Consumer Relief during COVID–19 Act

Bill: 116-hr-7796
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]
Introduced: 2020-07-27
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration

Cardiovascular and respiratory health

Consumer credit

Debt collection

Emergency medical services and trauma care

Government lending and loan guarantees

Infectious and parasitic diseases

Interest, dividends, interest rates

Landlord and tenant

Public utilities and utility rates

Wages and earnings
Latest action: action_date: 2020-07-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-07-27
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Consumer Relief during COVID-19 Act </b></p> <p>This bill places restrictions on the collection of consumer debts during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency period and for 120 days after this period. Among other things, debt collectors may not during this period </p> <ul> <li>enforce a security interest through a repossession, </li> <li>seize assets, </li> <li>commence or continue an eviction, </li> <li>terminate utility service, or </li> <li>charge fees or apply a higher interest rate as a result of nonpayment. </li> </ul> <p>After this period, debt collectors must provide certain repayment options including extending the repayment period for debts. </p> <p>The bill also provides for forbearance programs established by creditors for consumers experiencing a financial hardship due to COVID-19. The Federal Reserve Board must establish a credit facility to make long-term, low-cost loans to these creditors for losses caused by any forbearance of payments. </p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7796 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 27, 2020 Mrs. Beatty (for herself and Ms. Waters ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to restrict collections of consumer debt during a national disaster or emergency, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Consumer Relief during COVID–19 Act . 2. Restrictions on collections of consumer debt during a national disaster or emergency (a) In general The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 812 ( 15 U.S.C. 1692j ) the following: 812A. Restrictions on collections of consumer debt during a national disaster or emergency (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Covered period The term covered period means the period beginning on the date of enactment of this section and ending 120 days after the end of the incident period for the emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by the President under section 501 of 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. (2) Creditor The term creditor means any person— (A) who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed; or (B) to whom any obligation for payment is owed. (3) Debt The term debt — (A) means any obligation or alleged obligation that is or during the covered period becomes past due, other than an obligation arising out of a credit agreement entered into after the effective date of this section, that arises out of a transaction with a consumer; and (B) does not include a mortgage loan. (4) Debt collector The term debt collector means a creditor and any other person or entity that engages in the collection of debt, including the Federal Government and a State government, irrespective of whether the applicable debt is allegedly owed to or assigned to such creditor, person, or entity. (5) Mortgage loan The term mortgage loan means a Federally backed mortgage loan (as defined under section 4022 of the CARES Act) and a Federally backed multifamily mortgage loan (as defined under section 4023 of the CARES Act). (b) Prohibitions (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no debt collector may, during a covered period— (A) enforce a security interest securing a debt through repossession, limitation of use, or foreclosure; (B) take or threaten to take any action to deprive an individual of their liberty as a result of nonpayment of or nonappearance at any hearing relating to an obligation owed by a consumer; (C) collect any debt, by way of garnishment, attachment, assignment, deduction, offset, or other seizure, from— (i) wages, income, benefits, bank, prepaid or other asset accounts; or (ii) any assets of, or other amounts due to, a consumer; (D) commence or continue an action to evict a consumer from real or personal property for nonpayment; (E) disconnect or terminate service from a utility service, including electricity, natural gas, telecommunications or broadband, water, or sewer, for nonpayment; or (F) threaten to take any of the foregoing actions. (2) 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) Limitation on fees and interest After the expiration of a covered period, a debt collector may not add to any past due debt any interest on unpaid interest, higher rate of interest triggered by the nonpayment of the debt, or fee triggered prior to the expiration of the covered period by the nonpayment of the debt. (e) Violations Any person or government entity that violates this section shall be liable to the applicable consumer as provided under section 813, except that, for purposes of applying section 813— (1) such person or government entity shall be deemed a debt collector, as such term is defined for purposes of section 813; and (2) each dollar figure in such section shall be deemed to be 10 times the dollar figure specified. (f) Tolling Any applicable time limitations for exercising an action prohibited under subsection (b) shall be tolled during a covered period. (g) 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. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 812 the following: 812A. Restrictions on collections of consumer debt during a national disaster or emergency. . 3. Repayment period and forbearance for consumers Section 812A of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.), as added by section 2, is amended— (1) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: (d) Repayment period After the expiration of a covered period, a debt collector shall comply with the following: (1) Debt arising from credit with a defined payment period For any debt arising from credit with a defined term, the debt collector shall extend the time period to repay any past due balance of the debt by— (A) 1 payment period for each payment that a consumer missed during the covered period, with the payments due in the same amounts and at the same intervals as the pre-existing payment schedule; and (B) 1 payment period in addition to the payment periods described under subparagraph (A). (2) Debt arising from an open end credit plan For debt arising from an open end credit plan, as defined in section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1602 ), the debt collector shall allow the consumer to repay the past-due balance in a manner that does not exceed the amounts permitted by the methods described in section 171(c) of the Truth in Lending Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1666i–1(c) ) and regulations promulgated under that section. (3) Debt arising from other credit (A) In general For debt not described under paragraph (2) or (3), the debt collector shall— (i) allow the consumer to repay the past-due balance of the debt in substantially equal payments over time; and (ii) provide the consumer with— (I) for past due balances of $2,000 or less, 12 months to repay, or such longer period as the debt collector may allow; (II) for past due balances between $2,001 and $5,000, 24 months to repay, or such longer period as the debt collector may allow; or (III) for past due balances greater than $5,000, 36 months to repay, or such longer period as the debt collector may allow. (B) Additional protections The Director of the Bureau may issue rules to provide greater repayment protections to consumers with debts described under subparagraph (A). (C) Relation to State law This paragraph shall not preempt any State law that provides for greater consumer protections than this paragraph. ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (h) Forbearance for affected consumers (1) Forbearance program Each debt collector that makes use of the credit facility described in paragraph (4) shall establish a forbearance program for debts available during the covered period. (2) Automatic grant of forbearance upon request Under a forbearance program required under paragraph (1), upon the request of a consumer experiencing a financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to COVID–19, the debt collector shall grant a forbearance on payment of debt for such time as needed until the end of the covered period, with no additional documentation required other than the borrower’s attestation to a financial hardship caused by COVID–19 and with no fees, penalties, or interest (beyond the amounts scheduled or calculated as if the borrower made all contractual payments on time and in full under the terms of the loan contract) charged to the borrower in connection with the forbearance. (3) Exception for certain mortgage loans subject to the CARES Act This subsection shall not apply to a mortgage loan subject to section 4022 or 4023 of the CARES Act. . 4. Credit facility Section 812A(h) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.), as added by section 3, is amended by adding at the end the following: (4) Credit facility The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall— (A) establish a facility, using amounts made available under section 4003(b)(4) of the CARES Act ( 15 U.S.C. 9042(b)(4) ), to make long-term, low-cost loans to debt collectors to temporarily compensate such debt collectors for documented financial losses caused by forbearance of debt payments under this subsection; and (B) defer debt collectors’ required payments on such loans until after consumers’ debt payments resume. .