[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[S. 131 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 131
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide for enhanced disclosure
under an open end credit plan.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 6, 2009
Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide for enhanced disclosure
under an open end credit plan.
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 ``Credit Card Minimum Payment
Notification Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE UNDER AN OPEN END CREDIT PLAN.
Section 127(b) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637(b)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(13) Enhanced disclosure under an open end credit plan.--
``(A) In general.--A credit card issuer shall, with
each billing statement provided to a cardholder in a
State, provide the following on the front of the first
page of the billing statement, in type no smaller than
that required for any other required disclosure, but in
no case in less than 8-point capitalized type:
``(i) A written statement in the following
form: `Minimum Payment Warning: Making only the
minimum payment will increase the interest you
pay and the time it takes to repay your
balance.'.
``(ii)(I) A written statement providing
individualized information indicating the
number of years and months and the total cost
to pay off the entire balance due on an open-
end credit card account, if the cardholder were
to pay only the minimum amount due on the open-
end credit card account, based upon the terms
of the credit agreement.
``(II) For purposes of this clause only, if
the open-end credit card account is subject to
a variable rate--
``(aa) the creditor may make
disclosures based on the rate for the
entire balance as of the date of the
disclosure and indicate that the rate
may vary; and
``(bb) the cardholder shall be
provided with referrals or, in the
alternative, with the toll free
telephone number of the National
Foundation for Credit Counseling (or
any successor thereto) through which
the cardholder can be referred to
credit counseling services in, or
closest to, the cardholder's county of
residence, which credit counseling
service shall be in good standing with
the National Foundation for Credit
Counseling or accredited by the Council
on Accreditation for Children and
Family Services (or any successors
thereto).
``(B) Definition of open-end credit card account.--
In this paragraph, the term `open-end credit card
account' means an account in which consumer credit is
granted by a creditor under a plan in which the
creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions,
the creditor may impose a finance charge from time to
time on an unpaid balance, and the amount of credit
that may be extended to the consumer during the term of
the plan is generally made available to the extent that
any outstanding balance is repaid and up to any limit
set by the creditor.
``(C) Exemptions.--
``(i) Minimum payment of not less than ten
percent.--This paragraph shall not apply in any
billing cycle in which the account agreement
requires a minimum payment of not less than 10
percent of the outstanding balance.
``(ii) No finance charges.--This paragraph
shall not apply in any billing cycle in which
finance charges are not imposed.''.
<all>