Dear Chairwoman Waters and Ranking Member McHenry:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the “Small Business Fair Debt Collection Protection Act,” which the Committee is expected to consider on November 13.
The bill would extend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, currently applicable to consumers, to small businesses. The Chamber is concerned with the conflation of consumer and commercial lending in this bill and believe it merits more scrutiny before moving forward.
Imposing consumer protections on commercial lending may have the unintended consequence of increasing borrowing costs and pushing credit further out of reach for many main street businesses that need capital to grow.
We look forward to working with Representative Lawson and the Committee to resolve our concerns as the Small Business Fair Debt Collection Protection Act advances through the legislative process.
Sincerely,
Neil L. Bradley
cc: Members of the Committee on Financial Services
