[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5484 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5484

  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

                             April 12, 2018

    Mr. Cartwright (for himself and Ms. Jackson Lee) 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 2018''.

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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