[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5082 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5082
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to exclude law firms
and licensed attorneys who are engaged in activities related to legal
proceedings from the definition of a debt collector, to amend the
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to prevent the Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection from exercising supervisory or
enforcement authority with respect to attorneys when undertaking
certain actions related to legal proceedings, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 23, 2018
Mr. Mooney of West Virginia (for himself and Mr. Gonzalez of Texas)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to exclude law firms
and licensed attorneys who are engaged in activities related to legal
proceedings from the definition of a debt collector, to amend the
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to prevent the Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection from exercising supervisory or
enforcement authority with respect to attorneys when undertaking
certain actions related to legal proceedings, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Practice of Law Technical
Clarification Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF LAW FIRMS AND ATTORNEYS FROM THE DEFINITION OF
DEBT COLLECTOR WHEN ENGAGED IN THE PRACTICE OF LAW.
Section 803(6) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C.
1692a(6)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G);
and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:
``(F) any law firm or licensed attorney, to the
extent that--
``(i) such firm or attorney is engaged in
litigation activities in connection with a
legal action in a court of law to collect a
debt on behalf of a client, including--
``(I) serving, filing, or conveying
formal legal pleadings, discovery
requests, or other documents pursuant
to the applicable statute or rules of
civil procedure;
``(II) communicating in, or at the
direction of, a court of law (including
in depositions or settlement
conferences) or in the enforcement of a
judgment; or
``(III) any other activities
engaged in as part of the practice of
law, under the laws of a State in which
the attorney is licensed, that relate
to the legal action; and
``(ii) such legal action is served on the
defendant debtor, or service is attempted, in
accordance with the applicable statute or rules
of civil procedure; and''.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO BUREAU AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO PRACTICE OF LAW.
Section 1027(e)(2)(B) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of
2010 (12 U.S.C. 5517(e)(2)(B)) is amended by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``, unless such financial product or service is
provided by a licensed attorney who is not a debt collector as
described under section 803(6)(F) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act.''.
<all>