[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1595 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1595

 To amend the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit the distribution of any 
  check or other negotiable instrument as part of a solicitation by a 
    creditor for an extension of credit, to limit the liability of 
    consumers in conjunction with such solicitations, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2009

  Mr. Merkley 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 prohibit the distribution of any 
  check or other negotiable instrument as part of a solicitation by a 
    creditor for an extension of credit, to limit the liability of 
    consumers in conjunction with such solicitations, 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 ``Deceptive Loan Check Elimination 
Act''.

SEC. 2. UNSOLICITED LOAN CHECKS PROHIBITED.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 
1631 et seq.) is amended by striking section 132 and inserting the 
following:

``SEC. 132. ISSUANCE OF CREDIT CARDS AND UNSOLICITED LOAN CHECKS.

    ``(a) Application or Request Required for Issuance of Credit 
Cards.--No person may issue a credit card, except in response to a 
request or application for such credit card, other than a credit card 
in renewal of, or in substitution for, an accepted credit card.
    ``(b) Unsolicited Loan Checks Prohibited.--No person may extend any 
consumer credit which is otherwise subject to this title through the 
use by the consumer of a check or other negotiable instrument that the 
creditor has sent to the consumer in connection with a solicitation by 
the creditor for an extension of consumer credit, unless the consumer 
submitted a written application for, or otherwise requested in writing, 
the extension of credit before the date on which the creditor sent the 
check or negotiable instrument.
    ``(c) `Look-alike' Checks.--A certificate, voucher, or other 
nonnegotiable instrument provided to a consumer in connection with a 
solicitation for an extension of credit that has the appearance of a 
check or other negotiable instrument is not an application or request 
for an extension of credit for purposes of this section.
    ``(d) Liability of Consumer.--
            ``(1) Liability of consumer.--A consumer shall not be 
        liable for--
                    ``(A) the principal amount of a check or other 
                negotiable instrument sent to the consumer in violation 
                of this section; or
                    ``(B) any interest, fee, or penalty charged in 
                connection with such check or negotiable instrument.
            ``(2) Information on consumer.--No information relating to 
        the liability of a consumer alleged by a creditor to have been 
        established through a check or other negotiable instrument sent 
        by a creditor to the consumer in violation of subsection (b) 
        may be reported to or received by any consumer reporting agency 
        or included in any consumer report (as those terms are defined 
        in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 
        1681a)).
    ``(e) Regulations.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of the Deceptive Loan Check Elimination Act, the Board shall 
prescribe final regulations to implement this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 132 in the 
table of sections for chapter 2 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act 
is amended to read as follows:

``132. Issuance of credit cards and unsolicited loan checks.''.
    (c) Scope of Application.--The requirements of this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act shall apply to solicitations for extensions 
of credit made to consumers after the date of enactment of this Act.
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