(1) Section 130 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1640) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(2) The table of sections in chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“140B. Unfair credit practices.”.

“(1) regardless of whether such obligation is absolute or contingent;

“(2) that includes the right of the person providing the money to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if the breach gives rise to a right to payment; and

“(3) regardless of whether the obligation or right to an equitable remedy described in paragraph (2) has been reduced to judgment, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, recourse, nonrecourse, secured, or unsecured.”.

“(e) Communications concerning servicemember debts.—

“(9) The representation to any covered member (as defined under section 805(e)(1)) that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will result in—

(1) identify types of false, deceptive, misleading, unfair, abusive, and harassing debt collection practices experienced by covered members and make recommendations to eliminate these practices;

(2) identify collection practices of creditors and debt collectors experienced by covered members;

(3) discuss the effect of these practices on military readiness; and

(4) discuss any national security implications, including the extent to which covered members with security clearances would be impacted by uncollected debt.

(1) in paragraph (2)—

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(9) The term ‘medical debt’ means a debt arising from the receipt of medical services, products, or devices.”.

“(10) Engaging in activities to collect or attempting to collect a medical debt owed or due or asserted to be owed or due by a consumer, before the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date that the first payment with respect to such medical debt is due.”.

“(bb) Medical debt.—The term ‘medical debt’ means a debt arising from the receipt of medical services, products, or devices.

“(cc) Medically necessary procedure.—The term ‘medically necessary procedure’ means—

“(9) Any information related to a debt arising from a medically necessary procedure.

“(10) Any information related to a medical debt, if the date on which such debt was placed for collection, charged to profit or loss, or subjected to any similar action antedates the report by less than 365 calendar days.”.

“(f) Additional notice requirements for medical debt.—Before furnishing information regarding a medical debt of a consumer to a consumer reporting agency, the person furnishing the information shall send a statement to the consumer that includes the following:

“(g) Furnishing of medical debt information.—

(1) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 1016(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496(c)) is amended—

(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 815(a) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692m(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “Each such report shall also include an analysis of the impact of electronic communications by debt collectors on consumer experiences with debt collection, including a consideration of consumer complaints about the use of electronic communications in debt collection.”.

“(e) Limitation on debt collection rules.—The Director may not issue any rule with respect to debt collection that allows a debt collector to send unlimited email and text messages to a consumer.”.

“(7) Contacting the consumer electronically (including by email or text message) without consent of the consumer to communicate via that method, after such consent has been withdrawn, or more frequently than the consumer consents to be contacted.”.

(1) by striking “Within five days” and all that follows through “any debt,” and inserting the following: “Notice of debt; contents.—Within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt,”; and

(2) by striking “, unless the following information is contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt,”.

“(1) may not allow a debt collector to send unlimited electronic communications to a consumer;

“(2) shall require debt collectors to obtain consent directly from consumers before contacting them using a method other than by postal mail or by phone;

“(3) may not waive the requirements of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.); and

“(4) shall allow consumers to opt out of any method of communication that the debt collector uses to communicate with consumers, including a method for which such consumer had given prior consent.”.

“(5) The term ‘debt’ means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer—

(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (F) as clauses (i) through (vi), respectively;

(B) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, by inserting “(not including an independent contractor)” after “any State”;

(C) by amending clause (vi), as so redesignated, to read as follows:

(D) by striking the paragraph designation and the first and second sentences and inserting the following:

(E) in the fourth sentence, by striking “The term does not include” and inserting the following:

“(A) such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law; and

“(B) in the case of any amount charged by a debt collector collecting a debt described in section 803(5)(B), such amount is—

(1) the powers given to the debt collectors by Federal, State, and local government agencies;

(2) the contracting process that allows a Federal, State, or local government agency to award debt collection to a certain company, including the selection process;

(3) any fees charged to debtors in addition to principal and interest on the outstanding debt;

(4) how the fees described in paragraph (3) vary from State to State;

(5) consumer protection at the State level that offer recourse to those whom debts have been wrongfully attributed;

(6) the revenues received by debt collectors from Federal, State, and local government agencies;

(7) the amount of any revenue sharing agreements between debt collectors and Federal, State, and local government agencies;

(8) the difference in debt collection procedures across geographic regions, including the extent to which debt collectors pursue court judgments to collect debts;

(9) information regarding the amount collected by Federal, State, and local government agencies through debt collectors, including the total amount and the percentage of the amount referred to the debt collectors;

(10) the full cost of outsourcing collection to debt collectors;

(11) government agency oversight of debt collectors to ensure that the rights of a consumer (as defined in section 803(3) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a(3))) are protected and that any debt relief and payment options legally available to consumers is effectively communicated and made available;

(12) the extent to which Federal, State, and local contracts with debt collectors reflect or omit effective measures to encourage debt collectors to align their practices with public policy concerns (including relief for consumers experiencing financial hardship) beyond maximizing debt collection;

(13) the extent to which debt collectors induce payment through use or threat of adverse government actions, such as arrest warrants or suspension of licenses or vehicle registration; and

(14) demographic data, including race and income information, regarding the individuals subject to private collection of debts owed to government entities.

(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 813 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692k) is amended—

(2) APPLICABILITY.—The increases made under section 813(f) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection, shall apply with respect to failures to comply with a provision of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) occurring on or after the date of enactment of this section.