I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7359 

To provide a framework for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

and the Department of Education to coordinate in providing assistance 

to and serving borrowers seeking to resolve complaints related to their 

private education or Federal student loans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2024 

Ms. PORTER (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. SARBANES, and Mrs. HAYES) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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 provide a framework for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection and the Department of Education to coordinate in providing assistance to and serving borrowers 

seeking to resolve complaints related to their private 

education or Federal student loans, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CFPB Student Loan 

3 Integrity and Transparency Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means the 

7 Bureau or the Department, as applicable, and the 

8 term ‘‘agencies’’ means both the Bureau and the 

9 Department. 

10 (2) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 

11 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. 

12 (3) COMPLAINT.—The term ‘‘complaint’’ means 

13 a comment, inquiry, or request for assistance from 

14 a student loan borrower. 

15 (4) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

16 means the Department of Education. 

17 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

18 the Director of the Bureau. 

19 (6) FEDERAL CONSUMER FINANCIAL LAW.— 

20 The term ‘‘Federal consumer financial law’’ has the 

21 meaning given that term under section 1002 of the 

22 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 

23 U.S.C. 5481). 

24 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

25 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 


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1 meaning given that term under section 102 of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

3 (8) NONPUBLIC INFORMATION.—The term 

4 ‘‘nonpublic information’’ means— 

5 (A) confidential information, as such term 

6 is defined under section 1070.2 of title 12, 

7 Code of Federal Regulations; 

8 (B) any information collected by the De9 partment from persons engaged in student fi10 nancial services activities pursuant to the De11 partment’s oversight and other authorities that 

12 is not publicly available; and 

13 (C) the name, address, or other personally 

14 identifiable information relating to any con15 sumer, including any information so designated 

16 by a provider of information. 

17 (9) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.—The term 

18 ‘‘private education loan’’ has the meaning given that 

19 term under section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)). 

21 (10) PROVIDER.—With respect to information 

22 shared between the agencies, the term ‘‘provider’’ 

23 means the agency providing the information to the 

24 other agency. 


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1 (11) RECEIVER.—With respect to information 

2 shared between the agencies, the term ‘‘receiver’’ 

3 means the agency receiving the information from the 

4 other agency. 

5 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

6 means the Secretary of Education. 

7 (13) STUDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES.—The 

8 term ‘‘student financial services’’ means consumer 

9 financial products or services (as defined under sec10 tion 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

11 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481)) that are related to stu12 dents of institutions of higher education, including 

13 student loan origination and student loan servicing. 

14 (14) TITLE IV LOANS.—The term ‘‘title IV 

15 loans’’ means loans made, insured, or guaranteed 

16 under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

17 SEC. 3. COOPERATION BETWEEN THE BUREAU AND THE 

18 DEPARTMENT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director and the Secretary 

20 shall— 

21 (1) establish points of contact between the Bu22 reau and the Department with respect to Bureau su23 pervision and Department oversight matters that are 

24 of common jurisdiction to both the Bureau and the 

25 Department; 


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1 (2) share with each other the Bureau’s schedule 

2 of examinations and the Department’s schedule of 

3 reviews of persons engaged in offering or providing 

4 student financial services that are subject to the Bu5 reau’s supervisory authority and the Department’s 

6 oversight authority; 

7 (3) coordinate the Bureau’s supervision activi8 ties and the Department’s oversight activities to pro9 mote the efficient use of resources; 

10 (4) meet at least quarterly to discuss observa11 tions about the nature of complaints received by the 

12 Bureau and the Department, characteristics of bor13 rowers, and available information about resolution of 

14 complaints, as well as analysis and recommenda15 tions; and 

16 (5) work to ensure the Bureau and the Depart17 ment understand the respective reporting categories 

18 and definitions of each agency and how such cat19 egories and definition relate to each other for com20 parison. 

