[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5796 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5796

  To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit a court 
 from making an award of costs to a defendant except on a finding that 
                  an action was brought in bad faith.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 14, 2016

Mr. Cartwright introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
   the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit a court 
 from making an award of costs to a defendant except on a finding that 
                  an action was brought in bad faith.

    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 ``Fair Debt Collections Practices 
Clarification Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION THAT NO AWARD OF COSTS MAY BE MADE AGAINST 
              CONSUMERS EXCEPT WHERE ACTION BROUGHT IN BAD FAITH.

    Section 813(a)(3) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 
U.S.C. 1692k(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``A 
court may make an award of costs or attorney fees to the defendant only 
after finding that an action under this section was brought in bad 
faith and for the purpose of harassment, and may not make an award of 
costs or attorney fees otherwise.''.
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