,,ii #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #beaf ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,september #ai1 #bjai,mr4 ,booker 7for himself and ,mr4 ,lee7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,fair ,debt ,collection ,practices ,act to restrict the debt collection practices of certain debt collectors4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,stop ,debt ,collection ,abuse ,act of #bjai4 #b4 ,definitions ,section #hjc of the ,fair ,debt ,collection ,practices ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #afib;a7 is amended-- 7#a7 in paragraph 7#d71 by striking facilitating collection of such debt for another and inserting collection of such debt2 7#b7 by striking paragraphs 7#e7 and 7#f7 and inserting the following3 7#e7 ,the term debt means-- 7,a7 any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money1 property1 insurance1 or services that are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal1 family1 or household purposes1 whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment2 or 7,b7 any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer-- 7i7 to pay a loan1 an overpayment1 a fine1 a penalty1 a fee1 or other money to a ,federal agency2 and 7ii7 that is not less than #ahj days past due4 7#f7 ,the term debt collector-- 7,a7 means any person who-- 7i7 uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts2 7ii7 regularly collects or attempts to collect1 directly or indirectly1 by its own means or by hiring another debt collector1 debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another or that have been obtained by assignment or transfer from another2 or 7iii7 regularly collects debts owed or allegedly owed to a ,federal agency2 7,b7 includes-- 7i7 any creditor who1 in the process of collecting the debts of the creditor1 uses any name other than the name of the creditor which would indicate that a third person is collecting or attempting to collect such debts2 and 7ii7 for purposes of section #hjh7f71 any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the enforcement of security interests2 and 7,c7 does not include-- 7i7 any officer or employee of a creditor while1 in the name of the creditor1 collecting debts for such creditor2 7ii7 any person while acting as a debt collector for another person1 both of whom are related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control1 if the person acting as a debt collector does so only for persons to whom it is so related or affiliated and if the principal business of such person is not the collection of debts2 7iii7 any officer or employee of the ,united ,states or any ,state to the extent that collecting or attempting to collect any debt is in the performance of his official duties2 7iv7 any person while serving or attempting to serve legal process on any other person in connection with the judicial enforcement of any debt2 7v7 any nonprofit organization which1 at the request of consumers1 performs bona fide consumer credit counseling and assists consumers in the liquidation of their debts by receiving payments from such consumers and distributing such amounts to creditors2 and 7vi7 any person collecting or attempting to collect any debt owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another or that has been obtained by assignment or transfer from another to the extent such activity-- 7,i7 is incidental to a bona fide fiduciary obligation or a bona fide escrow arrangement2 7,,ii7 concerns a debt which was originated by such person2 7,,iii7 concerns a debt which was not in default at the time it was obtained by such person2 or 7,,iv7 concerns a debt obtained by such person as a secured party in a commercial credit transaction involving the creditor4 4 #c4 ,debt collection practices for debt collectors hired by government agencies ,the ,fair ,debt ,collection ,practices ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #afib et seq47 is amended by inserting after section #hab 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #afib;j7 the following3 #hab;,a4 ,debt collection practices for debt collectors hired by ,federal agencies 7a7 ,limitation on time ,to turn debt over to debt collector ,a ,federal agency that is a creditor may sell or transfer a debt described in section #hjc7e77;,b7 to a debt collector not earlier than #ij days after the date on which the obligation or alleged obligation arises4 7b7 ,required notice 7#a7 ,in general ,before transferring or selling a debt described in section #hjc7e77;,b7 to a debt collector or contracting with a debt collector to collect such a debt1 a ,federal agency shall notify the consumer not fewer than #c times that the ,federal agency will take such action4 7#b7 ,frequency of notifications ,the second and third notifications described in paragraph 7#a7 shall be made not less than #cj days after the date on which the previous notification is made4 4 #d4 ,unfair practices ,section #hjh of the ,fair ,debt ,collection ,practices ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #afib;f7 is amended by striking paragraph 7#a7 and inserting the following3 7#a7 ,the collection of any amount 7including any interest1 fee1 charge1 or expense incidental to the principal obligation7 unless-- 7,a7 such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law2 or 7,b7 in the case of any amount charged by a debt collector collecting a debt for a ,federal agency1 such amount is-- 7i7 reasonable in relation to the actual costs of the collection2 7ii7 authorized by a contract between the debt collector and the ,federal agency2 and 7iii7 not greater than #aj percent of the amount collected by the debt collector4 4 #e4 ,,gao study and report 7a7 ,study ,the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall conduct a study on the use of debt collectors by ,federal1 ,state1 and local government agencies1 including-- 7#a7 the powers given to the debt collectors by ,federal1 ,state1 and local government agencies2 7#b7 the contracting process that allows a ,federal1 ,state1 or local government agency to award debt collection to a certain company1 including the selection process2 7#c7 any fees charged to debtors in addition to principal and interest on the outstanding debt2 7#d7 how the fees described in paragraph 7#c7 vary from ,state to ,state2 7#e7 consumer protection at the ,state level that offer recourse to those whom debts have been wrongfully attributed2 7#f7 the revenues received by debt collectors from ,federal1 ,state1 and local government agencies2 7#g7 the amount of any revenue sharing agreements between debt collectors and ,federal1 ,state1 and local government agencies2 7#h7 the difference in debt collection procedures across geographic regions1 including the extent to which debt collectors pursue court judgments to collect debts2 and 7#i7 any legal immunity or other protections given to the debt collectors hired by ,state and local government agencies1 including whether the debt collectors are subject to the ,fair ,debt ,collection ,practices ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #afib et seq474 7b7 ,report ,not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall submit to ,congress a report on the completed study required under subsection 7a74