IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1491 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to provide enhanced protection against debt collector harassment of members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:56 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1491.RFS H1491 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1491 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Debt Collection 2 Practices for Servicemembers Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. ENHANCED PROTECTION AGAINST DEBT COL- 4 LECTOR HARASSMENT OF 5 SERVICEMEMBERS. 6 (a) COMMUNICATION IN CONNECTION WITH DEBT 7 COLLECTION.—Section 805 of the Fair Debt Collection 8 Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692c) is amended by adding 9 at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING SERVICEMEM- 11 BER DEBTS.— 12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 13 ‘covered member’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) a covered member or a dependent as 15 defined in section 987(i) of title 10, United 16 States Code; and 17 ‘‘(B)(i) an individual who was separated, 18 discharged, or released from duty described in 19 such section 987(i)(1), but only during the 365- 20 day period beginning on the date of separation, 21 discharge, or release; or 22 ‘‘(ii) a person, with respect to an individual 23 described in clause (i), described in subpara- 24 graph (A), (D), (E), or (I) of section 1072(2) 25 of title 10, United States Code. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:56 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1491.RFS H1491 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1491 RFS ‘‘(2) PROHIBITIONS.—A debt collector may not, 1 in connection with the collection of any debt of a 2 covered member— 3 ‘‘(A) threaten to have the covered member 4 reduced in rank; 5 ‘‘(B) threaten to have the covered mem- 6 ber’s security clearance revoked; or 7 ‘‘(C) threaten to have the covered member 8 prosecuted under chapter 47 of title 10, United 9 States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Jus- 10 tice).’’. 11 (b) UNFAIR PRACTICES.—Section 808 of the Fair 12 Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amend- 13 ed by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(9) The representation to any covered member 15 (as defined under section 805(e)(1)) that failure to 16 cooperate with a debt collector will result in— 17 ‘‘(A) a reduction in rank of the covered 18 member; 19 ‘‘(B) a revocation of the covered member’s 20 security clearance; or 21 ‘‘(C) prosecution under chapter 47 of title 22 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of 23 Military Justice).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:56 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1491.RFS H1491 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1491 RFS SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 1 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 2 conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on the 3 impact of this Act on— 4 (1) the timely delivery of information to a cov- 5 ered member (as defined in section 805(e) of the 6 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by this 7 Act); 8 (2) military readiness; and 9 (3) national security, including the extent to 10 which covered members with security clearances 11 would be impacted by uncollected debt. 12 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 13 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 14 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 15 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 16 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 17 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 18 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 19 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 20 vote on passage. 21 Passed the House of Representatives April 20, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:56 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1491.RFS H1491 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS