Proposals seek to prohibit collection on certain federal student loans and establish credit reporting standards.
9/10/2019 9:00
The House Financial Services Committee debated the role of Congress in regulating student loan servicers and the U.S. Department Education in a Sept. 10 hearing focused on student loan debt, which tops $1.5 trillion in the U.S.
The committee discussed nine proposed legislative remedies to increase protections for student loan borrowers as well as regulations of student loan servicers.
One of the legislative proposals, the “Fair Student Loan Debt Collection Practices Act,” would amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit debt collectors from collecting on certain federal student loans when the consumer would not be required to make payments under an income-driven repayment plan. This legislative proposal is currently in discussion draft form.
Additional proposals discussed during the hearing, “A $1.5 Trillion Crisis: Protecting Student Borrowers and Holding Student Loan Servicers Accountable,” include:
- Fair Credit Reporting for Student Loans Act. In discussion draft form, this proposal would require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Education, to establish standards for reporting credit information about borrowers’ student loans and provides consumers with tools to enforce these rights.
- CFPB Student Loan Integrity and Transparency Act (H.R. 2833). This bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., would strengthen the CFPB’s oversight of student lending by requiring information sharing on student loan data between the bureau’s student loan ombudsman and the Department of Education; prohibiting the Department of Education from entering into student loan service agreement unless servicer directly provides information to bureau’s student loan ombudsman; and by requiring the CFPB’s director to maintain adequate staffing and resource levels for ombudsman to execute functions of office. The CFPB recently appointed a Private Education Loan Ombudsman.
- The Student Loan Servicing Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a discussion draft that amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to help struggling student borrowers by requiring servicers provide accurate repayment options and resources; setting minimum industry standards for all student loan transactions; creating clear “rules of the road” to prevent student loan servicers from omitting or misrepresenting loan serving information; and improving disclosures to borrowers when their loan is sold or transferred or if the borrower is identified as at-risk of default. The bill is similar to the Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights (S. 1354) sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Witnesses in the hearing included Seth Frotman, executive director, Student Borrower Protection Center; Persis Yu, staff attorney, National Consumer Law Center; Ashley Harrington, senior policy counsel, Center for Responsible Lending; Hasan Minhaj, writer, producer and host; and Jason Delisle, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute.
ACA International will continue to follow the status of these legislative proposals.
Later this month, the House Financial Services Committee will discuss legislation focused on debt collection practices during a hearing at 10 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 26.
For more information on issues expected to impact the accounts receivable management industry during the 116th Congress, read ACA’s coverage here and visit the Advocacy Resource Center.
Click here for additional information about continuing to connect with lawmakers throughout the year. We’ll see you next spring at the #WashingtonInsightsFlyIn20.
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