Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1658 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1658
5	5	To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain issues relating to
6	6	the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	FEBRUARY27, 2025
9	9	Ms. B
10	10	ONAMICI(for herself, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced
11	11	the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain
14	14	issues relating to the extension of consumer credit, and
15	15	for other purposes.
16	16	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
17	17	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
18	18	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
19	19	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Abuse and 4
20	20	Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 5
21	21	Lending Act of 2025’’. 6
22	22	SEC. 2. CONSUMER CONTROL OVER BANK ACCOUNTS. 7
23	23	(a) P
24	24	ROHIBITINGUNAUTHORIZED REMOTELYCRE-8
25	25	ATEDCHECKS.—Section 905 of the Electronic Fund 9
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28	28	•HR 1658 IH
29	29	Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693c) is amended by adding at 1
30	30	the end the following: 2
31	31	‘‘(d) L
32	32	IMITATIONS ON REMOTELY CREATED 3
33	33	C
34	34	HECKS.— 4
35	35	‘‘(1) D
36	36	EFINITION.—In this subsection— 5
37	37	‘‘(A) the term ‘Federal consumer financial 6
38	38	law’ has the meaning given the term in section 7
39	39	1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 8
40	40	of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481); and 9
41	41	‘‘(B) the term ‘remotely created check’ 10
42	42	means a check, including a paper or electronic 11
43	43	check and any other payment order that the 12
44	44	Bureau, by rule, determines is appropriately 13
45	45	covered under this subsection, that— 14
46	46	‘‘(i) is not created by the financial in-15
47	47	stitution that holds the customer account 16
48	48	from which the check is to be paid; and 17
49	49	‘‘(ii) does not bear a signature ap-18
50	50	plied, or purported to be applied, by the 19
51	51	person from whose account the check is to 20
52	52	be paid. 21
53	53	‘‘(2) L
54	54	IMITATIONS.—Subject to the limitations 22
55	55	in paragraph (3) and any additional limitations that 23
56	56	the Bureau may establish by rule, a remotely created 24
57	57	check may only be issued by a person designated in 25
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60	60	•HR 1658 IH
61	61	writing by a consumer, with that written designation 1
62	62	specifically provided by the consumer to the insured 2
63	63	depository institution at which the consumer main-3
64	64	tains the account from which the check is to be 4
65	65	drawn. 5
66	66	‘‘(3) A
67	67	DDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 6
68	68	‘‘(A) I
69	69	N GENERAL.—A designation pro-7
70	70	vided by a consumer under paragraph (2) may 8
71	71	be revoked at any time by the consumer. 9
72	72	‘‘(B) C
73	73	ONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 10
74	74	LAWS.—No payment order, including a re-11
75	75	motely created check, may be issued by any per-12
76	76	son in response to the exercise of, or attempt to 13
77	77	exercise, any right by a consumer under— 14
78	78	‘‘(i) any Federal consumer financial 15
79	79	law; or 16
80	80	‘‘(ii) any other provision of any law or 17
81	81	regulation within the jurisdiction of the 18
82	82	Bureau.’’. 19
83	83	(b) C
84	84	ONSUMERPROTECTIONS FOR CERTAINONE- 20
85	85	T
86	86	IMEELECTRONICFUNDTRANSFERS.—Section 913 of 21
87	87	the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693k) is 22
88	88	amended— 23
89	89	(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 24
90	90	inserting ‘‘(a) I
91	91	NGENERAL.—’’ before ‘‘No person’’; 25
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94	94	•HR 1658 IH
95	95	(2) in subsection (a)(1), as so designated, by 1
96	96	striking ‘‘preauthorized electronic fund transfers’’ 2
97	97	and inserting ‘‘an electronic fund transfer’’; and 3
98	98	(3) by adding at the end the following: 4
99	99	‘‘(b) T
100	100	REATMENT FOR ELECTRONICFUNDTRANS-5
101	101	FERS INCREDITEXTENSIONS.—If a consumer voluntarily 6
102	102	agrees to repay an extension of a small-dollar consumer 7
103	103	credit transaction, as defined in section 110(a) of the 8
104	104	Truth in Lending Act, by means of an electronic fund 9
105	105	transfer, the electronic fund transfer shall be treated as 10
106	106	a preauthorized electronic fund transfer subject to the pro-11
107	107	tections of this title.’’. 12
108	108	SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT 13
109	109	IN SMALL-DOLLAR LENDING. 14
110	110	(a) S
111	111	MALL-DOLLARCONSUMER CREDITTRANS-15
112	112	ACTIONS.— 16
113	113	(1) I
114	114	N GENERAL.—The Truth in Lending Act 17
115	115	(15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended— 18
116	116	(A) by inserting after section 109 (15 19
117	117	U.S.C. 1608) the following: 20
118	118	‘‘SEC. 110. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL-DOL-21
119	119	LAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTION 22
120	120	LENDERS. 23
121	121	‘‘(a) D
122	122	EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘small- 24
123	123	dollar consumer credit transaction’— 25
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127	127	‘‘(1) means any transaction that extends credit 1
128	128	that is— 2
129	129	‘‘(A) made to a consumer in an amount 3
130	130	that is not more than— 4
131	131	‘‘(i) $5,000; or 5
132	132	‘‘(ii) such greater amount as the Bu-6
133	133	reau may, by rule, determine to reflect 7
