[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1619 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1619

 To amend the Truth in Lending Act to protect consumers from usury and 
               unreasonable fees, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2005

  Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Owens, Ms. Jackson-Lee of 
Texas, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. George Miller of California, Ms. 
 Lee, Mr. Evans, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Kilpatrick 
  of Michigan, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Stark, Mr. Cummings, Ms. 
  Schakowsky, Mr. McGovern, and Mr. Lantos) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Truth in Lending Act to protect consumers from usury and 
               unreasonable fees, 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 ``Loan Shark Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL CONSUMER CREDIT USURY RATE.

    Section 107 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1606) is amended 
by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
    ``(f) National Consumer Credit Usury Rate.--The annual percentage 
rate applicable to any extension of credit may not exceed by more than 
8 percentage points the rate established under section 6621(a)(2) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as determined by the Board.''.

SEC. 3. CAP ON FEES CHARGED BY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 
1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:
``Sec. 115. Cap on fees
    ``The amount of any fee or charge that a creditor may impose, under 
the terms of a credit transaction, may not exceed $15.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 1 of the 
Truth in Lending Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 114 the following new item:

``115. Cap on fees.''.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF CONSUMER REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (d) of section 604 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(d)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) Limitation on Use of Consumer Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--No credit card issuer may use any 
        negative information contained in a consumer report to increase 
        any annual percentage rate applicable to a credit card account, 
        or to remove or increase any introductory annual percentage 
        rate of interest applicable to such account, for reasons other 
        than actions or omissions of the card holder that are directly 
        related to such account.
            ``(2) Notice to consumer.--The limitation under paragraph 
        (1) on the use by a credit card issuer of information in a 
        consumer report shall be clearly and conspicuously described to 
        the consumer by the credit card issuer in any disclosure or 
        statement required to be made to the consumer under this title 
        or any other title of this Act.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 604(a)(3)(F)(ii) 
of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)(3)(F)(ii)) is 
amended by inserting ``subject to subsection (d)'' before ``to 
review''.
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