Unsolicited Loan Act of 2019

Unsolicited Loan Act of 2019

This bill prohibits a lender from providing an unsolicited loan check or similar instrument to a consumer. Additionally, a consumer is not liable for any debt incurred from such an instrument.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3036 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3036

 To amend the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit the distribution of any 
  check or other negotiable instrument as part of a solicitation by a 
    creditor for an extension of credit, to limit the liability of 
    consumers in conjunction with such solicitations, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 12, 2019

  Mr. Jones (for himself, Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Merkley) 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 prohibit the distribution of any 
  check or other negotiable instrument as part of a solicitation by a 
    creditor for an extension of credit, to limit the liability of 
    consumers in conjunction with such solicitations, 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 ``Unsolicited Loan Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. UNSOLICITED LOAN CHECKS PROHIBITED.

    (a) In General.--Section 132 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 
1642) is amended--
            (1) by striking the section heading and inserting 
        ``unsolicited credit'';
            (2) by inserting ``(a) Credit Cards.--'' before ``No 
        credit''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Unsolicited Loan Checks or Transfers.--No person may extend 
any consumer credit that is otherwise subject to this title by--
            ``(1) making an unsolicited transfer of funds to the 
        consumer's credit or asset account; or
            ``(2) through the consumer's use of an unsolicited check, 
        other negotiable instrument, access device or other means of 
        initiating an electronic fund transfer as defined in section 
        903 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693a), or 
        such other similar instrument or device as the Bureau may, by 
        rule, determine, that is sent to the consumer unless the 
        consumer submitted a written application for, or otherwise 
        requested in writing, the extension of credit before the date 
        on which the creditor sent the check, negotiable instrument, 
        access device or other similar instrument or device.
    ``(c) `Look-Alike' Checks.--A certificate, voucher, or other 
nonnegotiable instrument provided to a consumer in connection with a 
solicitation for an extension of credit that has the appearance of a 
check or other negotiable instrument is not an application or request 
for an extension of credit for purposes of this section.
    ``(d) Liability of Consumer.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the terms 
        `consumer', `consumer reporting agency', and `consumer report' 
        have the meanings given the terms in section 603 of the Fair 
        Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a).
            ``(2) Agreement void.--Any purported credit agreement 
        entered into or debt purportedly incurred as a result of a 
        violation of subsection (a) or (b) is void and the consumer or 
        cardholder shall not be liable for and no person shall attempt 
        to collect--
                    ``(A) the principal amount sent or transferred to 
                the consumer in violation of this section; or
                    ``(B) any interest, charge, fee, or penalty.
            ``(3) Consumer reporting.--No information relating to the 
        liability of a consumer alleged by a creditor to have been 
        established in violation of subsection (a) or (b) may be 
        reported to or received by any consumer reporting agency or 
        included in any consumer report.
    ``(e) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, the Bureau shall prescribe final 
regulations to implement this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 132 in the 
table of sections for chapter 2 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act 
is amended to read as follows:

``132. Unsolicited credit.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The requirements of this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act shall apply to solicitations for extensions 
of credit made to consumers 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
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