[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3888 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3888

To make improvements to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 29, 2010

  Mr. Franken (for himself and Mr. LeMieux) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
                       Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To make improvements to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 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 ``End Debt Collector Abuse Act of 
2010''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCED VALIDATION NOTICES.

    (a) In General.--Section 809(a) of the Fair Debt Collection 
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following:
            ``(5) the date of the last payment to the creditor on the 
        subject debt by the consumer and the amount of the debt at the 
        time of default;
            ``(6) the name and address of the last person to extend 
        credit with respect to the debt;
            ``(7) an itemization of the principal, fees, and interest 
        that make up the debt and any other charges added after the 
        date of the last payment to the creditor;
            ``(8) a description of the rights of the consumer--
                    ``(A) to request that the debt collector cease 
                communication with the consumer under section 805(c); 
                and
                    ``(B) to have collection efforts stopped under 
                subsection (b); and
            ``(9) the name and contact information of the person 
        responsible for handling complaints on behalf of the debt 
        collector.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--This section and the amendments made by this 
section shall become effective 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. DISPUTE INVESTIGATIONS AND VERIFICATION.

    Section 809(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 
1692g(b)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting after ``(b)'' the following: ``Disputed 
        Debts.--
            ``(1) In general.--''; and
            (2) by striking ``Collection activities'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(2) Reasonable investigation and verification required.--
        Upon receipt of a notification under paragraph (1) that a debt 
        is disputed by the consumer, the debt collector shall undertake 
        a thorough investigation of the substance of the dispute, and 
        shall timely provide to the consumer specific responsive 
        information and verification of the disputed debt.
            ``(3) Collection activities.--Collection activities''.

SEC. 4. AWARD OF DAMAGES.

    (a) Additional Damages Indexed for Inflation.--
            (1) In general.--Section 813 of the Fair Debt Collection 
        Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) is amended by adding at the end 
        the following:
    ``(f) Adjustment for Inflation.--
            ``(1) Initial adjustment.--Not later than 90 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall 
        provide a percentage increase (rounded to the nearest multiple 
        of $100 or $1,000, as applicable) in the amounts set forth in 
        such section equal to the percentage by which--
                    ``(A) the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 
                Consumers (all items, United States city average) for 
                the 12-month period ending on the June 30 preceding the 
                date on which the percentage increase is provided, 
                exceeds
                    ``(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12-month 
                period preceding January 1, 1978.
            ``(2) Annual adjustments.--With respect to any fiscal year 
        beginning after the date of the increase provided under 
        paragraph (1), the Commission shall provide a percentage 
        increase (rounded to the nearest multiple of $100 or $1,000, as 
        applicable) in the amounts set forth in this section equal to 
        the percentage by which--
                    ``(A) the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 
                Consumers (all items, United States city average) for 
                the 12-month period ending on the June 30 preceding the 
                beginning of the fiscal year for which the increase is 
                made, exceeds
                    ``(B) the Consumer Price Index for the 12-month 
                period preceding the 12-month period described in 
                subparagraph (A).''.
            (2) Applicability.--The increases made under section 813(f) 
        of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by 
        paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall apply with respect to 
        failures to comply with a provision of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 
        et seq.) occurring on or after the date of enactment of this 
        Act.
    (b) Injunctive Relief.--Section 813(d) of the Fair Debt Collection 
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k(d)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: ``In a civil action alleging a violation of this title, the 
court may award appropriate relief, including injunctive relief.''.

SEC. 5. SEEKING A WARRANT FOR ARREST OF DEBTOR AS AN UNFAIR DEBT 
              COLLECTION PRACTICE.

    (a) In General.--Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) A request by a debt collector to a court or any law 
        enforcement agency for the issuance of a warrant for the arrest 
        of a debtor or any other similar request that a debt collector 
        knows or should know would lead to the issuance of an arrest 
        warrant, in relation to collection of a debt.''.
    (b) Construction.--Paragraph (9) of such section 808, as added by 
subsection (a), shall not be construed to limit a court's inherent 
authority to hold a debtor in civil contempt, nor to limit a debt 
collector's ability to seek a writ of execution or similar remedy to 
take possession of property in order to satisfy a valid judgment of 
debt.
                                 <all>