) shall be presented to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives. 6. Rulemaking Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall adopt any final rules necessary to implement the provisions of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.