[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1379 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1379

To make technical amendments to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 2, 1995

  Mr. Simpson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To make technical amendments to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 
                        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 ``Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Amendments Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 803(6)(C) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 
U.S.C. 1692a(6)(C)) is amended by inserting ``owed to the Federal 
Government or to any State'' after ``collect any debt''.

SEC. 3. ACQUISITION OF LOCATION INFORMATION.

    Section 804(6) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692b(6)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the 
following: ``, except that the debt collector may communicate with 
persons other than the attorney for the purpose of acquiring location 
information or information relating to the income, assets, or credit of 
the consumer if the attorney refuses to provide such information to the 
debt collector''.

SEC. 4. VALIDATION OF DEBTS.

    (a) Destination of Validation Notice.--Section 809(a) of the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)) is amended in the 
matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking ``send the consumer'' and 
inserting ``send to the last known address of the consumer (or to any 
location at which the debt collector has a reasonable belief that the 
consumer is residing)''.
    (b) Form of Validation Notice.--Section 809(a)(3) of the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``appearing in type at least as large as 
        12-point type'' after ``a statement'';
            (2) by striking ``disputes'' and inserting ``notifies the 
        debt collector in writing that''; and
            (3) by striking ``thereof,'' and inserting ``thereof is 
        disputed,''.

SEC. 5. LEGAL ACTIONS BY DEBT COLLECTORS.

    Section 811(a)(2) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 
U.S.C. 1692i(a)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or in which the 
        obligation was incurred'' before the semicolon; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``or is employed'' 
        after ``consumer resides''.

SEC. 6. CIVIL LIABILITY.

    (a) Limitations on Damages.--Section 813(a) of the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(a)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(a) Limitations on Damages.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
        section, a debt collector who fails to comply with any 
        provision of this title with respect to any person shall be 
        liable to such person as follows:
                    ``(A) Individual actions.--In the case of an action 
                arising under this title other than an action described 
                in subparagraph (B), in an amount equal to any actual 
                damages sustained by the person as a result of such 
                failure.
                    ``(B) Class actions.--In the case of an action 
                arising under this title that is brought or maintained 
                as a class action pursuant to the Federal Rules of 
                Civil Procedure or as otherwise provided by law 
                (hereafter in this section referred to as a `class 
                action'), in an amount equal to the sum of--
                            ``(i) the amount for each named plaintiff 
                        as is recoverable under subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) such amount as the court may allow 
                        for all other class members, without regard to 
                        a minimum individual recovery, not to exceed 
                        the total amount for such class members as is 
                        recoverable under subparagraph (A).
                    ``(C) Costs and attorney's fees.--In the case of 
                any successful action to enforce the liability 
                specified in subparagraph (A) or (B), the costs of the 
                action, together with reasonable attorney's fees as 
                determined by the court, in an amount not to exceed the 
                amount awarded in such action under subparagraph (A) or 
                (B), as applicable.
            ``(2) Class action limitation.--The total amount recovered 
        under paragraph (1)(B) in any class action or series of class 
        actions arising out of the same failure to comply by the same 
        debt collector shall not exceed the lesser of--
                    ``(A) $500,000; or
                    ``(B) 1 percent of the net financial worth of the 
                debt collector.
            ``(3) Actions brought in bad faith.--On a finding by the 
        court that an action arising under this title was brought in 
        violation of Rule 11(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil 
        Procedure, the court may award to the defendant the costs of 
        the action, together with reasonable attorney's fees, as 
        determined by the court.
            ``(4) Offer of judgment.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, in any action arising under this title, for 
        purposes of any application of Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of 
        Civil Procedure--
                    ``(A) costs shall include reasonable attorney's 
                fees; and
                    ``(B) following any offer made to a plaintiff or to 
                the plaintiff class that is not accepted in accordance 
                with such Rule, the plaintiff or plaintiff class, as 
                applicable, shall not be entitled to recover attorney's 
                fees as otherwise provided in this title if the amount 
                of the final judgment awarded to the plaintiff or to 
                the plaintiff class, as applicable, is less than or 
                equal to the offer.''.
    (b) Factors for Consideration.--Section 813(b) of the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(b)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(b) Factors for Consideration.--In determining the liability of a 
debt collector under subsection (a) in any action arising under this 
title, the court shall consider, among other relevant factors--
            ``(1) the frequency and persistence of noncompliance by the 
        debt collector;
            ``(2) the nature of such noncompliance; and
            ``(3) the extent to which the noncompliance of the debt 
        collector is intentional.''.
    (c) Modification of Bona Fide Error Defense.--Section 813(c) of the 
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``violation was not'' and inserting the 
        following: ``violation--
            ``(1) was not'';
            (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
        or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(2) resulted from the use of written communication in a 
        form approved by any Federal or State agency responsible for 
        the regulation of debt collectors.''.
    (d) Reasonable Person Standard.--Section 813 of the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Reasonable Person Standard.--In making a determination under 
this section as to whether or not a debt collector has failed to comply 
with any provision of this title with respect to any person, the court 
shall consider the effect of the actions or omissions of the debt 
collector on a reasonable person.''.

SEC. 7. RELATION TO STATE LAWS.

    Section 816 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692n) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 816. RELATION TO STATE LAWS.

    ``(a) In General.--This title supersedes any provision of the law 
of any State that creates a private right of action relating to any 
operation, practice, or activity of a debt collector.
    ``(b) No Remedy Under This Title for State Law Violations.--This 
title shall not be construed to provide a remedy for any violation of 
the law of any State with respect to debt collection practices.
    ``(c) No Liability Under This Title for State Law Violations.--This 
title shall not be construed to establish any liability or penalty for 
a violation of the law of any State unless the conduct which 
constitutes a violation of the law of such State also constitutes a 
violation of any requirement of this title or any regulation 
promulgated pursuant to this title.''.
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