Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 119.djvu/85

 PUBLIC LAW 109–8—APR. 20, 2005

119 STAT. 67

express or implied purpose of providing information, advice, counsel, document preparation, or filing, or attendance at a creditors’ meeting or appearing in a case or proceeding on behalf of another or providing legal representation with respect to a case or proceeding under this title;’’; and (3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the following: ‘‘(12A) ‘debt relief agency’ means any person who provides any bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person in return for the payment of money or other valuable consideration, or who is a bankruptcy petition preparer under section 110, but does not include— ‘‘(A) any person who is an officer, director, employee, or agent of a person who provides such assistance or of the bankruptcy petition preparer; ‘‘(B) a nonprofit organization that is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; ‘‘(C) a creditor of such assisted person, to the extent that the creditor is assisting such assisted person to restructure any debt owed by such assisted person to the creditor; ‘‘(D) a depository institution (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act) or any Federal credit union or State credit union (as those terms are defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act), or any affiliate or subsidiary of such depository institution or credit union; or ‘‘(E) an author, publisher, distributor, or seller of works subject to copyright protection under title 17, when acting in such capacity.’’. (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 104(b) of title 11, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘101(3),’’ after ‘‘sections’’ each place it appears. SEC. 227. RESTRICTIONS ON DEBT RELIEF AGENCIES.

(a) ENFORCEMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘§ 526. Restrictions on debt relief agencies ‘‘(a) A debt relief agency shall not— ‘‘(1) fail to perform any service that such agency informed an assisted person or prospective assisted person it would provide in connection with a case or proceeding under this title; ‘‘(2) make any statement, or counsel or advise any assisted person or prospective assisted person to make a statement in a document filed in a case or proceeding under this title, that is untrue and misleading, or that upon the exercise of reasonable care, should have been known by such agency to be untrue or misleading; ‘‘(3) misrepresent to any assisted person or prospective assisted person, directly or indirectly, affirmatively or by material omission, with respect to— ‘‘(A) the services that such agency will provide to such person; or ‘‘(B) the benefits and risks that may result if such person becomes a debtor in a case under this title; or

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