[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3618 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3618

    To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act with regard to 
          liability for noncompliance, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 2000

 Mr. Andrews 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 with regard to 
          liability for noncompliance, 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 
Improvement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. 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. 3. 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.''.
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