134	134	changes in the Consumer Price Index for 8
135	135	all urban consumers published by the De-9
136	136	partment of Labor; and 10
137	137	‘‘(B) extended pursuant to an agreement 11
138	138	that is— 12
139	139	‘‘(i)(I) other than an open end credit 13
140	140	plan; and 14
141	141	‘‘(II) payable in 1 or more install-15
142	142	ments of less than 12 months; 16
143	143	‘‘(ii) an open end credit plan in which 17
144	144	each advance is fully repayable within a 18
145	145	defined time or in connection with a de-19
146	146	fined event, or both; or 20
147	147	‘‘(iii) any other plan as the Bureau 21
148	148	determines, by rule; and 22
149	149	‘‘(2) includes any action that facilitates, bro-23
150	150	kers, arranges, or gathers applications for a trans-24
151	151	action described in paragraph (1). 25
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155	155	‘‘(b) REGISTRATIONREQUIREMENT.—A person shall 1
156	156	register with the Bureau before extending credit to a con-2
157	157	sumer under a small-dollar consumer credit transaction.’’; 3
158	158	and 4
159	159	(B) in section 173 (15 U.S.C. 1666j), by 5
160	160	adding at the end the following: 6
161	161	‘‘(d) S
162	162	MALL-DOLLARCONSUMERCREDITTRANS-7
163	163	ACTIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this 8
164	164	title, any small-dollar consumer credit transaction, as de-9
165	165	fined in section 110(a), shall be made in compliance with 10
166	166	the laws of the State in which the consumer to which cred-11
167	167	it in the transaction is extended resides with respect to 12
168	168	annual percentage rates, interest, fees, charges, and such 13
169	169	other similar or related matters as the Bureau may deter-14
170	170	mine, by rule, if the small-dollar consumer credit trans-15
171	171	action is— 16
172	172	‘‘(1) made— 17
173	173	‘‘(A) over the internet; 18
174	174	‘‘(B) by telephone; 19
175	175	‘‘(C) by facsimile; 20
176	176	‘‘(D) by mail; 21
177	177	‘‘(E) by electronic mail; or 22
178	178	‘‘(F) through another electronic commu-23
179	179	nication; or 24
180	180	‘‘(2) conducted by a national bank.’’. 25
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184	184	(2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND -1
185	185	MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 1 of the 2
186	186	Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is 3
187	187	amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-4
188	188	tion 109 the following: 5
189	189	‘‘110. Registration requirement for small-dollar consumer credit transaction
190	190	lenders.’’.
191	191	(b) PROHIBITION ONCERTAINFEES.—Section 915 6
192	192	of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693l– 7
193	193	1) is amended— 8
194	194	(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-9
195	195	section (e); and 10
196	196	(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-11
197	197	lowing: 12
198	198	‘‘(d) A
199	199	DDITIONALFEESPROHIBITED.— 13
200	200	‘‘(1) D
201	201	EFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 14
202	202	‘prepaid account’ has the meaning given the term in 15
203	203	section 1005.2 of title 12, Code of Federal Regula-16
204	204	tions, or any successor regulation. 17
205	205	‘‘(2) P
206	206	ROHIBITION.—With respect to the use of 18
207	207	a prepaid account by a consumer— 19
208	208	‘‘(A) it shall be unlawful for any person to 20
209	209	charge the consumer a fee for an overdraft with 21
210	210	respect to the prepaid account; 22
211	211	‘‘(B) any transaction for an amount that 23
212	212	exceeds the account balance of the prepaid ac-24
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216	216	count may be declined by the financial institu-1
217	217	tion holding the prepaid account; and 2
218	218	‘‘(C) the Bureau may, by rule, prohibit any 3
219	219	person from charging a fee with respect to the 4
220	220	prepaid account (other than a fee described in 5
221	221	subparagraph (a)) so that the Bureau may— 6
222	222	‘‘(i) prevent unfair, deceptive, or abu-7
223	223	sive practices; and 8
224	224	‘‘(ii) promote the ability of the con-9
225	225	sumer to understand and compare the 10
226	226	costs of prepaid accounts.’’. 11
227	227	SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL- 12
228	228	DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS. 13
229	229	(a) I
230	230	NGENERAL.—Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend-14
231	231	ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 15
232	232	at the end the following: 16
233	233	‘‘§ 140B. Restrictions on lead generation in small-dol-17
234	234	lar consumer credit transactions 18
235	235	‘‘(a) D
236	236	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 19
237	237	‘‘(1) the terms ‘Internet access service’ and 20
238	238	‘Internet information location tool’ have the mean-21
239	239	ings given those terms, respectively, in section 22
240	240	231(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 23
241	241	U.S.C. 231(e)); 24
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245	245	‘‘(2) the term ‘sensitive personal financial infor-1
246	246	mation’ means a social security number, financial 2
247	247	account number, bank routing number, bank ac-3
248	248	count number, or security or access code that is im-4
249	249	mediately necessary to permit access to the financial 5
250	250	account of an individual; and 6
251	251	‘‘(3) the term ‘small-dollar consumer credit 7
252	252	transaction’ has the meaning given the term in sec-8
253	253	tion 110(a). 9
254	254	‘‘(b) I
255	255	DENTIFICATIONINFORMATION.—Any person 10
256	256	facilitating, brokering, arranging for, or gathering applica-11