21 (b) SHARING OF INFORMATION.— 

22 (1) BUREAU ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT DATA23 BASES.—For the purpose of the Bureau’s congres24 sional reporting, research, market analysis, com25 plaint resolution, enforcement, supervision, financial 


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1 education, engagement, and rulemaking needs, the 

2 Secretary shall work with the Bureau to provide the 

3 Bureau with access to Department databases, as ap4 plicable. 

5 (2) CONSUMER COMPLAINTS.— 

6 (A) BUREAU ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT

7 CONSUMER COMPLAINTS.—The Director may 

8 request and obtain information from the Sec9 retary concerning consumer complaints and 

10 other information pertaining to specific entities 

11 or classes of entities that are relevant to the ex12 ercise of the Bureau’s supervisory, enforcement, 

13 or regulatory functions. 

14 (B) SHARING OF STUDENT LOAN BOR15 ROWER COMPLAINTS.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Director and 

17 the Secretary shall transfer each complaint 

18 received by their agency from student loan 

19 borrowers to the other agency. 

20 (ii) DEADLINE FOR SHARING CERTAIN

21 COMPLAINTS.—With respect to a complaint 

22 received by the Bureau related to the origi23 nation, disbursement, or servicing of a title 

24 IV loan or a complaint received by the De25 partment related to a private education 


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1 loan, the applicable agency shall direct the 

2 complaint to the other agency within 10 

3 days of receipt of the complaint. 

4 (C) ADDRESSING COMPLAINTS RELATED

5 TO DEFAULTED TITLE IV LOANS.—The Director 

6 and the Secretary shall establish an efficient 

7 collaborative process to address complaints re8 ceived by the Bureau about private collection 

9 agency actions related to defaulted title IV 

10 loans. 

11 (D) STANDARDS FOR THE FORMAT AND

12 SHARING OF COMPLAINT DATA.— 

13 (i) FORMAT.—In providing complaint 

14 data described under this paragraph, the 

15 Director and the Secretary shall provide 

16 the complaint data in a secure, digital for17 mat. 

18 (ii) PROCESS.—The Director and the 

19 Secretary shall establish an efficient, se20 cure, and legally compliant process to pro21 vide complaint data. 

22 (3) CERTAIN TAX RETURN INFORMATION.—Sec23 tion 6103(l)(13)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(vii) REDISCLOSURE TO THE BU2 REAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTEC3 TION.—Authorized persons may redisclose 

4 return information received under subpara5 graph (C) to the Director of the Bureau of 

6 Consumer Financial Protection to the ex7 tent necessary to carry out the oversight 

8 activities of the Bureau of Consumer Fi9 nancial Protection.’’. 

10 (4) OTHER INFORMATION.—In addition to the 

11 information permitted to be shared under this sec12 tion, the Director and the Secretary may share any 

13 other information with each other as the Director 

14 and the Secretary determine appropriate. 

15 (5) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5.—Section 552a(b) 

16 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

17 (A) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe20 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(13) a disclosure between the Secretary of 

23 Education and the Director of the Bureau of Con24 sumer Financial Protection authorized under the 


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1 CFPB Student Loan Integrity and Transparency 

2 Act.’’. 

3 (6) DATA PRIVACY.— 

4 (A) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

5 The Director and the Secretary shall enter into 

6 one or more memoranda of understanding to 

7 address data privacy issues related to informa8 tion shared between the Bureau and the De9 partment pursuant to this Act. 

10 (B) SAFEGUARDING NONPUBLIC INFORMA11 TION.—The Director and the Secretary shall es12 tablish and maintain such safeguards as are 

13 necessary and appropriate to protect the con14 fidentiality of any nonpublic information re15 ceived by their agency pursuant to this Act (as 

16 well as any derived information), including— 

17 (i) restricting access to the nonpublic 

18 information to only those of officers, em19 ployees, and contractors who have a need 

20 for such information to carry out the re21 ceiver’s responsibilities under applicable 

22 law; 

23 (ii) informing those persons who are 

24 provided access to the nonpublic informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7359.IH H7359

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1 tion of their responsibilities under this Act; 

2 and 

3 (iii) ensuring that the nonpublic infor4 mation is protected in accordance with the 

5 standards applicable to Federal agencies 

6 for protection of the privacy and confiden7 tiality of personally identifiable information 

8 and for data security and integrity. 

