Credit Card Fairness Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3660 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3660

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to reduce excessive credit card late 
                     fees, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 15, 2026

Mr. Fetterman (for himself, Mr. Booker, and Ms. Baldwin) 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 reduce excessive credit card late 
                     fees, 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 ``Credit Card Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    Congress believes the late fees rule of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau under part 1026 of title 12, Code of Federal 
Regulations (commonly known as ``Regulation Z''), was appropriately 
promulgated as an extension of the Bureau's authority, in existence at 
the time the rule was promulgated, and this Act is intended only to 
codify that appropriately promulgated rule and thereby limit late fees 
to an amount that is reasonable and proportional with respect to the 
costs of credit card issuers.

SEC. 3. REASONABLE CREDIT CARD LATE FEES.

    Section 149 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1665d) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by striking ``shall consider'' and 
        all that follows through the period, and inserting ``shall 
        consider the cost incurred by the creditor from such omission 
        or violation.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Cap on Credit Card Late Fees.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Large credit card issuer.--The term `large 
                credit card issuer' means credit card issuer that had 
                1,000,000 or more open accounts during the preceding 
                calendar year.
                    ``(B) Open account.--The term `open account' has 
                the meaning given that term in section 1026.58(b)(6) of 
                title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 
                the date of enactment of this subsection (or successor 
                regulation that is consistent with the purposes of the 
                Credit Card Fairness Act).
            ``(2) Fee limitation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), a 
                fee imposed by a large credit card issuer associated 
                with a late payment on an account--
                            ``(i) may not exceed $8; and
                            ``(ii) shall not be, in the determination 
                        of the Bureau, in excess of the total costs 
                        described in subclause (I), thereby 
                        contributing to profits of the credit card 
                        issuer.
                    ``(B) Updates to cap.--The Bureau may increase the 
                cap on late fees for all large credit card issuers 
                under subparagraph (A)(i) by a rate that is not more 
                than the change in the Consumer Price Index for All 
                Urban Consumers, as published by the Bureau of Labor 
                Statistics of the Department of Labor, for the period 
                beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 
                ending on the date of proposed implementation of such 
                increase to the cap.
            ``(3) Venue for challenge.--Any action brought to challenge 
        any provision in this subsection, or any decision of the Bureau 
        made pursuant to this subsection, shall be filed in the United 
        States District Court for the District of Columbia.
            ``(4) Rulemaking.--The Bureau shall promulgate any rules 
        under this subsection in accordance with section 553 of title 
        5, United States Code, and prior to the notice and comment 
        period, the Bureau shall publicly release the research used to 
        inform and develop the proposed rule.''.
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