257	257	tions for the distribution of sensitive personal financial in-12
258	258	formation in connection with a small-dollar consumer 13
259	259	credit transaction shall prominently disclose information 14
260	260	by which the person may be contacted or identified, includ-15
261	261	ing for service of process and for identification of the reg-16
262	262	istrant of any domain name registered or used. 17
263	263	‘‘(c) P
264	264	ROHIBITION ONLEADGENERATION INSMALL- 18
265	265	D
266	266	OLLARCONSUMERCREDITTRANSACTIONS.—No person 19
267	267	may facilitate, broker, arrange for, or gather applications 20
268	268	for the distribution of sensitive personal financial informa-21
269	269	tion in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit 22
270	270	transaction unless the person is directly providing the 23
271	271	small-dollar consumer credit to a consumer. 24
272	272	‘‘(d) R
273	273	ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.— 25
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277	277	‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 1
278	278	may be construed to limit the authority of the Bu-2
279	279	reau to further restrict activities covered by this sec-3
280	280	tion. 4
281	281	‘‘(2) C
282	282	LARIFICATION.—For the purposes of this 5
283	283	section, it shall not be considered facilitating, 6
284	284	brokering, arranging for, or gathering applications 7
285	285	for the distribution of sensitive personal financial in-8
286	286	formation in connection with a small-dollar con-9
287	287	sumer credit transaction to be engaged solely in one 10
288	288	of the following activities: 11
289	289	‘‘(A) The provision of a telecommuni-12
290	290	cations service, an Internet access service, or an 13
291	291	Internet information location tool. 14
292	292	‘‘(B) The transmission, storage, retrieval, 15
293	293	hosting, formatting, or translation (or any com-16
294	294	bination thereof) of a communication, without 17
295	295	selection or alteration of the content of the 18
296	296	communication, except the deletion of a par-19
297	297	ticular communication or material made by an-20
298	298	other person in a manner that is consistent 21
299	299	with section 230(c) of the Communications Act 22
300	300	of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)).’’. 23
301	301	(b) T
302	302	ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 24
303	303	The table of sections for chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend-25
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306	306	•HR 1658 IH
307	307	ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 1
308	308	at the end the following: 2
309	309	‘‘140B. Restrictions on lead generation in small-dollar consumer credit trans-
310	310	actions.’’.
311	311	SEC. 5. STUDIES.
312	312	3
313	313	(a) D
314	314	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 4
315	315	(1) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-5
316	316	gress’’ means— 6
317	317	(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 7
318	318	and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 8
319	319	(B) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 9
320	320	Senate; 10
321	321	(C) the Committee on Financial Services of 11
322	322	the House of Representatives; and 12
323	323	(D) the Committee on Natural Resources 13
324	324	of the House of Representatives; and 14
325	325	(2) the term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ has the meaning 15
326	326	given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-16
327	327	mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 17
328	328	5304). 18
329	329	(b) S
330	330	TUDYREQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 19
331	331	after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 20
332	332	General of the United States shall conduct a study regard-21
333	333	ing— 22
334	334	(1) the availability of capital on reservations of 23
335	335	Indian Tribes; and 24
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338	338	•HR 1658 IH
339	339	(2) the impact that small-dollar consumer credit 1
340	340	extended through internet and non-internet means 2
341	341	to members of Indian Tribes has had on economic 3
342	342	opportunity and wealth for members of Indian 4
343	343	Tribes. 5
344	344	(c) C
345	345	ONSULTATION.—In conducting the study re-6
346	346	quired under subsection (b), the Comptroller General of 7
347	347	the United States shall consult, as appropriate, with— 8
348	348	(1) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec-9
349	349	tion; 10
350	350	(2) the Board of Governors of the Federal Re-11
351	351	serve System; 12
352	352	(3) the Director of the Bureau of Indian Af-13
353	353	fairs; 14
354	354	(4) federally recognized Indian Tribes; and 15
355	355	(5) community development financial institu-16
356	356	tions operating in Indian lands. 17
357	357	(d) C
358	358	ONGRESSIONALCONSIDERATION.—The Comp-18
359	359	troller General of the United States shall submit to the 19
360	360	appropriate committees of Congress the study required 20
361	361	under subsection (b). 21
362	362	SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 22
363	363	Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 23
364	364	of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi-24
365	365	nancial Protection shall adopt any final rules that are nec-25
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368	368	•HR 1658 IH
369	369	essary to implement the provisions of this Act and the 1
370	370	amendments made by this Act. 2
371	371	Æ
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