Back to Iowa

SF2298 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to debt management programs, services, fees, and licensee requirements.(Formerly SSB 3090 .)

A bill for an act relating to debt management programs, services, fees, and licensee requirements.(Formerly SSB 3090 .)

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE
Last action
2026-04-20
Official status
Amendment S-5198 filed. S.J. 841 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to debt management programs, services, fees, and licensee requirements.(Formerly SSB 3090 .)

A bill for an act relating to debt management programs, services, fees, and licensee requirements.(Formerly SSB 3090 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to debt management programs, services, fees, and licensee requirements.(Formerly SSB 3090 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-20 Iowa Legislature

    Amendment S-5198 filed. S.J. 841 .

  2. 2026-04-02 Iowa Legislature

    Attached to HF 2326 . S.J. 710 .

  3. 2026-03-19 Iowa Legislature

    Placed on calendar under unfinished business. S.J. 600 .

  4. 2026-02-12 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 281 .

  5. 2026-02-12 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 269 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to debt management programs, services, fees, and licensee requirements.(Formerly SSB 3090 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

2298

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

2298

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

COMMERCE

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SSB

3090)

(COMPANION

TO

HF

2326

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

COMMERCE)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

debt

management

programs,

services,

fees,

1

and

licensee

requirements.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

5596SV

(1)

91

nls/ko

S.F.

2298

Section

1.

Section

533A.8,

subsection

5,

paragraph

a,

Code

1

2026,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

a.

Maintain

a

separate

bank

trust

account

or

dedicated

3

account

in

which

all

payments

received

from

debtors

for

the

4

benefit

of

creditors

shall

be

deposited

and

in

which

all

5

payments

shall

remain

until

a

remittance

is

made

to

either

the

6

debtor

or

the

creditor.

7

Sec.

2.

Section

533A.8,

subsection

5,

paragraph

d,

Code

8

2026,

is

amended

by

striking

the

paragraph.

9

Sec.

3.

Section

533A.8,

subsection

6,

Code

2026,

is

amended

10

to

read

as

follows:

11

6.

If

the

debt

management

program

is

not

based

on

a

model

12

which

requires

the

licensee

or

any

licensee

to

receive

money

or

13

evidences

thereof

from

the

debtor

to

distribute

to

the

debtor’s

14

creditors

,

both

of

the

following

shall

apply:

15

a.

The

the

debtor

shall

maintain

full

control

of

and

access

16

to

any

moneys

set

aside

for

payment

to

creditors.

17

b.

The

licensee

may

not

receive

consideration

from

any

third

18

party

in

connection

with

services

rendered

to

a

debtor.

19

Sec.

4.

Section

533A.9,

subsection

4,

Code

2026,

is

amended

20

by

striking

the

subsection

and

inserting

in

lieu

thereof

the

21

following:

22

4.

If

a

debt

management

program

is

not

based

on

a

model

that

23

requires

the

licensee

or

another

licensee

to

receive

money

or

24

evidences

thereof

from

the

debtor

to

distribute

to

the

debtor’s

25

creditors,

a

licensee

may

not

request

or

receive

payment

of

26

any

fee

or

consideration

for

debt

management

services

provided

27

under

a

debt

management

program

unless

all

of

the

following

are

28

true:

29

a.

The

licensee

has

renegotiated,

resolved,

reduced,

or

30

otherwise

altered

the

terms

of

at

least

one

debt

pursuant

to

a

31

resolution

agreement

or

other

contractual

agreement

executed

32

by

the

debtor

and

the

creditor.

33

b.

The

debtor

has

made

at

least

one

payment

pursuant

to

the

34

resolution

agreement

or

other

contractual

agreement

entered

35

-1-

LSB

5596SV

(1)

91

nls/ko

1/

3

S.F.

2298

into

under

paragraph

“a”

.

1

c.

To

the

extent

that

debts

enrolled

in

the

debt

management

2

program

are

renegotiated,

resolved,

reduced,

or

otherwise

3

altered

individually,

the

fee

or

consideration

for

the

debt

4

management

service

bears

the

same

proportional

relationship

to

5

the

total

fee

or

consideration

for

renegotiating,

resolving,

6

reducing,

or

otherwise

altering

the

terms

of

the

entire

debt

7

balance

as

the

individual

debt

amount

bears

to

the

entire

debt

8

amount.