9 (c) HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS BY THE BUREAU.— 

10 The Director shall— 

11 (1) accept complaints related to private edu12 cation loans and the servicing of title IV loans; and 

13 (2) process such complaints, including, where 

14 appropriate, providing the complaints to the applica15 ble servicer and providing any response from the 

16 servicer to the borrower, in accordance with section 

17 1034 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

18 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5534). 

19 (d) TITLE IV LOAN SERVICER REQUIREMENT.—The 

20 Secretary may not enter into an agreement with a con21 tractor or vendor for the servicing of title IV loans unless 

22 the contractor or vendor, as part of that agreement, agrees 

23 to provide the Bureau, upon request, any information that 

24 the contractor or vendor is required to provide the Depart25 ment. 


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1 (e) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AGENCIES BY TYPE

2 OF COMPLAINT.— 

3 (1) COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE TITLE IV

4 LOAN PROGRAMS.—With respect to complaints re5 garding the title IV loan programs, the Department 

6 is responsible for— 

7 (A) program issue resolution; 

8 (B) attempting to resolve such complaints; 

9 and 

10 (C) as appropriate, discussing such com11 plaints with the Bureau regarding the impact, 

12 if any, on Federal consumer financial law. 

13 (2) COMPLAINTS REGARDING TITLE IV LOANS

14 WITH FEDERAL CONSUMER FINANCIAL LAW

15 ISSUES.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to com17 plaints regarding title IV loans with Federal 

18 consumer financial law issues— 

19 (i) the Department shall collaborate 

20 with the Bureau; 

21 (ii) the Bureau is responsible for pro22 viding the Department with expertise, 

23 analysis, and recommendations regarding 

24 resolution consistent with Federal con25 sumer financial law; and 


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1 (iii) the Department is responsible for 

2 attempting to resolve informally such com3 plaints, in accordance with section 

4 141(f)(3)(A) of the Higher Education Act 

5 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(f)(3)(A)), with 

6 the Bureau’s input. 

7 (B) INTERAGENCY PROCESS TO DISCUSS, 

8 TRACK, AND RESOLVE COMPLAINTS.—The Di9 rector and the Secretary shall determine an ef10 ficient process to— 

11 (i) discuss and track complaints re12 lated to both a title IV loan and a private 

13 education loan; and 

14 (ii) collaborate, where possible, to at15 tempt to resolve such complaints, including 

16 through the use of the ombudsmen estab17 lished under section 1035 of the Consumer 

18 Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 

19 U.S.C. 5535) and section 141(f) of the 

20 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

21 1018(f)). 

22 (3) COMPLAINTS REGARDING PRIVATE EDU23 CATION LOANS WITH FEDERAL CONSUMER FINAN24 CIAL LAW ISSUES.—With respect to complaints reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7359.IH H7359

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1 garding private education loans, the Bureau is re2 sponsible for— 

3 (A) attempting to resolve informally such 

4 complaints, in accordance with section 

5 1035(c)(1) of the Consumer Financial Protec6 tion Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5535(c)(1)); and 

7 (B) as appropriate, discussing issues with 

8 the Department regarding products offered by 

9 institutions of higher education or to students 

10 or prospective students, or other issues that 

11 may impact Federal programs overseen by the 

12 Department. 

13 (f) PAYMENT OF COSTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau and the Depart15 ment shall each bear its own costs of complying with 

16 this Act. 

17 (2) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT FOR TRANSFER

18 OF FUNDS.—If funds are transferred between the 

19 Bureau and the Department for the provision of 

20 goods or services authorized by this Act, including 

21 access to Department databases described under 

22 subsection (b)(1), such transfer shall be accom23 plished by a separate interagency agreement. 

24 (g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 


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1 (1) Nothing in this Act may be construed to 

2 limit the existing authorities of the Bureau or the 

3 Department. 

4 (2) Nothing in this Act may be construed to 

5 prohibit the Bureau or the Department from enter6 ing into memoranda of understanding to establish 

7 additional policies and procedures related to the re8 quirements of this Act. 

9 (3) Nothing in this Act may be construed to 

10 prevent an agency from complying with a legally 

11 valid or enforceable order of a court of competent ju12 risdiction, or, if compliance is compulsory, with a re13 quest or demand from a duly authorized committee 

14 of the United States Senate or House of Representa15 tives. 

Æ 


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