[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2544 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2544

 To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to reduce the cost of 
                    credit, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 1999

 Mr. Metcalf introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to reduce the cost of 
                    credit, 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 Cost Reduction Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS INVOLVING LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

    Section 803(2) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692a(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
``Such term does not include actions taken pursuant to the Federal 
Rules of Civil Procedure; in the case of a proceeding in a State court, 
the rules of civil procedure available under the laws of such State; or 
a nonjudicial foreclosure.''.

SEC. 3. COLLECTION ACTIVITY FOLLOWING INITIAL NOTICE.

    Section 809 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Continuation During Period.--Collection activities and 
communications may continue during the 30-day period described in 
subsection (a) unless the consumer requests the cessation of such 
activities.''.

SEC. 4. LIABILITY FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.

    (a) Clarification of Limitation on Class Action Awards.--Section 
813(a)(2)(B) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692k(a)(2)(B)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``or any series of class actions arising 
        out of the same violations by the same debt collector'' after 
        ``case of a class action''; and
            (2) by inserting ``of such class action or series of class 
        actions'' after ``all other class members''.
    (b) Attorneys Fees To Enforce Civil Liability.--Paragraph (3) of 
section 813(a) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692k(a)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(3) subject to subsection (f), in the case of a 
        successful action to enforce a liability under paragraph (1) or 
        (2), the costs of the action, including reasonable attorney's 
        fees, as determined by the court, in an amount not to exceed 
        the amount awarded in such action under the applicable 
        paragraph.''.
    (c) Rules Applicable to Certain Actions.--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) Rules Applicable to Actions Under This Title.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any action arising under 
this title, for purposes of Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil 
Procedure, the following provisions shall apply:
            ``(1) Plaintiff's attorney's fees.--Costs shall include 
        reasonable fees for the plaintiff's attorney.
            ``(2) Disallowance of certain fees accruing after refusal 
        of settlement offer.--In accordance with Rule 68 of the Federal 
        Rules of Civil Procedure, if--
                    ``(A) an offer is made by the debt collector to a 
                consumer bringing an action (including any class action 
                or series of class actions referred to in subsection 
                (a)(2)(B)) under this title, and the offer is not 
                accepted; and
                    ``(B) the amount of the final judgment awarded to 
                the consumer (or, in the case of a class action or 
                series of class actions, the total amount awarded to 
                all class members in such class action or series of 
                class actions) is less than or equal to the amount of 
                the offer referred to in subparagraph (A),
        the consumer (or the class with regard to a class action or 
        series of class actions) may not be awarded or otherwise 
        recover costs for attorney's fees incurred after the date such 
        offer is rejected.''.
    (d) Factors for Consideration.--Section 813(b) of the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(b)) is amended--
            (1) in the portion of such subsection which precedes 
        paragraph (1), by striking ``liability in any action'' and 
        inserting ``any award''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following 
        new paragraph:
    ``(1) in any action under subsection (a)(2)(A), the frequency and 
persistence of noncompliance by the debt collector, the nature of such 
noncompliance, the extent to which the such noncompliance was 
intentional, and the amount of actual damages awarded; or''.
    (e) Bona Fide Errors.--Section 813(c) of the Fair Debt Collection 
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(c) A debt collector may not'' and 
        inserting ``(c) Bona Fide Errors.--
            ``(1) In general.--A debt collector may not''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(2) Reliance on rules of civil procedure.--A debt 
        collector may not be held liable in any action brought under 
        this title if the debt collector shows by a preponderance of 
        the evidence that the violation resulted from good faith 
        compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; in the 
        case of a proceeding in a State court, the rules of civil 
        procedure available under the laws of such State; or a 
        nonjudicial foreclosure proceeding.''.

SEC. 5. MORTGAGE SERVICERS' REGULATORY BURDEN RELIEF.

    (a) In General.--The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 818 as section 819; and
            (2) by inserting after section 817 the following new 
        section:
``Sec. 818. Mortgage servicer exemption
    ``(a) Exemption.--Any servicer of federally related mortgage loans 
secured by first liens--
            ``(1) who is a debt collector; and
            ``(2) for whom the collection of delinquent debts is 
        secondary to the servicer's primary function of servicing 
        federally related mortgage loans,
shall be exempt from the requirements of sections 807(11) and 809 in 
connection with the collection of any debt which is a federally related 
mortgage loan secured by a first lien.
    ``(b) Validation Statement.--If a debt collector is exempt, 
pursuant to subsection (a), from the requirements of section 809 with 
respect to any federally related mortgage loan to a consumer which is 
secured by a first lien, the servicer shall provide to the consumer, at 
least 30 days before any acceleration of the debt and without charge to 
such consumer--
                    ``(A) a notice of the consumer's right to receive a 
                validation statement; or
                    ``(B) a validation statement.
            ``(2) Qualified validation requests.--
                    ``(A) Response to request.--If a servicer described 
                in paragraph (1) provides a consumer with a notice 
                under subparagraph (A) of such paragraph, the servicer 
                shall provide such consumer with a validation statement 
                not more than 10 days after receiving a qualified 
                validation request from such consumer.
                    ``(B) No delay required.--No provision of this 
                title shall be construed as requiring a servicer 
                described in paragraph (1) to delay acceleration, 
                foreclosure, or any other action with respect to a 
                federally related mortgage loan for which the servicer 
                provided a notice to the consumer under paragraph 
                (1)(A) due to the receipt by such servicer of a 
                qualified validation request from such consumer.
                    ``(C) Receipt and handling of requests.--A servicer 
                described in paragraph (1) may establish a separate and 
                exclusive office for the receipt and handling of any 
                qualified validation request from any consumer under 
                this subsection if the servicer provides notice of that 
                fact and the address of the office to the consumer--
                            ``(i) in the notice provided to such 
                        consumer pursuant to paragraph (1)(A); or
                            ``(ii) separately by 1st class mail with 
                        prepaid postage.
            ``(3) Reasonable estimates of 3d party charges.--A servicer 
        described in paragraph (1) shall not be liable under this title 
        for any inaccurate amount contained in a validation statement 
        provided to a consumer with respect to a federally related 
        mortgage loan secured by a first lien to the extent the 
        inaccurate amount--
                    ``(A) relates to costs for services to be provided 
                by third parties; and
                    ``(B) constitutes a reasonable estimate of such 
                costs.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            ``(1) Federally related mortgage loan.--The term `federally 
        related mortgage loan' has the meaning given to such term in 
        section 3(1) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 
        1974.
            ``(2) Qualified validation request.--The term `qualified 
        validation request' means a written request for a validation 
        statement from a consumer to a servicer which--
                    ``(A) includes the name and account number of the 
                consumer or such other information as may be necessary 
                to allow the servicer to identify such name and account 
                number; and
                    ``(B) is not written on or otherwise included with 
                a payment coupon or other payment medium provided by 
                the servicer.
            ``(3) Servicer; servicing.--The terms `servicer' and 
        `servicing' have the meanings given to such terms in section 
        6(i) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974.
            ``(4) Validation statement.--The term `validation 
        statement' means a statement of--
                    ``(A) the total amount a consumer must pay, as of a 
                particular date, to bring the consumer's loan current; 
                and
                    ``(B) the total amount a consumer must pay, as of a 
                particular date, to satisfy the loan in full.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the item relating to section 818 as 
        section 819; and
            (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 817 the 
        following new item:

``818. Mortgage servicer exemption.''.
                                 <all>