Bill > H804

This bill, titled the "Family Financial Protection Act," aims to shield consumers from adverse financial situations stemming from unreasonable debt by establishing new protections and limitations on debt collection practices. It defines key terms such as "consumer" as an individual, "consumer form contract" as a pre-written agreement for personal, family, or household goods or services drafted by a business, and "consumer debt" as money owed by a consumer for personal use. The Act introduces significant protections for "garnishable earnings," which is income remaining after mandatory deductions and up to 15% for benefits, exempting a substantial portion of these earnings from collection efforts, with specific limits on how much can be garnished based on weekly earnings. It also establishes a three-year statute of limitations for most consumer debt collection actions, meaning creditors generally have three years from the last payment or 180 days after the last regular payment to file a lawsuit, and this period cannot be extended by partial payments or affirmations of the debt, except in cases of a full cure and payoff followed by a new default. Furthermore, the bill prohibits imprisonment for debt, limits the interest rate on judgments for consumer debts to a specific federal benchmark, and sets strict caps on attorney's fees that can be recovered by creditors, while allowing prevailing debtors to recover their attorney's fees.