Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Technical Corrections Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 995 To amend the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 to make technical corrections. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2021 Ms. BALDWIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 to make technical corrections. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Student Debt 4 Relief Scams Technical Corrections Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. GUIDANCE ON CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 6 The Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 7 (Public Law 116–251) is amended in section 2(b) by strik- 8 ing ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later than July 9 1, 2021, the Secretary’’. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S995.IS S995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 995 IS SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR THIRD-PARTY DATA SYSTEM 1 ACCESS. 2 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (e) of section 485B 3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as added by section 4 4(3) of the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 5 (Public Law 116–251), is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 7 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, at the discretion 8 of the Secretary,’’ after ‘‘may’’; 9 (2) in paragraph (2)— 10 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 11 (A), by striking ‘‘means—’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘means either of the following:’’; 13 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 14 (i) by striking ‘‘a guaranty agency’’ 15 the first place such term appears and in- 16 serting ‘‘A guaranty agency’’; and 17 (ii) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a 18 period; and 19 (C) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 20 serting the following: 21 ‘‘(B)(i) An attorney, government, agency, 22 or organization described in any of subclauses 23 (I) through (IV) of clause (ii), who or that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S995.IS S995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 995 IS ‘‘(I) is providing financial or student 1 loan repayment services or counseling to a 2 student, borrower, or parent; 3 ‘‘(II) has not engaged in unfair, de- 4 ceptive, or abusive practices (including an 5 entity that is owned or operated by a per- 6 son or entity that engaged in such prac- 7 tices), as determined by the Secretary; 8 ‘‘(III) accesses the system only 9 through a separate point of entry; and 10 ‘‘(IV) has consent from the relevant 11 student, borrower, or parent to access the 12 system. 13 ‘‘(ii)(I) A licensed attorney representing a 14 student, borrower, or parent. 15 ‘‘(II) A Federal, State, local, or Tribal gov- 16 ernment or agency. 17 ‘‘(III) A nonprofit organization. 18 ‘‘(IV) A for-profit organization— 19 ‘‘(aa) authorized as a public benefit 20 corporation to provide a public benefit of 21 objective and accurate financial or student 22 loan repayment services or counseling; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S995.IS S995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 995 IS ‘‘(bb) that is approved by the Sec- 1 retary in accordance with paragraphs (3) 2 and (4); and 3 ‘‘(cc) that does not charge the stu- 4 dent, borrower, or parent a fee or any 5 other monetary charge for financial or stu- 6 dent loan repayment services or counseling 7 or any other services at any point.’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(3) DISCRETION TO APPROVE APPLICA- 10 TIONS.—Approval of applications from authorized 11 persons or entities for third-party data access shall 12 be at the discretion of the Secretary after consider- 13 ation of such applications as the Secretary may pre- 14 scribe. Authorized access shall be for periods as the 15 Secretary may determine and may be terminated at 16 the discretion of the Secretary. 17 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION FOR FOR-PROFIT ORGANI- 18 ZATION APPROVAL TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM.—In 19 considering applications for approval for third-party 20 data system access in accordance with this sub- 21 section by a for-profit organization described in 22 paragraph (2)(B)(ii)(IV), the Secretary shall— 23 ‘‘(A) consider how the no fee service or 24 counseling to the student, borrower, or parent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S995.IS S995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 995 IS is funded and determine whether the organiza- 1 tion provides financial or student loan repay- 2 ment services or counseling in the best interest 3 of students, borrowers, or parents, in consulta- 4 tion with the Private Education Loan Ombuds- 5 man of the Consumer Financial Protection Bu- 6 reau (designated pursuant to section 1035 of 7 the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 8 Act (12 U.S.C. 5535)); and 9 ‘‘(B) respond in writing, which may in- 10 clude electronic communication, to such organi- 11 zation regarding such application not later than 12 180 days after the date of submission of the ap- 13 plication.’’. 14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made in 15 this section shall take effect as if included in the Stop Stu- 16 dent Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 (Public Law 116– 17 251) and in accordance with section 6 of such Act. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S995.IS S995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS