Student Borrower Advocate Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4627 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Office of the Borrower Advocate. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 8, 2019 Ms. SCANLON (for herself and Ms. OMAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Office of the Borrower Advocate. 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 ‘‘Student Borrower Ad- 4 vocate Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Oct 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4627.IH H4627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4627 IH SEC. 2. PERFORMANCE-BASED ORGANIZATION FOR DELIV- 1 ERY OF FEDERAL STUDENT FINANCIAL AS- 2 SISTANCE. 3 (a) PBO.—Section 141(f) of the Higher Education 4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(f)) is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 ‘‘(f) BORROWER ADVOCATE.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 8 PBO an ‘Office of the Borrower Advocate’ (referred 9 to in this subsection as the ‘Office’). The function of 10 the Office shall be to provide timely assistance to 11 borrowers of loans made, insured, or guaranteed 12 under title IV by performing the duties described in 13 paragraph (6). 14 ‘‘(2) HEAD OF OFFICE.—There shall be an offi- 15 cial known as the ‘Borrower Advocate’ who shall 16 serve as the head of the Office. The Borrower Advo- 17 cate shall be appointed by the Secretary from among 18 individuals who have worked closely with the Federal 19 student loan programs authorized under title IV. 20 ‘‘(3) REMOVAL.—The Borrower Advocate may 21 be removed only by the Secretary who shall commu- 22 nicate the reasons for any such removal to the au- 23 thorizing committees. 24 ‘‘(4) RESTRICTIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Oct 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4627.IH H4627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4627 IH ‘‘(A) PRESERVICE AND IN-SERVICE RE- 1 STRICTIONS.—An individual may not serve as 2 the Borrower Advocate if such individual— 3 ‘‘(i) is employed by, or has a financial 4 interest in, an entity that contracts with 5 the PBO; or 6 ‘‘(ii) was employed by, or had a finan- 7 cial interest in, any such entity in any of 8 the five-years preceding the date of the in- 9 dividual’s appointment as the Borrower 10 Advocate. 11 ‘‘(B) POSTSERVICE RESTRICTIONS.—An 12 individual who served as the Borrower Advocate 13 may not accept employment with an entity that 14 contracts with the PBO until a period of five 15 years has elapsed following the date on which 16 such individual’s service as the Borrower Advo- 17 cate terminated. 18 ‘‘(5) STAFF.—The Office shall be staffed suffi- 19 ciently to carry out the responsibilities of the Office 20 under this subsection. 21 ‘‘(6) DUTIES OF THE BORROWER ADVOCATE.— 22 The Office of the Borrower Advocate shall— 23 ‘‘(A) assist borrowers of loans made, in- 24 sured, or guaranteed under title IV in resolving 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Oct 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4627.IH H4627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4627 IH problems with the PBO and its contractors or 1 other agents, including by— 2 ‘‘(i) receiving and reviewing com- 3 plaints of such problems from borrowers; 4 ‘‘(ii) working to resolve such com- 5 plaints in a manner that is in the best in- 6 terests of borrowers; and 7 ‘‘(iii) transmitting such complaints to 8 States and recognized accrediting agencies 9 or associations, as appropriate; 10 ‘‘(B) attempt to resolve complaints within 11 the Department of Education and with institu- 12 tions of higher education, lenders, guaranty 13 agencies, loan servicers, and other participants 14 in the Federal student loan programs author- 15 ized under title IV in a manner that will im- 16 prove the experience of the borrower; 17 ‘‘(C) compile and analyze data on borrower 18 complaints and share such data with the Direc- 19 tor of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro- 20 tection; 21 ‘‘(D) publish, with any personally identifi- 22 able information redacted, such complaints and 23 responses of the Secretary to such complaints 24 on the website of the Department; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Oct 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4627.IH H4627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4627 IH ‘‘(E) make appropriate recommendations 1 to Congress, the Chief Operating Officer, and 2 Secretary with respect to Federal student loan 3 programs authorized under title IV and the ex- 4 periences of borrowers in repayment of loans 5 under such programs. 6 ‘‘(7) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The Chief Oper- 7 ating Officer shall establish and maintain a public 8 page on the website of the Department of Education 9 exclusively to provide members of the public with in- 10 formation about the role of the PBO with respect to 11 the oversight of institutions of higher education, 12 lenders, guaranty agencies, contractors that contract 13 with the PBO, subcontractors of such contractors, 14 and third party servicers. 15 ‘‘(8) REPORT.—On an annual basis, the Bor- 16 rower Advocate shall submit to the Chief Operating 17 Officer a report on the activities of the Office during 18 the preceding year that— 19 ‘‘(A) identifies the activities carried out by 20 the Borrower Advocate; 21 ‘‘(B) summarizes the complaints received 22 from borrowers, including the number of such 23 complaints, and explains the activities under- 24 taken by the PBO to address such complaints; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Oct 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4627.IH H4627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4627 IH ‘‘(C) proposes changes in the administra- 1 tive practices of the PBO to mitigate problems 2 experienced by borrowers; and 3 ‘‘(D) identifies potential legislative changes 4 which may be appropriate to mitigate such 5 problems.’’. 6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 7 (1) Section 433(b)(13) of the Higher Education 8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1083(b)(13)) is amended by 9 striking ‘‘Student Loan Ombudsman’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘Borrower Advocate’’. 11 (2) Section 433(e)(3)(E) of the Higher Edu- 12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1083(e)(3)(E)) is 13 amended by striking ‘‘Student Loan Ombudsman’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘Borrower Advocate’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Oct 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4627.IH H4627 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS