[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3492 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3492

  To amend the Truth in Lending Act to protect consumers from unfair 
       practices of credit card issuers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2005

 Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mrs. McCarthy, 
 and Ms. Lee) 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 unfair 
       practices of credit card issuers, 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 ``Consumer Credit Card Protection Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBIT UNIVERSAL DEFAULTS ON CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS.

    Section 127 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Universal Defaults Prohibited.--
            ``(1) In general.--No creditor may use any adverse 
        information concerning any consumer, including any information 
        in any consumer report (as defined in section 603) or any 
        change in the credit score of the consumer, as the basis for 
        increasing any annual percentage rate of interest applicable to 
        a credit card account of the consumer under an open end 
        consumer credit plan, 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 consumer 
        that are directly related to such account.
            ``(2) Notice to consumer.--The limitation under paragraph 
        (1) on the use of adverse information by a credit card issuer 
        shall be clearly and conspicuously described to the consumer by 
        the credit card issuer in any disclosure or statement required 
        under subsection (a) or (b).''.

SEC. 3. BOX DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENT PERIOD FOR MINIMUM PAYMENTS ON CREDIT 
              CARD BALANCE.

    Section 127(b) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(12) Minimum payment terms.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In a clear and conspicuous 
                manner, repayment information applicable with respect 
                to any outstanding balance on the account, including 
                the following expressed in a tabular format and in 
                close proximity:
                            ``(i) The required minimum monthly payment 
                        on that balance, represented as both a dollar 
                        figure and a percentage of the outstanding 
                        balance.
                            ``(ii) The number of months (rounded to the 
                        nearest month) that it would take to pay the 
                        entire amount of the current outstanding 
                        balance if--
                                    ``(I) the consumer pays only the 
                                required minimum monthly payments (as 
                                in effect at the time such statement is 
                                issued); and
                                    ``(II) no further advances or 
                                extensions of credit are made with 
                                respect to such account.
                    ``(B) Applicable terms.--
                            ``(i) Applicable apr.--Subject to clause 
                        (ii), in making any determination required for 
                        purposes of the disclosures under subparagraph 
                        (A), the creditor shall apply any applicable 
                        annual percentage rate of interest in effect on 
                        the date on which the disclosure is made, 
                        taking into account the different rates that 
                        may be applicable with respect to different 
                        portions of the outstanding balance, without 
                        regard to whether any such rate is a fixed rate 
                        or a variable rate.
                            ``(ii) Introductory rate.--If the annual 
                        percentage rate of interest in effect on the 
                        date on which the disclosure is made is a 
                        temporary or introductory rate that will change 
                        pursuant to a contractual provision applying an 
                        index or formula for subsequent interest rate 
                        adjustment, the creditor shall apply--
                                    ``(I) the annual percentage rate of 
                                interest in effect on the date on which 
                                the disclosure is made, in making a 
                                determination for the balance of the 
                                introductory or temporary period, and
                                    ``(II) an annual percentage rate of 
                                interest, based on an index, formula, 
                                or contractual provision that is, or 
                                but for the temporary or introductory 
                                rate referred to in subclause (I) would 
                                be, in effect as of the date on which 
                                the disclosure is made, in making a 
                                determination for the remainder of the 
                                amortization period.''.

SEC. 4. ADVANCED NOTICE REQUIRED BEFORE INCREASING RATES OR FEES ON 
              CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS.

    Section 127 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637) is amended 
by inserting after subsection (i) (as added by section 2 of this Act) 
the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Advance Notice of Increase in Any Interest Rate and 
Imposition of Any Fee Required.--
            ``(1) Interest rates.--In the case of any credit card 
        account under an open end consumer credit plan, no increase in 
        any annual percentage rate of interest (other than an increase 
        due to the expiration of any introductory percentage rate of 
        interest) applicable to such account, or any portion of any 
        outstanding balance on such account--
                    ``(A) may take effect before the beginning of the 
                billing cycle which begins not less than--
                            ``(i) 30 days after the obligor receives a 
                        specific notice of such increase in accordance 
                        with paragraph (3), in the case of any change 
                        in any such annual percentage rate that is due 
                        solely to a change in another rate of interest 
                        to which such rate is indexed; or
                            ``(ii) 60 days after the obligor receives a 
                        specific notice of such increase in accordance 
                        with paragraph (3), in the case of any change 
                        in any such annual percentage rate that is not 
                        described in clause (i); and
                    ``(B) may, in the case of any change in any such 
                annual percentage rate that is not described in 
                subparagraph (A)(i), apply to any outstanding balance 
                of credit under such plan as of the date of the notice 
                of the increase required under subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Fees.--In the case of any credit card account under 
        an open end consumer credit plan, no fee, including any annual 
        fee, late payment fee, or over-the-limit fee, may be imposed on 
        such account before the end of the 30-day period beginning on 
        the date the obligor receives a specific notice of the 
        imposition of such fee in accordance with paragraph (3).
            ``(3) Notice requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any notice required under this 
                subsection shall be mailed (or e-mailed, if the 
                consumer has requested to receive such notices 
                electronically) to the obligor separately from any 
                statement or other notice and without any advertising 
                or other disclosures.
                    ``(B) Fee explanation.--In the case of any notice 
                pursuant to paragraph (2), the notice shall include an 
                explanation of how, when, and why a fee will be imposed 
                and what options the obligor may have for addressing 
                the imposition of the fee or any reason for such 
                imposition, including the prevention of any future 
                imposition of such fee.''.
                                 <all>