Sec. 110601. Restrictions on collections of small business and nonprofit debt during a national disaster or emergency
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The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.), as amended by section 110402, is further amended by inserting after section 812A the following: In this section: The term covered period means the period beginning on the date of enactment of this section and ending 120 days after the end of the incident period for the emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by the President under section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The term creditor means any person— who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed; or to whom any obligation for payment is owed. The term debt — means any obligation or alleged obligation that is or during the covered period becomes past due, other than an obligation arising out of a credit agreement entered into after the effective date of this section, that arises out of a transaction with a nonprofit organization or small business; and does not include a mortgage loan.
The term debt collector means a creditor and any other person or entity that engages in the collection of debt, including the Federal Government and a State government, irrespective of whether the applicable debt is allegedly owed to or assigned to such creditor, person, or entity. The term mortgage loan means a covered mortgage loan (as defined under section 4022 of the CARES Act) and a multifamily mortgage loan (as defined under section 4023 of the CARES Act). The term nonprofit organization means an organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code.
The term small business has the meaning given the term small business concern in section 3 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 ). Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no debt collector may, during a covered period— enforce a security interest securing a debt through repossession, limitation of use, or foreclosure; take or threaten to take any action to deprive an individual of their liberty as a result of nonpayment of or nonappearance at any hearing relating to an obligation owed by a small business or nonprofit organization; collect any debt, by way of garnishment, attachment, assignment, deduction, offset, or other seizure, from— wages, income, benefits, bank, prepaid or other asset accounts; or any assets of, or other amounts due to, a small business or nonprofit organization; commence or continue an action to evict a small business or nonprofit organization from real or personal property for nonpayment; disconnect or terminate service from a utility service, including electricity, natural gas, telecommunications or broadband, water, or sewer, for nonpayment; or threaten to take any of the foregoing actions.
Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a small business or nonprofit organization from voluntarily paying, in whole or in part, a debt. After the expiration of a covered period, a debt collector may not add to any past due debt any interest on unpaid interest, higher rate of interest triggered by the nonpayment of the debt, or fee triggered prior to the expiration of the covered period by the nonpayment of the debt. Any person or government entity that violates this section shall be liable to the applicable small business or nonprofit organization as provided under section 813, except that, for purposes of applying section 813— such person or government entity shall be deemed a debt collector, as such term is defined for purposes of section 813; and such small business or nonprofit organization shall be deemed a consumer, as such term is defined for purposes of section 813.
Any applicable time limitations for exercising an action prohibited under subsection
(b)shall be tolled during a covered period. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a dispute brought under this section, including a dispute as to the applicability of this section, which shall be determined under Federal law. . The table of contents for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as amended by section 110402, is further amended by inserting after the item relating to section 812A the following: 812B. Restrictions on collections of small business and nonprofit debt during a national disaster or emergency. .
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Sec. 110601
Restrictions on collections of small business and nonprofit debt during a national disaster or emergency
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