Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2888 To explicitly make unauthorized access to Department of Education informa- tion technology systems and the misuse of identification devices issued by the Department of Education a criminal act. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2019 Ms. STEVENS (for herself and Mr. SMUCKER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To explicitly make unauthorized access to Department of Education information technology systems and the mis- use of identification devices issued by the Department of Education a criminal act. 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 Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2888 IH SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 490 of the Higher Edu- 2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1097) is amended by add- 3 ing at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IN- 5 FORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS FOR FRAUD, COM- 6 MERCIAL ADVANTAGE, OR PRIVATE FINANCIAL GAIN.— 7 Any person who knowingly uses an access device, as de- 8 fined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, 9 issued to another person or obtained by fraud or false 10 statement to access Department information technology 11 systems for purposes of obtaining commercial advantage 12 or private financial gain, or in furtherance of any criminal 13 or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of 14 the United States or of any State, shall be fined not more 15 than $20,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or 16 both.’’. 17 (b) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue guidance 18 regarding the use of access devices in a manner that com- 19 plies with this Act, and the amendments made by this Act. 20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF PENALTIES.—Notwith- 21 standing section 6, the penalties described in section 22 490(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 23 1097), as added by subsection (a), shall take effect the 24 day after the date on which the Secretary issues guidance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2888 IH regarding the use of access devices, as described in sub- 1 section (b). 2 SEC. 3. LOAN COUNSELING. 3 Section 485(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 4 (20 U.S.C. 1092(b)) is amended— 5 (1) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 6 semicolon; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(x) an explanation that— 9 ‘‘(I) the borrower may be con- 10 tacted during the repayment period by 11 third-party student debt relief compa- 12 nies; 13 ‘‘(II) the borrower should use 14 caution when dealing with those com- 15 panies; and 16 ‘‘(III) the services that those 17 companies typically provide are al- 18 ready offered to borrowers free of 19 charge through the Department or the 20 borrower’s servicer; and’’. 21 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF IMPROPER ACCESS. 22 Section 485B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 23 (20 U.S.C. 1092b) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2888 IH (1) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) 1 as subsections (f) through (i), respectively; 2 (2) in subsection (d)— 3 (A) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 4 after the semicolon; 5 (B) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking the 6 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(7) preventing access to the data system and 9 any other system used to administer a program 10 under this title by any person or entity for the pur- 11 pose of assisting a student in managing loan repay- 12 ment or applying for any repayment plan, consolida- 13 tion loan, or other benefit authorized by this title, 14 unless such access meets the requirements described 15 in subsection (e).’’; 16 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR THIRD-PARTY DATA SYS- 19 TEM ACCESS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As provided in paragraph 21 (7) of subsection (d), an authorized person or entity 22 described in paragraph (2) may access the data sys- 23 tem and any other system used to administer a pro- 24 gram under this title if that access— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2888 IH ‘‘(A) is in compliance with terms of service, 1 information security standards, and a code of 2 conduct which shall be established by the Sec- 3 retary and published in the Federal Register; 4 ‘‘(B) is obtained using an access device (as 5 defined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 18, United 6 States Code) issued by the Secretary to the au- 7 thorized person or entity; and 8 ‘‘(C) is obtained without using any access 9 device (as defined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 10 18, United States Code) issued by the Secretary 11 to a student, borrower, or parent. 12 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED PERSON OR ENTITY.—An 13 authorized person or entity described in this para- 14 graph means— 15 ‘‘(A) a guaranty agency, eligible lender, or 16 eligible institution, or a third-party organization 17 acting on behalf of a guaranty agency, eligible 18 lender, or eligible institution, that is in compli- 19 ance with applicable Federal law (including reg- 20 ulations and guidance); or 21 ‘‘(B) a licensed attorney representing a 22 student, borrower, or parent, or another indi- 23 vidual who works for a Federal, State, local, or 24 Tribal government or agency, or for a nonprofit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2888 IH organization, providing financial or student loan 1 repayment counseling to a student, borrower, or 2 parent, if— 3 ‘‘(i) that attorney or other individual 4 has never engaged in unfair, deceptive, or 5 abusive practices, as determined by the 6 Secretary; 7 ‘‘(ii) that attorney or other individual 8 does not work for an entity that has en- 9 gaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive prac- 10 tices (including an entity that is owned or 11 operated by a person or entity that en- 12 gaged in such practices), as determined by 13 the Secretary; 14 ‘‘(iii) system access is provided only 15 through a separate point of entry; and 16 ‘‘(iv) the attorney or other individual 17 has consent from the relevant student, bor- 18 rower, or parent to access the system.’’; 19 and 20 (4) in subsection (f)(1), as redesignated by 21 paragraph (1)— 22 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘stu- 23 dent and parent’’ and inserting ‘‘student, bor- 24 rower, and parent’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2888 IH (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 1 and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec- 2 tively; 3 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(C) the reduction in improper data sys- 6 tem access as described in subsection (d)(7);’’; 7 and 8 (D) by striking subparagraph (E), as re- 9 designated by subparagraph (B), and inserting 10 the following: 11 ‘‘(E) any protocols, codes of conduct, 12 terms of service, or information security stand- 13 ards developed under paragraphs (6) or (7) of 14 subsection (d) during the preceding fiscal 15 year.’’. 16 SEC. 5. AGENCY PREVENTION AND DETECTION. 17 Section 141(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 18 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the 19 end the following: 20 ‘‘(C) Taking action to prevent and address 21 the improper use of access devices, as described 22 in section 485B(d)(7), including by— 23 ‘‘(i) detecting common patterns of im- 24 proper use of any system that processes 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2888 IH payments on Federal Direct Loans or 1 other Department information technology 2 systems; 3 ‘‘(ii) maintaining a reporting system 4 for contractors involved in the processing 5 of payments on Federal Direct Loans in 6 order to allow those contractors to alert 7 the Secretary of potentially improper use 8 of Department information technology sys- 9 tems; 10 ‘‘(iii) proactively contacting Federal 11 student loan borrowers whose Federal stu- 12 dent loan accounts demonstrate a likeli- 13 hood of improper use in order to warn 14 those borrowers of suspicious activity or 15 potential fraud regarding their Federal 16 student loan accounts; and 17 ‘‘(iv) providing clear and simple dis- 18 closures in communications with borrowers 19 who are applying for or requesting assist- 20 ance with Federal Direct Loan programs 21 (including assistance or applications re- 22 garding income-driven repayment, forbear- 23 ance, deferment, consolidation, rehabilita- 24 tion, cancellation, and forgiveness) to en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2888 IH sure that borrowers are aware that the De- 1 partment will never require borrowers to 2 pay for such assistance or applications.’’. 3 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 4 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 5 shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the 6 date of enactment of this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS