Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 128
By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senator Rodriguez
597-03288-23 2023128c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to contacting consumer debtors;
3 creating s. 559.721, F.S.; prohibiting creditors from
4 contacting debtors regarding specified types of debt
5 under certain circumstances, to conform to federal
6 regulations; amending s. 559.725, F.S.; requiring the
7 Office of Financial Regulation of the Financial
8 Services Commission to inform and furnish relevant
9 information to the appropriate regulatory body of the
10 state, the Federal Government, or The Florida Bar if a
11 person has been named in a certain consumer complaint
12 alleging specified violations of law; providing an
13 effective date.
14
15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 Section 1. Section 559.721, Florida Statutes, is created to
18 read:
19 559.721 Prohibitions on contacting debtors who are victims
20 of certain crimes.—In collecting consumer debts, a consumer
21 collection agency may not:
22 (1) Contact a debtor regarding a debt that arises from
23 documented human trafficking and economic abuse.
24 (a) Documented human trafficking and economic abuse occur
25 when:
26 1. Official documentation as defined in s. 943.0583 shows
27 at least one incident of human trafficking has occurred in which
28 the debtor is listed as a victim or in which the debtor received
29 relocation assistance under s. 960.196; and
30 2. The debtor provides the consumer collection agency with
31 a signed affidavit, swearing under penalty of perjury that the
32 following are true:
33 a. The debtor was the victim of human trafficking as
34 documented in a police report, or there has been a determination
35 that the debtor should receive relocation assistance under s.
36 960.196;
37 b. As a result of human trafficking, the debtor was
38 compelled to incur debt or was provided credit that the debtor
39 would not otherwise have incurred in the absence of the abuse,
40 including instances in which the debtor’s identity has been
41 stolen; and
42 c. The debt that is the subject of the consumer collection
43 agency contact with the debtor was incurred solely because of
44 and during the period of human trafficking.
45 (b) The prohibition in this subsection applies:
46 1. For 1 year after the affidavit under subparagraph (a)2.
47 is provided to the consumer collection agency; or
48 2. Indefinitely, if the perpetrator has been convicted of a
49 crime relating to human trafficking as alleged in the police
50 report.
51 (2) Contact a debtor regarding debts that arose when the
52 debtor was in foster care. This prohibition applies after the
53 debtor provides the consumer collection agency with a signed
54 affidavit, swearing under penalty of perjury that the following
55 are true:
56 (a) The debtor was in foster care as defined in s. 39.01;
57 and
58 (b) The debt that is the subject of the consumer collection
59 agency contact with the debtor was incurred during the time when
60 the debtor was in foster care.
61 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 559.725, Florida
62 Statutes, is amended to read:
63 559.725 Consumer complaints; administrative duties.—
64 (2) The office shall inform and furnish relevant
65 information to the appropriate regulatory body of the state or
66 the Federal Government, or The Florida Bar in the case of
67 attorneys, if a person has been named in a consumer complaint
68 pursuant to subsection (3) alleging violations of s. 559.72 or
69 s. 559.721. The Attorney General may take action against any
70 person in violation of this part.
71 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.