The

individual

debt

amount

and

the

entire

debt

amount

9

are

those

owed

at

the

time

the

debt

was

enrolled

in

the

debt

10

management

program.

The

percent

charged

is

the

same

for

each

11

individual

debt

enrolled

in

the

debt

management

program.

12

Sec.

5.

Section

533A.9,

subsection

5,

Code

2026,

is

amended

13

by

striking

the

subsection.

14

Sec.

6.

Section

538A.2,

subsection

2,

Code

2026,

is

amended

15

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

16

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

i.

A

person

licensed

to

engage

in

the

17

business

of

debt

management

under

section

533A.2,

when

acting

18

within

the

course

and

scope

of

that

license.

19

EXPLANATION

20

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

21

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

22

This

bill

relates

to

debt

management,

services,

fees,

and

23

licensee

requirements.

24

Under

current

law,

if

a

debt

management

program

(program)

is

25

based

on

a

model

which

requires

a

licensee

to

receive

money

or

26

evidences

thereof

from

a

debtor

to

distribute

to

the

debtor’s

27

creditors,

the

licensee

who

receives

the

money

for

distribution

28

shall

maintain

a

separate

bank

trust

account

in

which

all

29

payments

received

from

the

debtor

for

the

benefit

of

creditors

30

shall

be

deposited

and

shall

remain

until

a

remittance

is

31

made

to

either

the

debtor

or

the

creditor.

Under

the

bill,

a

32

licensee

shall

maintain

a

separate

bank

account

or

dedicated

33

account

for

such

purpose.

34

Under

current

law,

if

a

debt

management

program

is

not

35

-2-

LSB

5596SV

(1)

91

nls/ko

2/

3

S.F.

2298

based

on

a

model

which

requires

a

licensee

to

receive

money

1

or

evidences

thereof

from

the

debtor

to

distribute

to

the

2

debtor’s

creditors

the

debtor

shall

maintain

full

control

of

3

and

access

to

any

moneys

set

aside

for

payment

to

creditors,

4

and

the

licensee

may

not

receive

consideration

from

any

third

5

party

in

connection

with

services

rendered

to

a

debtor.

The

6

bill

eliminates

the

prohibition

on

a

licensee

receiving

7

consideration

from

a

third

party

in

connection

with

services

8

rendered

to

a

debtor.

9

Under

current

law,

if

a

program

is

not

based

on

a

model

that

10

requires

a

licensee

to

receive

money

or

evidences

thereof

from

11

the

debtor

to

distribute

to

the

debtor’s

creditors,

a

debtor

12

may

not

be

charged

a

fee

exceeding

the

sum

of

the

initiation

13

fee

plus

18

percent

of

the

debtor’s

enrolled

debts,

as

detailed

14

in

Code

section

533A.9(4).

Under

the

bill,

a

licensee

may

not

15

request

or

receive

payment

of

a

fee

for

services

unless:

(1)

16

the

licensee

has

renegotiated,

resolved,

reduced,

or

otherwise

17

altered

the

terms

of

a

debt

pursuant

to

a

resolution

agreement

18

or

other

contractual

agreement

between

the

debtor

and

the

19

creditor;

(2)

the

debtor

has

made

at

least

one

payment

pursuant

20

to

the

agreement;

and

(3)

to

the

extent

that

debts

enrolled

in

21

a

service

are

renegotiated,

resolved,

reduced,

or

otherwise

22

altered

individually,

the

fee

or

consideration

for

the

service

23

bears

the

same

proportional

relationship

to

the

total

fee

for

24

altering

the

terms

of

the

entire

debt

balance

as

the

individual

25

debt

amount

bears

to

the

entire

debt

amount

as

owed

at

the

time

26

the

debt

was

enrolled

in

the

service,

and

the

same

percent

is

27

charged

for

each

individual

debt

enrolled

in

the

program.

28

Under

the

bill,

a

person

licensed

to

provide

debt

management

29

services

is

exempt

from

Code

chapter

538A

(credit

services

30

organizations).

31

The

bill

strikes

Code

sections

533A.8(5)(d)

(licensee

32

requirements)

and

533A.9(5)

(fee

agreed

in

advance).

33

-3-

LSB

5596SV

(1)

91

nls/ko

3/

3