[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 97 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 97

To establish requirements with respect to the terms of consumer credit 
    extended by a creditor to a servicemember or the dependent of a 
                 servicemember, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2005

  Mr. Graves introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish requirements with respect to the terms of consumer credit 
    extended by a creditor to a servicemember or the dependent of a 
                 servicemember, 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 ``Servicemembers Anti-Predatory 
Lending Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. TERMS OF CONSUMER CREDIT EXTENDED TO SERVICEMEMBER OR 
              SERVICEMEMBER'S DEPENDENT.

    (a) Terms of Consumer Credit.--Title II of the Servicemembers Civil 
Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section:

``SEC. 208. TERMS OF CONSUMER CREDIT.

    ``(a) Interest.--A creditor who extends consumer credit to a 
servicemember or a servicemember's dependent shall not require the 
servicemember or the servicemember's dependent to pay interest with 
respect to the extension of such credit, except as--
            ``(1) agreed to under the terms of the credit agreement or 
        promissory note;
            ``(2) authorized by the applicable State law; and
            ``(3) not specifically prohibited by this section.
    ``(b) Annual Percentage Rate.--A creditor described in subsection 
(a) shall not impose an annual percentage rate greater than 36 percent 
with respect to the consumer credit extended to a servicemember or a 
servicemember's dependent.
    ``(c) Mandatory Loan Disclosures.--
            ``(1) Information required.--With respect to any extension 
        of consumer credit to a servicemember or a servicemember's 
        dependent, a creditor shall provide to the servicemember or the 
        servicemember's dependent the following information in writing 
        at or before the issuance of the credit:
                    ``(A) A statement of the annual percentage rate 
                applicable to the extension of credit.
                    ``(B) Any disclosures required under the Truth in 
                Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
                    ``(C) A clear description of the payment 
                obligations of the servicemember or the servicemember's 
                dependent, as applicable.
            ``(2) Terms.--Such disclosures shall be presented in 
        accordance with terms prescribed by the regulations issued by 
        the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to 
        implement the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
    ``(d) Limitation.--A creditor described in subsection (a) shall not 
automatically renew, repay, refinance, or consolidate with the proceeds 
of other credit extended by the same creditor any consumer credit 
extended to a servicemember or a servicemember's dependent without--
            ``(1) executing new loan documentation signed by the 
        servicemember or the servicemember's dependent, as applicable; 
        and
            ``(2) providing the loan disclosures described in 
        subsection (c) to the servicemember or the servicemember's 
        dependent.
    ``(e) Preemption.--Except as provided in subsection (f)(2), this 
section preempts any State or Federal law, rule, or regulation, 
including any State usury law, to the extent that such laws, rules, or 
regulations are inconsistent with this section, except that this 
section shall not preempt any such law, rule, or regulation that 
provides additional protection to a servicemember or a servicemember's 
dependent.
    ``(f) Penalties.--
            ``(1) Misdemeanor.--Any creditor who knowingly violates 
        this section shall be fined as provided in title 18, United 
        States Code, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
            ``(2) Preservation of other remedies.--The remedies and 
        rights provided under this section are in addition to and do 
        not preclude any remedy otherwise available under law to the 
        person claiming relief under this section, including any award 
        for consequential and punitive damages.
    ``(g) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`interest' includes service charges, renewal charges, fees, or any 
other charges (except bona fide insurance) with respect to the 
extension of consumer credit.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 207 the following new 
item:

``Sec. 208. Terms of consumer credit.''.
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