Payday and Predatory Loans Moratorium Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6544 To establish a moratorium on collection efforts made by certain lenders against borrowers affected by coronavirus. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 17, 2020 Mr. MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To establish a moratorium on collection efforts made by certain lenders against borrowers affected by coronavirus. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Payday and Predatory 4 Loans Moratorium Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON COLLECTION EFFORTS FOR CER- 6 TAIN BORROWERS AFFECTED BY 7 CORONAVIRUS. 8 (a) MORATORIUM.—During the one-year period be- 9 ginning on the date on which a borrower notifies a covered 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6544.IH H6544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6544 IH lender of the borrower being affected by coronavirus, the 1 covered lender may not carry out any collection efforts 2 against the borrower with respect to a loan described in 3 subsection (b). 4 (b) LOAN DESCRIBED.—A loan described in this sub- 5 section is any of the following loans: 6 (1) A loan with nominal interest rates of 36 7 percent or more. 8 (2) A loan by a covered lender described in sub- 9 section (c)(3)(B) that does not, or did not at the 10 time of issuing the loan, determine whether the bor- 11 rower can afford, while still meeting the basic living 12 expenses and major financial obligations of the bor- 13 rower— 14 (A) with respect to payday and auto title 15 loans that are due in one lump sum within one 16 month of the date of such issuance, the full 17 payment of the total loan amount, plus fees and 18 finance charges; or 19 (B) with respect to longer-term loans with 20 a balloon payment, the payments for the month 21 with the highest total payments on the loan. 22 (c) DEFINITIONS.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6544.IH H6544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6544 IH (1) AFFECTED BY CORONAVIRUS.—The term 1 ‘‘affected by coronavirus’’ means, with respect to a 2 borrower, any of the following circumstances: 3 (A) The household income of the borrower 4 is reduced by reason of coronavirus disease 5 2019 (COVID–19). 6 (B) The borrower becomes unemployed by 7 reason of such disease. 8 (C) The borrower, or a member of the 9 household of the borrower, is hospitalized by 10 reason of such disease. 11 (D) The borrower resides or is employed in 12 an area covered by an emergency declared by 13 the Federal Government or a State or local gov- 14 ernment as a result of such disease. 15 (2) COLLECTION EFFORTS.—The term ‘‘collec- 16 tion efforts’’ means any of the following actions, or 17 attempted actions, made by a covered lender (or a 18 collection agency acting on behalf of the covered 19 lender) in order to collect amounts owed to the lend- 20 er by a borrower: 21 (A) Contacting the borrower by telephone, 22 including by text message. 23 (B) Contacting the employer of the bor- 24 rower. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6544.IH H6544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6544 IH (C) Cashing post-dated checks of the bor- 1 rower or making a direct withdrawal from a 2 bank account of the borrower. 3 (D) Entering into an agreement with a col- 4 lections agency to collect such amounts. 5 (E) Reporting to a credit reporting agency 6 any missed payments related to such amounts. 7 (F) Any other effort not described in sub- 8 paragraphs (A) through (E) to enforce the col- 9 lection of the amounts or the making of pay- 10 ments related to such amounts. 11 (3) COVERED LENDER.—The term ‘‘covered 12 lender’’ means any of the following: 13 (A) A payday lender. 14 (B) A lender who is not a depository insti- 15 tution (as defined under section 3 of the Fed- 16 eral Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) 17 or a Federal or State credit union (as such 18 terms are defined under section 101 of the Fed- 19 eral Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752)). 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6544.IH H6544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS