Bill > H4749

This bill aims to establish the Debt Collection Fairness Act, which introduces several key provisions to protect consumers from unfair debt collection practices: 1. It exempts a consumer's weekly earnings that are less than 65 times the federal or state minimum wage from garnishment to collect a consumer debt, while allowing up to 10% of any excess earnings to be garnished. Consumers can also claim undue financial hardship to exempt additional wages. 2. It sets a 4-year statute of limitations for collecting consumer debts and prohibits reviving or extending this period through partial payments. Creditors are barred from suing after this period has expired. 3. It requires creditors to provide written notice to consumers before initiating supplementary proceedings, and prohibits jailing consumers for failure to pay consumer debts or comply with related court orders. 4. It caps the interest rate on judgments for consumer debts at 6% per annum and limits attorney's fees. Prevailing consumers are also entitled to reasonable attorney's fees. The bill applies prospectively, but some provisions apply retroactively to existing contracts and payments made after the effective date of September 1, 2023.

Budget and Finance

Joint Committee on Financial Services (J)

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H4749