Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2015
Latest action · Nov 5, 2015 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedNov 5, 2015
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2015
This bill amends the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to redefine: (1) "debt" to include any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay a loan, an overpayment, a fine, penalty, a fee, or other money to a federal agency and that is at least 180 days past due; and (2) "debt collector" to include any person who regularly collects debts owed or allegedly owed to a federal agency.
A federal agency that is a creditor may sell or transfer a debt to a debt collector beginning 180 days after the obligation or alleged obligation arises.
The Act is further amended by making the collection of any amount (including any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the principal obligation) an unfair practice unless:
- the amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law (as under current law); or
- in the case of a debt owed a federal agency, the collection charge is reasonable in relation to actual collection costs, is authorized by a contract between the debt collector and the federal agency, and does not exceed 10% of the amount the debt collector collects.
The Government Accountability Office must study the use of debt collectors by state and local government agencies.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Nov 5, 2015.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-UT | Mike Lee | Original | Nov 5, 2015 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Nov 5, 2015Introduced in Senate
- Nov 5, 2015Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 5434 | Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2016 | Related bill | Jun 9, 2016 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Nov 5, 2015Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.