Statutes Enforced or Administered by the Commission

This Act amends the Truth in Lending Act in various respects, including requiring certain disclosures. Some of its disclosure requirements were superseded by later amendments to the Truth in Lending Act such as the Credit CARD Act of 2009.  This Act also includes provisions for rulemaking and study involving FTC participation.

This Act requires the FTC, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Education to jointly submit a report to Congress each year on fraud in the offering of college education financial assistance services. Each report must contain an assessment of the nature and quantity of incidents of such fraud during the previous year. The FTC is also directed to work with the Secretary of Education in maintaining a scholarship fraud awareness site on the Department of Education's website.

This Act, amending the Truth in Lending Act, regulates personal property leases that exceed four months in duration and that are made to consumers for personal, family, or household purposes. The Act requires that certain lease costs and terms be disclosed, imposes limitations on the size of penalties for delinquency or default and on the size of residual liabilities, and requires certain disclosures in lease advertising.

This Act (a) amends the Truth in Lending Act to prescribe open-end credit lending procedures and enhanced disclosures to consumers, limit related fees and charges to consumers, increase related penalties, and establish constraints and protections for issuance of credit cards to minors and students (numerous sections); (b) amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to address fees and other terms of gift certificates, store gift cards, and general-use prepaid cards (Sections 401-402); (c) amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act by requiring FTC rulemaking to mandate that advertisements for free credit reports disclose that free credit reports are available under Federal law at annualcreditreport.com and by protecting young consumers from prescreened credit offers (Sections 205, 302); and (d) amends the Mortgage Related Provisions of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 to clarify the FTC’s rulemaking authority under that Act (Section 511). The Dodd-Frank Act transferred these rulemaking authorities to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This Act also requires other rulemaking, studies and activities involving FTC participation.

Section 1011 amends the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act to cover “charitable solicitations.” It requires the FTC to expand the scope of the Telemarketing Sales Rule to cover for-profit third parties that solicit charitable contributions on behalf of non-profit charities. The Act further specifies that the FTC's telemarketing rules must include a requirement that anyone engaged in telemarketing for the solicitation of charitable contributions must clearly disclose that as the purpose of the call and authorizes the FTC to prescribe other disclosures it considers appropriate.

Section 708 of the Act requires the Commission and the Department of Justice to participate in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reporting on voluntary agreements among industry members, pursuant to federal determination of need and federal oversight, that are aimed at solving production and distribution problems impairing national defense preparedness (such as a voluntary agreement to make ships, services, and facilities available to the Department of Defense in case of military emergency). The Act establishes a limited antitrust exemption for such voluntary agreements.

Title X of this Act creates a new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection within the Federal Reserve Board as a new supervisor for certain financial firms and as a rulemaker and enforcer against unfair, deceptive, abusive, or otherwise prohibited practices relating to most consumer financial products or services. The Act transfers most of the FTC’s rulemaking authority and one study requirement to the Bureau but the FTC retains all of its enforcement authority and some rulemaking authority.

The Act further provides for FTC/Bureau coordination regarding certain rulemaking and enforcement activities. The Act provides authority for each agency to enforce some of the other’s rules with respect to consumer financial practices. The Act also authorizes FTC rulemaking for certain motor vehicle dealers under standard Administrative Procedure Act procedures rather than the procedures set forth in the FTC Act.

In addition, the Act amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (a) to provide for limitations on interchange transaction fees; (b) to prohibit exclusive payment networks and routing restrictions for debit cards; (c) to limit the restrictions that credit and debit card networks may impose on retailers regarding discounts or transaction amount limits based on form of payment, and (d) to provide standards for remittance fee practices. It also provides for improved financial disclosures, including integration of mortgage disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

Title XIV of the Act amends the Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and other consumer financial laws to prevent mortgage-related abuses and to improve availability of responsible, affordable mortgage credit. It addresses compensation-based incentives; inappropriate steering, discrimination, and other abusive, unfair, deceptive, or predatory practices; minimum federal lending standards; high-cost mortgages; mortgage servicing; and appraisals. Title XIV provides a new enforcement role for the FTC regarding home appraisals.

This Act (Title IX of the Consumer Credit Protection Act) establishes the rights, liabilities and responsibilities of participants in electronic fund transfer systems. The Act requires financial institutions to adopt certain practices respecting such matters as transaction accounting, and error resolution, requires financial institutions and others to have certain procedures for preauthorized transfers, and sets liability limits for losses caused by unauthorized transfers. The Credit CARD Act and the Dodd-Frank Act made substantial amendments to this Act.

This Act amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, requiring, among other things, that the Commission issue: (a) disclosure rules to assist consumers in choosing the most efficient incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs; (b) efficiency labeling rules for certain plumbing fixtures; and (c) labeling requirements concerning the costs and benefits of non-petroleum alternative fuels and alternative-fueled vehicles. The Act requires the Commission to enforce energy efficiency labeling rules issued by the Department of Energy for high intensity discharge lamps, distribution transformers, and small electric motors. It authorizes the Commission to issue efficiency labeling rules for windows, commercial office equipment, and luminaries if the Department of Energy develops energy efficiency testing procedures for such products. The Act also amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act establishing automotive fuel posting and certification requirements for all liquid automotive fuels, including alternative fuels.