The Senate yesterday approved a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that aims to protect members of the Armed Services from harassments and threats from debt collectors.
A copy of the amendment, which was approved by a vote of 95 to two can be accessed by clicking here.
The amendment was originally introduced in the form of proposed legislation last week by Sen. Raphael Warnock [D-Ga.]. It was co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn [R-Texas], Sen. Ted Budd [R-N.C.], Sen. Thom Tillis [R-N.C.] and Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-Ohio], the chair of the Senate Banking Committee.
In remarks made on the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Warnock noted a report from 2014 that listed financial stress as the second leading cause of suicide among servicemembers. His remarks also mentioned that the bill had the support of “reputable and responsible debt collectors — the very industry it would affect.”
The bill, called the Fair Debt Collection Practices for Servicemembers Act, would amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by prohibiting debt collectors from threatening to have covered members reduced in rank, threatening to have the security clearance of covered members revoked, and threatening to have covered members prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for not paying their debts. The bill also make it an unfair practice in violation of Section 1692f of the FDCPA if a collector represented that a servicemember would face any of those penalties if the debt was not paid.
Covered members would include members of the armed forces who are on active duty under a call or order that does not specify a period of 30 days or less; or on active Guard and Reserve Duty. It would also include individuals who were servicemembers but had been discharged within the previous 365 days, and their dependents.
“This amendment reinforces the existing protections provided to all Americans, but especially those who are putting their lives on the line to protect our families and our communities by restricting predatory debt collection practices aimed specifically at our servicemembers,” Sen. Warnock said.
