Bill Text: MI HB4657 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Occupations; collection practices; licensed debt collectors; prohibit certain acts. Amends sec. 915 of 1980 PA 299 (MCL 339.915).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-25 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 05/24/2017 [HB4657 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-HB4657-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4657
May 24, 2017, Introduced by Rep. Webber and referred to the Committee on Financial Services.
A bill to amend 1980 PA 299, entitled
"Occupational code,"
by amending section 915 (MCL 339.915), as amended by 1981 PA 83.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
915. (1) A licensee shall not commit 1 or more do any of
the
following: acts:
(a)
Communicating Communicate with a debtor in a misleading or
deceptive manner, such as using the stationery of an attorney or
the stationery of a credit bureau unless it is disclosed that it is
the collection department of the credit bureau.
(b)
Using forms or instruments which simulate Use a form or
instrument that simulates the appearance of judicial process.
(c)
Using seals or printed forms Use
a seal or printed form of
a government agency or instrumentality.
(d)
Using forms Use a form that may otherwise induce the
belief
that they have the form
has judicial or official sanction.
(e)
Making Make an inaccurate, misleading, untrue, or
deceptive statement or claim in a communication to collect a debt
or
concealing or not revealing conceal
or not reveal the purpose of
a
communciation when it communication
that is made in connection
with collecting a debt.
(f)
Misrepresenting in In a communication with a debtor,
misrepresent any of the following:
(i) The legal status of a legal action being taken or
threatened.
(ii) The legal rights of the creditor or debtor.
(iii) That the nonpayment of a debt will result in the
debtor's arrest or imprisonment, or the seizure, garnishment,
attachment, or sale of the debtor's property.
(iv) That accounts have an account has been turned over to
innocent
purchasers an innocent
purchaser for value.
(g)
Communicating Communicate with a debtor without accurately
disclosing the caller's identity or cause expenses to the debtor
for a long distance telephone call, telegram, or other charge.
(h)
Communicating Communicate with a debtor, except through
billing
procedure, when if the debtor is actively represented by an
attorney, the attorney's name and address are known, and the
attorney
has been contacted in writing by the credit grantor or the
credit
grantor's creditor or the
creditor's representative or
agent, unless the attorney representing the debtor fails to answer
written communication or fails to discuss the claim on its merits
within
30 days after receipt of the
attorney receives the written
communication.
(i)
Communicating Communicate information relating to a
debtor's indebtedness to an employer or an employer's agent unless
the communication is specifically authorized in writing by the
debtor subsequent to the forwarding of the claim for collection,
the communication is in response to an inquiry initiated by the
debtor's employer or the employer's agent, or the communication is
for the purpose of acquiring location information about the debtor.
(j)
Using or employing, in In connection with collection of a
claim,
a person use or employ an
individual who is acting as a
peace or law enforcement officer or any other officer authorized to
serve legal papers.
(k)
Using or threatening Use
or threaten to use physical
violence in connection with collection of a claim.
(l) Publishing, causing to be published, or
threatening to
publish
lists Publish, cause the
publication of, or threaten to
publish a list of debtors, except for credit reporting purposes
when in response to a specific inquiry from a prospective credit
grantor about a debtor.
(m)
Using Use a shame card
, or shame automobile, or
otherwise
bring
to public notice that the a
consumer is a debtor, except with
respect
to a pending legal proceeding. which is instituted.
(n)
Using Use a harassing, oppressive, or abusive method to
collect
a debt, including causing a telephone to ring or engaging a
person
an individual in telephone conversation repeatedly,
continuously,
or at unusual times or places which are known to be
that the licensee, or the representative of the creditor that makes
the call, knows are inconvenient to the debtor. All communications
shall be made from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. unless the debtor expressly
agrees in writing to communications at another time. All telephone
communications
made from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. shall be are presumed to
be made at an inconvenient time in the absence of facts to the
contrary.
(o)
Using Use profane or obscene language.
(p)
Using Use a method
that is contrary to a postal law or
regulation to collect an account.
(q)
Failing Fail to implement a procedure designed to prevent
a violation by an employee.
(r)
Communicating Communicate with a consumer regarding a debt
by postcard.
(s) Implicate a debtor in a crime.
(t) Engage in conduct to disgrace a debtor while collecting a
claim.
(u) Disrupt the tranquility, peace, and harmony of a debtor's
residence by violence or other verbal or physical means.
(v) Incite the debtor to commit an assaultive crime. As used
in this subdivision, "assaultive crime" means that term as defined
in section 9a of chapter X of the code of criminal procedure, 1927
PA 175, MCL 770.9a.
(2) In addition to any penalties assessed under article 6 or
otherwise prescribed by law, a licensee that violates this section
is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than
$2,500.00 or imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or both.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.
