[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3350 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3350

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2012

 Mr. Franken (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) 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 
2012''.

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 made by or on behalf of 
        the consumer on the subject debt and the amount of the debt at 
        that time;
            ``(6) the name and address of the last person to extend 
        credit with respect to the debt;
            ``(7) an itemization of the principal, fees, interest, and 
        any other charges that make up the debt, including any other 
        charges added after the date of the last payment made by or on 
        behalf of the consumer on the subject debt;
            ``(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. MEDICAL DEBT PROVISIONS.

    (a) Findings.--Section 802 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Medical debt is unique among types of consumer debt in that--
            ``(1) with very few exceptions, consumers seek out health 
        care services out of medical need, not choice;
            ``(2) consumers typically do not know the cost of health 
        care services in advance and are not in a position to negotiate 
        a lower price; and
            ``(3) overly aggressive medical debt collection can 
        discourage consumers from seeking needed healthcare services, 
        with dire financial, physical and public health consequences 
        for themselves and their communities.''.
    (b) Prohibiting Medical Facility Contacts.--Section 806 of the Fair 
Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692d) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(7) Communicating or attempting to communicate with a 
        consumer in connection with the collection of any debt in a 
        hospital emergency department, labor and delivery department, 
        or any department where critical care medical services are 
        provided, such as the intensive care unit. Nothing in this 
        paragraph prohibits a health care provider from providing 
        information to a consumer about a debt in response to a direct 
        request from the consumer or discussing a debt at the time the 
        consumer is discharged.''.
    (c) Actions Constituting Unfair Medical Debt Collection 
Practices.--Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 
U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) Withholding emergency medical services, taking action 
        to delay such services, threatening to withhold such services, 
        or giving the impression that such services will be withheld 
        until a debt is paid.
            ``(10) Using protected health information, as defined in 
        regulations promulgated pursuant to section 264(c) of the 
        Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 
        U.S.C. 1320d-2 note), except to the extent as is absolutely 
        necessary to provide adequate information to consumers.''.
    (d) Treatment of Medical Debt.--The Fair Debt Collection Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 820. TREATMENT OF MEDICAL DEBT.

    ``(a) In General.--Sections 806, 807 (other than paragraph (11)), 
808, 811, and 813, shall apply to the collection of a medical debt, 
whether or not the debt is being collected directly by the creditor or 
on behalf of the creditor by a third party, and regardless of whether 
such debt is current or past due.
    ``(b) Availability of Information.--Any person attempting to 
collect a medical debt shall--
            ``(1) in the initial written communication to the 
        consumer--
                    ``(A) prominently disclose the availability of any 
                charity care coverage (or the equivalent thereof), 
                financial assistance, discounts based on income 
                eligibility, or public or private insurance coverage 
                that may assist in the payment of all or part of the 
                debt; and
                    ``(B) provide the consumer with information 
                regarding how to apply for such programs; and
            ``(2) in the initial oral communication to the consumer--
                    ``(A) orally disclose the availability of any 
                charity care coverage (or the equivalent thereof), 
                financial assistance, discounts based on income 
                eligibility, or public or private insurance coverage 
                that may assist in the payment of all or part of the 
                debt; and
                    ``(B) provide the consumer with information 
                regarding how to apply for such programs.
    ``(c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term `medical 
debt' means debt arising from the receipt of medical services, 
products, or devices.''.

SEC. 4. 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. 5. 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 Bureau 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 Bureau 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. 6. WARRANT FOR ARREST AS 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:
            ``(11) 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 (11) of section 808 of the Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act, as added by subsection (a), shall not be 
construed to limit the inherent authority of a court to hold a debtor 
in civil contempt, nor to limit the ability of a debt collector to seek 
a writ of execution or similar remedy to take possession of property in 
order to satisfy a valid judgment of debt.
                                 <all>