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 Some of its disclosure requirements were superseded by later amendments to the Truth in Lending Act such as the Credit CARD Act of 2009.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 protects children's privacy by giving parents tools to control what information is collected from their children online. The Act requires the Commission to promulgate regulations requiring operators of commercial websites and online services directed to children under 13 or knowingly collecting personal information from children under 13 to: (a) notify parents of their information practices; (b) obtain verifiable parental consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of children’s personal information; (c) let parents prevent further maintenance or use or future collection of their child’s personal information; (d) provide parents access to their child’s personal information; (e) not require a child to provide more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in an activity; and (f) maintain reasonable procedures to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of the personal information. In order to encourage active industry self-regulation, the Act also includes a "safe harbor" provision allowing industry groups and others to request Commission approval of self-regulatory guidelines to govern participating websites’ compliance with the Rule.

This Act, as amended by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, requires manufacturers, packagers, and importers of smokeless tobacco products to place one of four statutorily-prescribed, health-related warning labels on product packages and in advertisements, on a rotational basis, as reviewed and approved by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Act prohibits any advertising of smokeless tobacco products on radio, television, or other media regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The Commission is authorized to enforce the Actexcept that sections 12 through 15 of the FTC Act do not apply to the language of warning labels appearing in advertisements.

The Act generally makes provisions of form contracts between sellers and individual consumers void from inception if the provisions: (1) prohibit or restrict individuals from reviewing sellers’ goods, services, or conduct; (2) impose penalties or fees on individuals for such reviews; or (3) require individuals to transfer intellectual property rights in such reviews. The Act also bars sellers from offering form contracts with such provisions. The Act contains certain exceptions, including for contract provisions that bar the submission of confidential, private, or unlawful information.

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.