[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 131 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 131

 To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide for enhanced disclosure 
                     under an open end credit plan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 6, 2009

Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide for enhanced disclosure 
                     under an open end credit plan.

    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 Card Minimum Payment 
Notification Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE UNDER AN OPEN END CREDIT PLAN.

    Section 127(b) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) Enhanced disclosure under an open end credit plan.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A credit card issuer shall, with 
                each billing statement provided to a cardholder in a 
                State, provide the following on the front of the first 
                page of the billing statement, in type no smaller than 
                that required for any other required disclosure, but in 
                no case in less than 8-point capitalized type:
                            ``(i) A written statement in the following 
                        form: `Minimum Payment Warning: Making only the 
                        minimum payment will increase the interest you 
                        pay and the time it takes to repay your 
                        balance.'.
                            ``(ii)(I) A written statement providing 
                        individualized information indicating the 
                        number of years and months and the total cost 
                        to pay off the entire balance due on an open-
                        end credit card account, if the cardholder were 
                        to pay only the minimum amount due on the open-
                        end credit card account, based upon the terms 
                        of the credit agreement.
                            ``(II) For purposes of this clause only, if 
                        the open-end credit card account is subject to 
                        a variable rate--
                                    ``(aa) the creditor may make 
                                disclosures based on the rate for the 
                                entire balance as of the date of the 
                                disclosure and indicate that the rate 
                                may vary; and
                                    ``(bb) the cardholder shall be 
                                provided with referrals or, in the 
                                alternative, with the toll free 
                                telephone number of the National 
                                Foundation for Credit Counseling (or 
                                any successor thereto) through which 
                                the cardholder can be referred to 
                                credit counseling services in, or 
                                closest to, the cardholder's county of 
                                residence, which credit counseling 
                                service shall be in good standing with 
                                the National Foundation for Credit 
                                Counseling or accredited by the Council 
                                on Accreditation for Children and 
                                Family Services (or any successors 
                                thereto).
                    ``(B) Definition of open-end credit card account.--
                In this paragraph, the term `open-end credit card 
                account' means an account in which consumer credit is 
                granted by a creditor under a plan in which the 
                creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions, 
                the creditor may impose a finance charge from time to 
                time on an unpaid balance, and the amount of credit 
                that may be extended to the consumer during the term of 
                the plan is generally made available to the extent that 
                any outstanding balance is repaid and up to any limit 
                set by the creditor.
                    ``(C) Exemptions.--
                            ``(i) Minimum payment of not less than ten 
                        percent.--This paragraph shall not apply in any 
                        billing cycle in which the account agreement 
                        requires a minimum payment of not less than 10 
                        percent of the outstanding balance.
                            ``(ii) No finance charges.--This paragraph 
                        shall not apply in any billing cycle in which 
                        finance charges are not imposed.''.
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