Small Business Fair Debt Collection Protection Act

Small Business Fair Debt Collection Protection Act

This bill applies consumer debt collection protections to small businesses, including protections regarding debt collection methods and third-party debt collection.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5013 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5013

To apply the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to small businesses to 
   the same extent as such Act applies to consumers, to require the 
   Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to define 
  ``small business'' for purposes of such Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 8, 2019

Mr. Lawson of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To apply the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to small businesses to 
   the same extent as such Act applies to consumers, to require the 
   Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to define 
  ``small business'' for purposes of such Act, 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 ``Small Business Fair Debt Collection 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES FOR LOANS TO SMALL BUSINESSES.

    (a) In General.--The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 803, by amending paragraph (5) to read as 
        follows:
            ``(5) The term `debt' means any obligation or alleged 
        obligation to pay money arising out of a transaction, whether 
        or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment.'';
            (2) by redesignating section 819 as section 820; and
            (3) by inserting after section 818 the following:
``Sec. 819. Application to small businesses
    ``(a) In General.--This Act shall apply to small businesses to the 
same extent as this Act applies to consumers.
    ``(b) Small Business Defined.--The Director of the Bureau, in 
consultation with the Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration, shall issue a rule to define the term `small business' 
for purposes of this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act is amended by striking the item relating to 
section 819 and inserting the following:

``819. Application to small businesses.
``820. Effective date.''.
    (c) Prohibition on Harassment or Abuse.--Section 806(3) of the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692d) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``consumers who'' and inserting ``consumers 
        or small businesses that''; and
            (2) by inserting ``, to a commercial credit bureau,'' after 
        ``consumer reporting agency''.
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