I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3662 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure that student borrowers 
are provided relief from their student loans in the instance of substantial 
misrepresentation or omission by an institution of higher education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 10, 2019 
Mrs. MCBATH (for herself, Ms. FINKENAUER, Ms. PORTER, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. 
DAVIDS of Kansas, and Ms. SCANLON) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure 
that student borrowers are provided relief from their 
student loans in the instance of substantial misrepresen-
tation or omission by an institution of higher education. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Relief for Defrauded 
Students Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BOR-
ROWER DEFENSES. 
Section 455(h) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087e(h)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(h) BORROWER DEFENSES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of State or Federal law, a defense to re-
payment of a loan under this part shall include— 
‘‘(A) a substantial misrepresentation under 
by an institution of higher education described 
in section 487(c)(3); 
‘‘(B) an act or omission of an institution 
of higher education that would give rise to a 
cause of action against such institution of high-
er education under applicable State law; or 
‘‘(C) any other act or omission by an insti-
tution of higher education that the Secretary 
specifies in the regulations under paragraph 
(3). 
‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, 
for each borrower who submits to the Secretary 
an application asserting a defense to repayment 
of a loan made under this part— 
‘‘(i) provide an expeditious and fair 
process to consider such application (with-
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out regard to whether the application is 
submitted by an individual borrower, a 
group of borrowers, or a representative of 
such individual or group); and 
‘‘(ii) determine the entitlement of the 
borrower to relief based on all evidence 
available to the Department. 
‘‘(B) INDEPENDENT DETERMINATION.—A 
determination under subparagraph (A)(ii) with 
respect to a borrower shall be independent of 
any action that the Department may take under 
this Act to recover funds from an institution of 
higher education for an act or omission related 
to such determination. 
‘‘(C) CANCELLATION OF DEBT.—In a case 
in which the Secretary determines under sub-
paragraph (A)(ii) that the borrower is entitled 
to relief, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) cancel any outstanding balance of 
principal and interest due on each loan 
made under this part that the borrower re-
ceived for enrollment at the institution of 
higher education against which the bor-
rower is asserting the defense to repay-
ment; and 
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‘‘(ii) return to the borrower the 
amount of any payments made on such 
loans. 
‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall speci-
fy in regulations which acts or omissions of an insti-
tution of higher education a borrower may assert as 
a defense to repayment of a loan made under this 
part, except that in no event may a borrower recover 
from the Secretary, in any action arising from or re-
lating to a loan made under this part, an amount in 
excess of the amount such borrower has repaid on 
such loan.’’. 
Æ 
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