H.R. 2547 · 117th Congress

Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act

Introduced on Apr 15, 2021 by Maxine Waters (D-CA-43). 7 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (May 17, 2021): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Apr 15, 2021
Cosponsors
7
0 from the other party
Policy area
Finance and Financial Sector
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To expand and enhance consumer, student, servicemember, and small business protections with respect to debt collection practices, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Bankruptcy
  • Business ethics
  • Cardiovascular and respiratory health
  • Civil actions and liability
  • Congressional oversight
  • Consumer credit
  • Debt collection
  • Disaster relief and insurance
  • Education of the disadvantaged
  • Emergency medical services and trauma care
  • Federal Reserve System
  • Government Accountability Office (GAO)
  • Government information and archives
  • Government lending and loan guarantees
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Health care costs and insurance
  • Health care coverage and access
  • Health information and medical records
  • Higher education
  • Infectious and parasitic diseases
  • Inflation and prices
  • Internet and video services
  • Internet, web applications, social media
  • Military personnel and dependents
  • Public contracts and procurement
  • Racial and ethnic relations
  • State and local government operations
  • Student aid and college costs
  • Telephone and wireless communication
  • User charges and fees

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, May 13, 2021). Public domain.

Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act

This bill generally provides additional financial protections for consumers and places restrictions on debt collection activities.

Regarding additional consumer protections, the bill

  • expands certain protections currently applicable to federally backed student loans to private student loans, including by requiring the discharge of a private student loan in the event of the borrower's death or total and permanent disability;
  • prohibits a consumer reporting agency from adding any information related to a debt arising from a medically necessary procedure to a consumer credit report and places restrictions on the reporting of other types of medical debt; and
  • applies certain consumer protections regarding debt collection to debt owed to a federal agency, states, debt buyers, and businesses engaged in nonjudicial foreclosures.

It also prohibits certain loan conditions that limit a borrower's opportunity to be heard in court in the event of default.

Additionally, the bill restricts debt collectors and debt collection practices by

  • prohibiting a debt collector from representing to a service member that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will result in a reduction of rank or similar action,
  • limiting a debt collector's electronic communications with a debtor without the debtor's permission, and
  • requiring a debt collector to provide advance notice to a consumer of the intent to take legal action to collect a debt.

The Government Accountability Office must report on the impact of debt collection on service members and on the use of debt collectors by federal and state agencies.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Maxine WatersD-CA-43Sponsor

Democrats · 7

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Agreeing to the Amendment
    May 13, 2021· House· Amendments· Agreed to 210–202
  2. On Agreeing to the Amendment
    May 13, 2021· House· Amendments· Failed 208–214
  3. On Agreeing to the Amendment
    May 13, 2021· House· Amendments· Failed 199–224
  4. On Passage
    May 13, 2021· House· Passage· Passed 215–207

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Apr 15, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Apr 15, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Apr 15, 2021 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
  4. Apr 20, 2021 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  5. Apr 21, 2021 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  6. Apr 21, 2021 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 30 - 23.
  7. Apr 30, 2021Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 117-23.
  8. Apr 30, 2021 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 117-23.
  9. Apr 30, 2021 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 10.
  10. May 11, 2021 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 380 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 2547 and H.R. 1065. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order. The previous question on each measure is considered ordered without intervening motions except one hour of debate and a motion to recommit. H. Res. 379 is adopted.
  11. May 13, 2021 · HouseConsidered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 380. (consideration: CR H2276-2295; text: CR H2276-2279)
  12. May 13, 2021 · HouseRule provides for consideration of H.R. 2547 and H.R. 1065. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order. The previous question on each measure is considered ordered without intervening motions except one hour of debate and a motion to recommit. H. Res. 379 is adopted.
  13. May 13, 2021 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 2547.
  14. May 13, 2021 · HouseDEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 380, the House proceeded with 20 minutes of debate on the Waters amendment en bloc No. 1.
  15. May 13, 2021 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Waters amendment en bloc No. 1, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mrs. Wagner demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  16. May 13, 2021 · HouseDEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 380, the House proceeded with 20 minutes of debate on the Waters amendment en bloc No. 2.
  17. May 13, 2021 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Waters amendment en bloc No. 2, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mrs. Wagner demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  18. May 13, 2021 · HouseDEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 380, the House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Wagner amendment No. 9.
  19. May 13, 2021 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Wagner amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mrs. Wagner demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  20. May 13, 2021 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table. Agreed to without objection.
  21. May 13, 2021 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table. Agreed to without objection.
  22. May 13, 2021 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table. Agreed to without objection.
  23. May 13, 2021 · HouseThe previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  24. May 13, 2021Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 215 - 207 (Roll no. 141).House · Roll call 141
  25. May 13, 2021 · HouseOn passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 215 - 207 (Roll no. 141).House · Roll call 141
  26. May 13, 2021 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  27. May 17, 2021 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. American Bankers Association5 reports
    $8.5M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATIONAI match · 100%

Reports filed in 2023, 2024.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.