II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 995 

To amend the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 to make technical 

corrections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2021 

Ms. BALDWIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 

to make technical corrections. 

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 ‘‘Stop Student Debt 

5 Relief Scams Technical Corrections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GUIDANCE ON CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

7 The Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 

8 (Public Law 116–251) is amended in section 2(b) by strik9 ing ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later than July 

10 1, 2021, the Secretary’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR THIRD-PARTY DATA SYSTEM 

2 ACCESS. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (e) of section 485B 

4 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as added by section 

5 4(3) of the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 

6 (Public Law 116–251), is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

8 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, at the discretion 

9 of the Secretary,’’ after ‘‘may’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

12 (A), by striking ‘‘means—’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘means either of the following:’’; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘a guaranty agency’’ 

16 the first place such term appears and in17 serting ‘‘A guaranty agency’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a 

19 period; and 

20 (C) by striking subparagraph (B) and in21 serting the following: 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) An attorney, government, agency, 

23 or organization described in any of subclauses 

24 (I) through (IV) of clause (ii), who or that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) is providing financial or student 

2 loan repayment services or counseling to a 

3 student, borrower, or parent; 

4 ‘‘(II) has not engaged in unfair, de5 ceptive, or abusive practices (including an 

6 entity that is owned or operated by a per7 son or entity that engaged in such prac8 tices), as determined by the Secretary; 

9 ‘‘(III) accesses the system only 

10 through a separate point of entry; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) has consent from the relevant 

12 student, borrower, or parent to access the 

13 system. 

14 ‘‘(ii)(I) A licensed attorney representing a 

15 student, borrower, or parent. 

16 ‘‘(II) A Federal, State, local, or Tribal gov17 ernment or agency. 

18 ‘‘(III) A nonprofit organization. 

19 ‘‘(IV) A for-profit organization— 

20 ‘‘(aa) authorized as a public benefit 

21 corporation to provide a public benefit of 

22 objective and accurate financial or student 

23 loan repayment services or counseling; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) that is approved by the Sec2 retary in accordance with paragraphs (3) 

3 and (4); and 

4 ‘‘(cc) that does not charge the stu5 dent, borrower, or parent a fee or any 

6 other monetary charge for financial or stu7 dent loan repayment services or counseling 

8 or any other services at any point.’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(3) DISCRETION TO APPROVE APPLICA11 TIONS.—Approval of applications from authorized 

12 persons or entities for third-party data access shall 

13 be at the discretion of the Secretary after consider14 ation of such applications as the Secretary may pre15 scribe. Authorized access shall be for periods as the 

16 Secretary may determine and may be terminated at 

17 the discretion of the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION FOR FOR-PROFIT ORGANI19 ZATION APPROVAL TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM.—In 

20 considering applications for approval for third-party 

21 data system access in accordance with this sub22 section by a for-profit organization described in 

23 paragraph (2)(B)(ii)(IV), the Secretary shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) consider how the no fee service or 

25 counseling to the student, borrower, or parent 


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1 is funded and determine whether the organiza2 tion provides financial or student loan repay3 ment services or counseling in the best interest 

4 of students, borrowers, or parents, in consulta5 tion with the Private Education Loan Ombuds6 man of the Consumer Financial Protection Bu7 reau (designated pursuant to section 1035 of 

8 the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 

9 Act (12 U.S.C. 5535)); and 

10 ‘‘(B) respond in writing, which may in11 clude electronic communication, to such organi12 zation regarding such application not later than 

13 180 days after the date of submission of the ap14 plication.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made in 

16 this section shall take effect as if included in the Stop Stu17 dent Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 (Public Law 116– 

18 251) and in accordance with section 6 of such Act. 

Æ 


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