II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3745 

To direct the Secretary of Education to provide relief to borrowers of student 

loans for whom the Department of Education found misrepresentation 

by the institution of higher education or a State attorney general has 

asserted a right to borrower defense discharge. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2020 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to provide relief to 

borrowers of student loans for whom the Department 

of Education found misrepresentation by the institution 

of higher education or a State attorney general has asserted a right to borrower defense discharge. 

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 ‘‘Coronavirus Emer5 gency Borrower Defense Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘Coronavirus 

6 E-BD Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY BORROWER DEFENSE. 

2 (a) EMERGENCY BORROWER DEFENSE.—An eligible 

3 borrower, or parent borrower who took out an eligible loan 

4 on behalf of an eligible borrower, shall be entitled to relief 

5 on such loan pursuant to this section. 

6 (b) ELIGIBLE BORROWER; ELIGIBLE LOAN.—In this 

7 section: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible bor10 rower’’ means— 

11 (i) a borrower covered by Department 

12 of Education findings made on or before 

13 the date of enactment of this section 

14 against an institution of higher education 

15 for job placement rate misrepresentation; 

16 (ii) a borrower on whose behalf a 

17 State attorney general has asserted a right 

18 to borrower defense discharge if the asser19 tion was made by the State attorney gen20 eral to the Secretary of Education on or 

21 before the date of enactment of this sec22 tion; or 

23 (iii) a borrower who— 

24 (I) was subject to a misrepresen25 tation made by the institution of high26 er education that the borrower atVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:59 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3745.IS S3745

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1 tended related to guaranteed employ2 ment or transferability of credits 

3 where such misrepresentation was es4 tablished by the Department of Edu5 cation in findings made on or before 

6 the date of enactment of this section; 

7 and 

8 (II) has asserted being subject to 

9 such misrepresentation in a borrower 

10 defense application to the Secretary of 

11 Education. 

12 (B) ELIGIBILITY.—A borrower— 

13 (i) described in clause (i) or (ii) of 

14 subparagraph (A), shall be an eligible bor15 rower whether or not the borrower has ap16 plied for borrower defense and whether or 

17 not the borrower’s claim has been adju18 dicated, if the borrower has not previously 

19 received complete relief on the eligible loan 

20 based on the borrower defense; and 

21 (ii) described in subparagraph (A)(iii), 

22 shall be an eligible borrower whether or 

23 not the borrower’s claim has been adju24 dicated, so long as they have not previously 

25 received complete relief on their Federal 


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1 student loans based on their borrower de2 fense. 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE LOAN.—The term ‘‘eligible loan’’ 

4 means a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 

5 part B or D of title IV of the Higher Education Act 

6 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.; 1087a et seq.). 

7 (c) RELIEF.—With respect to— 

8 (1) an eligible borrower described in clause (i) 

9 or (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(A), or an eligible bor10 rower described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(iii) who ap11 plied for borrower defense prior to the date of enact12 ment of this section, the Secretary of Education 

13 shall— 

14 (A) not later than 30 days after the date 

15 of enactment of this section, discharge the bor16 rower, or parent borrower who took out an eli17 gible loan on behalf of such borrower, of the full 

18 obligation to repay the eligible loan (including 

19 associated interest, costs, and fees that the bor20 rower or parent borrower would otherwise be 

21 obligated to pay); 

22 (B) not later than 45 days after the date 

23 of enactment of this section, reimburse the bor24 rower, or parent borrower who took out an eli25 gible loan on behalf of such borrower, for 


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1 amounts paid toward the loan voluntarily or 

2 through enforced collection; 

3 (C) not later than 60 days after the date 

4 of enactment of this section, report the dis5 charge under this section to all consumer re6 porting agencies to which the Secretary pre7 viously reported the status of the loan, so as to 

8 delete all adverse credit history assigned to the 

9 loan; and 

10 (D) not later than 60 days after the date 

11 of enactment of this section, no longer consider 

12 a borrower, or parent borrower who took out a 

13 loan on behalf of such borrower, who has de14 faulted on a loan discharged under this section 

15 to be in default on the discharged loan; and 

16 (2) an eligible borrower described in subsection 

17 (b)(1)(A)(iii) who did not apply for borrower defense 

18 prior to the date of enactment of this section, the 

19 Secretary of Education shall— 

20 (A) not later than 30 days after the date 

21 such borrower applies for borrower defense, dis22 charge the borrower, or parent borrower who 

23 took out an eligible loan on behalf of such bor24 rower, of the full obligation to repay the eligible 

25 loan (including associated interest, costs, and 


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1 fees that the borrower or parent borrower would 

2 otherwise be obligated to pay); 

3 (B) not later than 45 days after such bor4 rower applies for borrower defense, reimburse 

5 the borrower, or parent borrower who took out 

6 an eligible loan on behalf of such borrower, for 

7 amounts paid toward the loan voluntarily or 

8 through enforced collection; 

9 (C) not later than 60 days after such bor10 rower applies for borrower defense, report the 

11 discharge under this section to all consumer re12 porting agencies to which the Secretary pre13 viously reported the status of the loan, so as to 

14 delete all adverse credit history assigned to the 

15 loan; and 

16 (D) not later than 60 days after such bor17 rower applies for borrower defense, no longer 

18 consider a borrower, or parent borrower who 

19 took out a loan on behalf of such borrower, who 

20 has defaulted on a loan discharged under this 

21 section to be in default on the discharged loan. 

22 (d) NOTIFICATION.—With respect to— 

23 (1) an eligible borrower described in clause (i) 

24 or (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(A), an eligible borrower 

25 described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(iii) who applied for 


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1 borrower defense prior to the date of enactment of 

2 this section, or a parent borrower who took out an 

3 eligible loan on behalf of such an eligible borrower, 

4 the Secretary of Education shall, not later than 20 

5 days after the date of enactment of this section, no6 tify such borrower or parent borrower in writing 

7 of— 

8 (A) the relief to which the borrower is enti9 tled pursuant to subsection (c); 

10 (B) the time in which such relief will be 

11 provided pursuant to subsection (c); 

12 (C) the borrower’s eligibility to receive as13 sistance under title IV of the Higher Education 

14 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) after re15 ceiving relief pursuant to subsection (c); and 

16 (D) any further relief to such borrower or 

17 parent borrower as the Secretary of Education 

18 determines is appropriate; and 

19 (2) an eligible borrower described in subsection 

20 (b)(1)(A)(iii) who did not apply for borrower defense 

21 prior to the date of enactment of this section, or a 

22 parent borrower who took out an eligible loan on be23 half of such an eligible borrower, the Secretary of 

24 Education shall, not later than 20 days after such 


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1 borrower applies for borrower defense, notify such 

2 borrower or parent borrower in writing of— 

3 (A) the relief to which the borrower is enti4 tled pursuant to subsection (c); 

5 (B) the time in which such relief will be 

6 provided pursuant to subsection (c); 

7 (C) the borrower’s eligibility to receive as8 sistance under title IV of the Higher Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) after re10 ceiving relief pursuant to subsection (c); and 

11 (D) any further relief to such borrower or 

12 parent borrower as the Secretary of Education 

13 determines is appropriate. 

14 (e) INSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.—For a dis15 charge granted under this section, the Secretary of Edu16 cation shall, as applicable, initiate an appropriate pro17 ceeding to require the institution of higher education 

18 whose act or omission resulted in the discharge to repay 

19 to the Secretary of Education the amount discharged 

20 whether by offset, claim on a letter of credit, or other pro21 tection provided by the institution of higher education. 

Æ 


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