Transparency in Military Lending Act of 2017

Bill: 115-hr-2697
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5]
Introduced: 2017-05-25
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Consumer affairs

Consumer credit

Financial services and investments

Government information and archives

Interest, dividends, interest rates

Military personnel and dependents
Latest action: action_date: 2017-06-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-05-25
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Transparency in Military Lending Act of 2017 </b></p> <p> This bill requires a creditor to provide to a member of the Armed Forces on active regular, reserve, or National Guard duty or such member's dependent, with respect to any extension of consumer credit, and to obtain the member's or dependent's signed acknowledgement of: (1) a statement that the Department of Defense (DOD) and each service branch offers a variety of financial counseling services; (2) a statement that other, potentially lower interest rate loans may be available through other financial institutions and military relief societies; (3) contact information for the nearest DOD financial counseling office; and (4) a statement of the actual cost of the extension of credit when paid off at different points over time.</p> <p> DOD shall prepare a list of DOD financial counseling offices and make such list available to creditors and the public.</p>

tv_txt: I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2697 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 25, 2017 Mr. Kildee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to require additional disclosures by creditors when lending to members of the Armed Forces and their dependents, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Transparency in Military Lending Act of 2017 . 2. Transparency in lending to members of the Armed Forces and their dependents (a) Transparency and disclosures Section 987(c) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3) Additional disclosures (A) In general With respect to any extension of consumer credit described in paragraph (1), a creditor shall provide to the member or dependent each of the following pieces of information, orally and in writing: (i) A statement that the Department of Defense and each service branch offers a variety of financial counseling services. (ii) A statement that other, lower interest rate loans, including potentially 0 percent interest loans, may be available through other financial institutions and military relief societies. (iii) Contact information for the nearest Department of Defense financial counseling office. (iv) A statement of the actual cost of the extension of credit, prepared as an amortization table showing what the cost to the member or dependent will be if the extension of credit is paid off at different points over time. (B) Format of disclosures The written disclosures required under clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall be provided on single sheet of paper and be in a bold, 14-point font. (C) Signed acknowledgment With respect to any extension of consumer credit described under paragraph (1), a creditor may not issue the credit unless the member or dependent signs a separate acknowledgment next to each piece of information described in paragraph (3)(A) acknowledging that the member or dependent has read each piece of information. (D) List of financial counseling offices The Secretary of Defense shall prepare a list of Department of Defense financial counseling offices and make the list available to creditors and the public. (E) Transparency for payday loans and vehicle loans In this paragraph, the term consumer credit shall include payday loans and vehicle title loans as those terms were defined in section 232.3 of title 32, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on July 1, 2015. .