I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5287 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit debt collectors 

from collecting on certain Federal student loan debt when the borrower 

would not be required to make payments under an income-driven repayment plan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 3, 2019 

Mr. LAWSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees 

on the Judiciary, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prohibit 

debt collectors from collecting on certain Federal student 

loan debt when the borrower would not be required to 

make payments under an income-driven repayment plan, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Student Loan 

5 Debt Collection Practices Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COLLECTION RESTRICTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 

2 FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Debt Collection Prac4 tices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) by inserting after section 811 the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 811A. Collection restrictions with respect to Fed7 eral student loans 

8 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTING FROM BOR9 ROWERS BELOW CERTAIN INCOME GUIDELINES.—A debt 

10 collector may not attempt to collect a Federal student loan 

11 debt from a borrower during any period of time when a 

12 similarly situated borrower would not be required to make 

13 a payment under an income-driven repayment plan. 

14 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS COLLECTED BASED

15 ON CERTAIN INCOME GUIDELINES.—During any 1-month 

16 period, a debt collector may not attempt to collect from 

17 a borrower an amount with respect to a Federal student 

18 loan debt that exceeds the amount that a similarly situ19 ated borrower would be required to make for such month 

20 under an income-driven repayment plan. 

21 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION BEFORE ACCEPTING PAY22 MENT.—A debt collector may not accept any payment with 

23 respect to a Federal student loan debt unless the debt col24 lector first certifies to the borrower that the borrower is 

25 not eligible for any administrative discharge of such debt. 

26 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) DEBT COLLECTOR.—The term ‘debt col2 lector’— 

3 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term 

4 under section 803; and 

5 ‘‘(B) means any other person that enters 

6 into a contract with the Secretary of Education 

7 pursuant to section 456 of the Higher Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087f) to collect 

9 on a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 

10 title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN.—The term 

12 ‘Federal student loan’ means a loan made, insured, 

13 or guaranteed under title IV of the Higher Edu14 cation Act of 1965. 

15 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN DEBT.—The 

16 term ‘Federal student loan debt’ means a debt with 

17 respect to a Federal student loan. 

18 ‘‘(4) INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT PLAN.—The 

19 term ‘income-driven repayment plans’ means an in20 come-driven repayment plan described under section 

21 493C of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

22 U.S.C. 1098e) made to a new borrower on or after 

23 July 1, 2014. 

24 ‘‘(5) SIMILARLY SITUATED BORROWER.—With 

25 respect to a borrower, the term ‘similarly situated 


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1 borrower’ means another borrower that has the same 

2 income and family size characteristics.’’; and 

3 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by in4 serting after the item relating to section 811 the fol5 lowing: 

‘‘811A. Collection restrictions with respect to Federal student loans.’’. 

6 (b) DEBT WAIVER REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

7 3711(g) of the title 31, United States Code, is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(11) The Secretary of the Treasury shall, before 

10 making a determination at the request of the Secretary 

11 of Education under paragraph (2)(B), require the Sec12 retary of Education to establish regulations or procedures 

13 approved by the Secretary of the Treasury— 

14 ‘‘(A) to ensure that any entity awarded a con15 tract pursuant to section 456 of the Higher Edu16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087f) to collect pay17 ments from student loan borrowers in default com18 plies with the requirements of the Fair Debt Collec19 tion Practices Act; and 

20 ‘‘(B) to ensure that any use by the Secretary of 

21 Education of the wage garnishment authority pursu22 ant to section 488A of the Higher Education Act of 

23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1095a) be limited to— 

24 ‘‘(i) the collection of debts from borrowers 

25 who would not otherwise be entitled to loan 


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1 cancellation, discharge, or forgiveness under 

2 any applicable provision of the Higher Edu3 cation Act of 1965; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the collection of debts from borrowers 

5 for amounts less than or equal to the payment 

6 that would be required under an income-driven 

7 repayment plan for a similarly situated bor8 rower (as such terms are defined, respectively, 

9 under section 811A(d) of the Fair Debt Collec10 tion Practices Act).’’. 

11 (c) WAIVER REVIEW AND EVALUATION.—Not later 

12 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

13 the Secretary of the Treasury shall— 

14 (1) review and evaluate any determination made 

15 at the request of the Secretary of Education under 

16 section 3711(g)(2)(B) of title 31, United States 

17 Code; and 

18 (2) rescind or reissue such a determination to 

19 comply with the requirements established by para20 graph (11) of such section, as added by subsection 

21 (b) of this Act. 

Æ 


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