PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4] · D–PA
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-08-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Fair Debt Collection Practices for Servicemembers Act would protect covered military personnel and certain related people from debt collectors threatening military consequences over debts. It would address threats involving rank, security clearances, or prosecution under military law, including claims that these consequences would follow a failure to cooperate. It would also require a study of the legislation’s effects on information delivery, military readiness, and national security.
This Act may be cited as the Fair Debt Collection Practices for Servicemembers Act.
(2) Prohibitions A debt collector may not, in connection with the collection of any debt of a covered member— (A) threaten to have the covered member reduced in rank; (B) threaten to have the covered member’s security clearance revoked; or (C) threaten to have the covered member prosecuted under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).
The representation or implication to any covered member (as defined under section 805(e)(1)) that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will result in—
The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on the effect of this Act and the amendments made by this Act on— (1) the timely delivery of information to a covered member (as defined in section 805(e) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by this Act); (2) military readiness; and (3) national security
The proposed protections would cover military members and dependents who meet definitions in an existing military statute. Those definitions are incorporated by reference rather than spelled out in the bill.
(1) Covered member defined In this subsection, the term covered member means any of the following: (A) A covered member or a dependent as defined in section 987(i) of title 10, United States Code.
People separated, discharged, or released from the referenced military duty would be covered for the 365-day period beginning on that date.
(B) An individual who was separated, discharged, or released from duty described in such section 987(i)(1), but only during the 365-day period beginning on the date of separation, discharge, or release.
Coverage would also extend to certain people connected to those former personnel. Their eligibility would depend on specified categories in another military statute, which the supplied text does not reproduce.
(C) A person, with respect to an individual described in subparagraph (B), described in subparagraph (A), (D), (E), or (I) of section 1072(2) of title 10, United States Code.
The bill would amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit debt collectors, when collecting any debt of a covered person, from threatening to have that person reduced in rank, lose a security clearance, or face prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military justice law.
Section 805 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692c) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(2) Prohibitions A debt collector may not, in connection with the collection of any debt of a covered member— (A) threaten to have the covered member reduced in rank; (B) threaten to have the covered member’s security clearance revoked; or (C) threaten to have the covered member prosecuted under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).
The bill would also add an unfair practice: representing or implying to a covered person that failing to cooperate with a debt collector would result in reduced rank, loss of a security clearance, or military prosecution.
(b) Unfair practices Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by adding at the end the following: (9) The representation or implication to any covered member (as defined under section 805(e)(1)) that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will result in— (A) a reduction in rank of the covered member; (B) a revocation of the covered member’s security clearance; or (C) prosecution under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).
The Comptroller General would have to study the legislation’s effects and report to Congress. The study would address timely delivery of information to covered people, military readiness, and national security, including how uncollected debt would affect covered people with security clearances. This is a study requirement, not evidence that particular effects would occur.
The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on the effect of this Act and the amendments made by this Act on— (1) the timely delivery of information to a covered member (as defined in section 805(e) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as added by this Act); (2) military readiness; and (3) national security, including the extent to which covered members with security clearances would be impacted by uncollected debt.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated August 11, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Financial Services on August 3, 2026. It does not establish subsequent legislative action or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2026-08-11T15:13:56Z. 2026-08-03: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. 2026-08-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-08-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out beyond the policy’s ordinary intended coverage was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Aug 11, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI