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IN SB0211
Bill
Status
2/16/2015
Primary Sponsor
Patricia Miller
Click for details
AI Summary
SB 211 Summary
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Defines "debt buyer" as a person engaged in purchasing delinquent or charged-off consumer loans, credit accounts, or other delinquent consumer debt for collection purposes, and classifies debt buyers as debt collectors under Indiana law.
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Requires debt collectors to disclose their identity and provide specific information during initial oral communications with Indiana debtors, including the original creditor's name, the debt sale or assignment date, and a written itemized accounting of the debt within 5 days.
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Establishes that failure to make required disclosures constitutes a deceptive act under Indiana's consumer protection statute, allowing for enforcement actions and penalties.
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Sets civil penalties at up to $1,000 per consumer for each knowing violation of debt collection disclosure requirements, capped at $25,000 total per violation type.
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Takes effect July 1, 2015 and amends Indiana Code 24-5 concerning deceptive consumer sales practices.
Legislative Description
Debt collection. Amends the statute concerning deceptive consumer sales as follows: (1) Defines the term "debt buyer". (2) Specifies that a debt buyer is a debt collector for purposes of the statute. (3) Requires a debt collector to make certain disclosures to an Indiana debtor. (4) Provides that the failure to make the required disclosures constitutes a deceptive act under the statute. (5) Specifies that the attorney general's authority to recover a civil penalty not exceeding $1,000 for knowing violations of the provisions concerning debt collection practices applies to each violation of the provisions per consumer, subject to a cap
Last Action
First Reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary
3/2/2015