116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1153 

AN ACT 

To explicitly make unauthorized access to Department of 

Education information technology systems and the misuse of identification devices issued by the Department 

of Education a criminal act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

†S 1153 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Student Debt 

3 Relief Scams Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 490 of the Higher Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1097) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IN9 FORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS FOR FRAUD, COM10 MERCIAL ADVANTAGE, OR PRIVATE FINANCIAL GAIN.— 

11 Any person who knowingly uses an access device, as de12 fined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, 

13 issued to another person or obtained by fraud or false 

14 statement to access Department information technology 

15 systems for purposes of obtaining commercial advantage 

16 or private financial gain, or in furtherance of any criminal 

17 or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of 

18 the United States or of any State, shall be fined not more 

19 than $20,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or 

20 both.’’. 

21 (b) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue guidance 

22 regarding the use of access devices in a manner that com23 plies with this Act, and the amendments made by this Act. 

24 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF PENALTIES.—Notwith25 standing section 6, the penalties described in section 

26 490(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
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1 1097), as added by subsection (a), shall take effect the 

2 day after the date on which the Secretary issues guidance 

3 regarding the use of access devices, as described in sub4 section (b). 

5 SEC. 3. LOAN COUNSELING. 

6 Section 485(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1092(b)) is amended— 

8 (1) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

9 semicolon; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(x) an explanation that— 

12 ‘‘(I) the borrower may be con13 tacted during the repayment period by 

14 third-party student debt relief compa15 nies; 

16 ‘‘(II) the borrower should use 

17 caution when dealing with those com18 panies; and 

19 ‘‘(III) the services that those 

20 companies typically provide are al21 ready offered to borrowers free of 

22 charge through the Department or the 

23 borrower’s servicer; and’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF IMPROPER ACCESS. 

2 Section 485B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

3 (20 U.S.C. 1092b) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) 

5 as subsections (f) through (i), respectively; 

6 (2) in subsection (d)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 after the semicolon; 

9 (B) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking the 

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(7) preventing access to the data system and 

13 any other system used to administer a program 

14 under this title by any person or entity for the pur15 pose of assisting a student in managing loan repay16 ment or applying for any repayment plan, consolida17 tion loan, or other benefit authorized by this title, 

18 unless such access meets the requirements described 

19 in subsection (e).’’; 

20 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR THIRD-PARTY DATA SYS23 TEM ACCESS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As provided in paragraph 

25 (7) of subsection (d), an authorized person or entity 

26 described in paragraph (2) may access the data sys-
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1 tem and any other system used to administer a pro2 gram under this title if that access— 

3 ‘‘(A) is in compliance with terms of service, 

4 information security standards, and a code of 

5 conduct which shall be established by the Sec6 retary and published in the Federal Register; 

7 ‘‘(B) is obtained using an access device (as 

8 defined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 18, United 

9 States Code) issued by the Secretary to the au10 thorized person or entity; and 

11 ‘‘(C) is obtained without using any access 

12 device (as defined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 

13 18, United States Code) issued by the Secretary 

14 to a student, borrower, or parent. 

15 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED PERSON OR ENTITY.—An 

16 authorized person or entity described in this para17 graph means— 

18 ‘‘(A) a guaranty agency, eligible lender, or 

19 eligible institution, or a third-party organization 

20 acting on behalf of a guaranty agency, eligible 

21 lender, or eligible institution, that is in compli22 ance with applicable Federal law (including reg23 ulations and guidance); or 

24 ‘‘(B) a licensed attorney representing a 

25 student, borrower, or parent, or another indi-
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1 vidual who works for a Federal, State, local, or 

2 Tribal government or agency, or for a nonprofit 

3 organization, providing financial or student loan 

4 repayment counseling to a student, borrower, or 

5 parent, if— 

6 ‘‘(i) that attorney or other individual 

7 has never engaged in unfair, deceptive, or 

8 abusive practices, as determined by the 

9 Secretary; 

10 ‘‘(ii) that attorney or other individual 

11 does not work for an entity that has en12 gaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive prac13 tices (including an entity that is owned or 

14 operated by a person or entity that en15 gaged in such practices), as determined by 

16 the Secretary; 

17 ‘‘(iii) system access is provided only 

18 through a separate point of entry; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) the attorney or other individual 

20 has consent from the relevant student, bor21 rower, or parent to access the system.’’; 

22 and 

23 (4) in subsection (f)(1), as redesignated by 

24 paragraph (1)— 
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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘stu2 dent and parent’’ and inserting ‘‘student, bor3 rower, and parent’’; 

4 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 

5 and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec6 tively; 

7 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) the reduction in improper data sys10 tem access as described in subsection (d)(7);’’; 

11 and 

12 (D) by striking subparagraph (E), as re13 designated by subparagraph (B), and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(E) any protocols, codes of conduct, 

16 terms of service, or information security stand17 ards developed under paragraphs (6) or (7) of 

18 subsection (d) during the preceding fiscal 

19 year.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. AGENCY PREVENTION AND DETECTION. 

21 Section 141(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(C) Taking action to prevent and address 

2 the improper use of access devices, as described 

3 in section 485B(d)(7), including by— 

4 ‘‘(i) detecting common patterns of im5 proper use of any system that processes 

6 payments on Federal Direct Loans or 

7 other Department information technology 

8 systems; 

9 ‘‘(ii) maintaining a reporting system 

10 for contractors involved in the processing 

11 of payments on Federal Direct Loans in 

12 order to allow those contractors to alert 

13 the Secretary of potentially improper use 

14 of Department information technology sys15 tems; 

16 ‘‘(iii) proactively contacting Federal 

17 student loan borrowers whose Federal stu18 dent loan accounts demonstrate a likeli19 hood of improper use in order to warn 

20 those borrowers of suspicious activity or 

21 potential fraud regarding their Federal 

22 student loan accounts; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) providing clear and simple dis24 closures in communications with borrowers 

25 who are applying for or requesting assist-
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1 ance with Federal Direct Loan programs 

2 (including assistance or applications re3 garding income-driven repayment, forbear4 ance, deferment, consolidation, rehabilita5 tion, cancellation, and forgiveness) to en6 sure that borrowers are aware that the De7 partment will never require borrowers to 

8 pay for such assistance or applications.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

11 shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act. 

Passed the Senate December 1, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1153 

AN ACT 

To explicitly make unauthorized access to Departnal act. issued by the Department of Education a crimi- tems and the misuse of identification devices ment of Education information technology sys-