Florida Senate - 2024                             CS for SB 1074
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senator Calatayud
       
       
       
       
       
       597-02366-24                                          20241074c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to debt relief services; amending s.
    3         817.803, F.S.; providing an exception from specified
    4         provisions for telemarketers and sellers who provide
    5         debt relief services under certain circumstances;
    6         defining terms; providing an effective date.
    7          
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         Section 1. Section 817.803, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   11  read:
   12         817.803 Exceptions.—Nothing in This part does not apply
   13  applies to:
   14         (1) Any debt management or credit counseling services
   15  provided in the practice of law in this state.;
   16         (2) Any person who engages in debt adjustment to adjust the
   17  indebtedness owed to such person.; or
   18         (3) Any of the following entities or their subsidiaries:
   19         (a) The Federal National Mortgage Association.;
   20         (b) The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.;
   21         (c) The Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a public
   22  corporation created in s. 420.504.;
   23         (d) A bank, bank holding company, trust company, savings
   24  and loan association, credit union, credit card bank, or savings
   25  bank that is regulated and supervised by the Office of the
   26  Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision,
   27  the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
   28  the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of
   29  Financial Regulation of the Department of Financial Services, or
   30  any state banking regulator.;
   31         (e) A consumer reporting agency as defined in the Federal
   32  Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 1681-1681y, as it
   33  existed on April 5, 2004.; or
   34         (f) Any subsidiary or affiliate of a bank holding company,
   35  its employees and its exclusive agents acting under written
   36  agreement.
   37         (4)(a) Any telemarketer or seller who provides any debt
   38  relief service within the scope of the Telemarketing and
   39  Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 6101
   40  6108, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. part 310, and
   41  who therefore is required to comply with such federal
   42  regulation, if such telemarketer or seller does not receive from
   43  the debtor and disburse to a creditor any money or other thing
   44  of value, in accordance with the definition of debt management
   45  services under s. 817.801(4)(b).
   46         (b) As used in this subsection, the terms “telemarketer,”
   47  “seller,” and “debt relief service” have the same meaning as in
   48  16 C.F.R. s. 310.2.
   49         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.