Student Borrower Advocate Act

Student Borrower Advocate Act

This bill establishes the Office of the Borrower Advocate to replace the Student Loan Ombudsman that is currently responsible for informally resolving complaints from student loan borrowers.

The office established by the bill shall (1) assist student loan borrowers in resolving problems with the Office of Federal Student Aid; (2) compile, analyze, publish, and attempt to resolve borrowers' complaints; and (3) make recommendations with respect to federal student loan programs and the experiences of borrowers in repayment under such programs. The bill also places additional requirements on the office, such as making certain student loan oversight information available to the public.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4627 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Student Borrower Advocate Act''.

SEC. 2. PERFORMANCE-BASED ORGANIZATION FOR DELIVERY OF FEDERAL STUDENT 
              FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) PBO.--Section 141(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1018(f)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) Borrower Advocate.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is established in the PBO an 
        `Office of the Borrower Advocate' (referred to in this 
        subsection as the `Office'). The function of the Office shall 
        be to provide timely assistance to borrowers of loans made, 
        insured, or guaranteed under title IV by performing the duties 
        described in paragraph (6).
            ``(2) Head of office.--There shall be an official known as 
        the `Borrower Advocate' who shall serve as the head of the 
        Office. The Borrower Advocate shall be appointed by the 
        Secretary from among individuals who have worked closely with 
        the Federal student loan programs authorized under title IV.
            ``(3) Removal.--The Borrower Advocate may be removed only 
        by the Secretary who shall communicate the reasons for any such 
        removal to the authorizing committees.
            ``(4) Restrictions.--
                    ``(A) Preservice and in-service restrictions.--An 
                individual may not serve as the Borrower Advocate if 
                such individual--
                            ``(i) is employed by, or has a financial 
                        interest in, an entity that contracts with the 
                        PBO; or
                            ``(ii) was employed by, or had a financial 
                        interest in, any such entity in any of the 
                        five-years preceding the date of the 
                        individual's appointment as the Borrower 
                        Advocate.
                    ``(B) Postservice restrictions.--An individual who 
                served as the Borrower Advocate may not accept 
                employment with an entity that contracts with the PBO 
                until a period of five years has elapsed following the 
                date on which such individual's service as the Borrower 
                Advocate terminated.
            ``(5) Staff.--The Office shall be staffed sufficiently to 
        carry out the responsibilities of the Office under this 
        subsection.
            ``(6) Duties of the borrower advocate.--The Office of the 
        Borrower Advocate shall--
                    ``(A) assist borrowers of loans made, insured, or 
                guaranteed under title IV in resolving problems with 
                the PBO and its contractors or other agents, including 
                by--
                            ``(i) receiving and reviewing complaints of 
                        such problems from borrowers;
                            ``(ii) working to resolve such complaints 
                        in a manner that is in the best interests of 
                        borrowers; and
                            ``(iii) transmitting such complaints to 
                        States and recognized accrediting agencies or 
                        associations, as appropriate;
                    ``(B) attempt to resolve complaints within the 
                Department of Education and with institutions of higher 
                education, lenders, guaranty agencies, loan servicers, 
                and other participants in the Federal student loan 
                programs authorized under title IV in a manner that 
                will improve the experience of the borrower;
                    ``(C) compile and analyze data on borrower 
                complaints and share such data with the Director of the 
                Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;
                    ``(D) publish, with any personally identifiable 
                information redacted, such complaints and responses of 
                the Secretary to such complaints on the website of the 
                Department; and
                    ``(E) make appropriate recommendations to Congress, 
                the Chief Operating Officer, and Secretary with respect 
                to Federal student loan programs authorized under title 
                IV and the experiences of borrowers in repayment of 
                loans under such programs.
            ``(7) Public information.--The Chief Operating Officer 
        shall establish and maintain a public page on the website of 
        the Department of Education exclusively to provide members of 
        the public with information about the role of the PBO with 
        respect to the oversight of institutions of higher education, 
        lenders, guaranty agencies, contractors that contract with the 
        PBO, subcontractors of such contractors, and third party 
        servicers.
            ``(8) Report.--On an annual basis, the Borrower Advocate 
        shall submit to the Chief Operating Officer a report on the 
        activities of the Office during the preceding year that--
                    ``(A) identifies the activities carried out by the 
                Borrower Advocate;
                    ``(B) summarizes the complaints received from 
                borrowers, including the number of such complaints, and 
                explains the activities undertaken by the PBO to 
                address such complaints;
                    ``(C) proposes changes in the administrative 
                practices of the PBO to mitigate problems experienced 
                by borrowers; and
                    ``(D) identifies potential legislative changes 
                which may be appropriate to mitigate such problems.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 433(b)(13) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 1083(b)(13)) is amended by striking ``Student Loan 
        Ombudsman'' and inserting ``Borrower Advocate''.
            (2) Section 433(e)(3)(E) of the Higher Education Act of 
        1965 (20 U.S.C. 1083(e)(3)(E)) is amended by striking ``Student 
        Loan Ombudsman'' and inserting ``Borrower Advocate''.
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