I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8660 
To strengthen requirements for contracts between the Department of 
Education and Federal student loan servicers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 7, 2024 
Ms. JACOBS (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GOLDMAN of New 
York, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. 
JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. SALINAS, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. ROBERT GAR-
CIA of California, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. FROST, 
Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. CLYBURN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To strengthen requirements for contracts between the De-
partment of Education and Federal student loan 
servicers, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Student Loan 
Servicers Accountability Act of 2024’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL STU-
DENT LOAN SERVICERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part G of title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 494A. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL STU-
DENT LOAN SERVICERS. 
‘‘(a) ENHANCED VETTING.—Before entering into a 
contract or other agreement with a Federal student loan 
servicer for the servicing of Federal student loans, the Sec-
retary shall evaluate the following factors: 
‘‘(1) In the case of a servicer that has pre-
viously serviced Federal student loans, the past per-
formance of the servicer compared to all Federal 
student loan servicers, including— 
‘‘(A) the levels of consumer satisfaction re-
ported with respect to such servicer; and 
‘‘(B) the quality of customer service prac-
tices and the demonstrated ability of the 
servicer to prevent errors and disruptions in 
services in the event a Federal student loan is 
transferred to or from the servicer, as measured 
by— 
‘‘(i) the service level methodology per-
formance metrics and servicer allocation 
metrics issued by the Office of Federal 
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Student Aid of the Department (or any 
successor metrics); and 
‘‘(ii) any other quantitative or quali-
tative factors the Secretary determines ap-
propriate for analysis. 
‘‘(2) In the case of a servicer that has not pre-
viously serviced Federal student loans, the past per-
formance of the servicer compared to other similarly 
situated servicers, including— 
‘‘(A) the levels of consumer satisfaction re-
ported with respect to such servicer; and 
‘‘(B) the quality of customer service prac-
tices and the demonstrated ability of the 
servicer to prevent errors and disruptions in 
services in the event a student loan is trans-
ferred to or from the servicer, as measured by 
any quantitative or qualitative factors the Sec-
retary determines appropriate for analysis. 
‘‘(3) Any penalties or other punitive measures 
previously imposed on the servicer by the Depart-
ment as a result of the servicer’s misconduct, failure 
to adequately support borrowers, or inability to meet 
the terms and conditions of a servicing agreement 
with the Department. 
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‘‘(4) Any legal action previously taken against 
the servicer, including any legal action taken by a 
State. 
‘‘(5) The ability of the servicer to capture nec-
essary data regarding borrowers and the eligible 
Federal student loans held by borrowers in the event 
such loans are transferred to the servicer, including 
the ability of the servicer to gather all information 
related to the repayment history of a borrower and 
relevant consumer demographic data prior to serv-
icing such loans. 
‘‘(6) The ability of the servicer to provide tar-
geted services, including personalized counseling and 
other high-quality services, for borrowers most at 
risk of default and delinquency, including borrowers 
who have previously defaulted. 
‘‘(7) The demonstrated ability of the servicer— 
‘‘(A) to support borrowers from tradition-
ally underrepresented communities by providing 
information through the forms described in sub-
section (f) and through automatic website 
translation, and services in multiple languages 
(including, Spanish, Mandarin, Haitian Creole, 
Arabic, and other languages); and 
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‘‘(B) to provide appropriate access and 
support for borrowers with disabilities. 
‘‘(b) REQUIRED CONTRACT TERMS.—As part of any 
contract or other agreement between the Department and 
a Federal student loan servicer, the servicer shall agree 
to the following terms: 
‘‘(1) The servicer shall place a borrower’s loans 
into an administrative forbearance, during which in-
terest shall not accrue, during any period in which 
the servicer has identified a servicer error but has 
not yet corrected the error. 
‘‘(2) For a borrower who has submitted a cer-
tification of the borrower’s employment status or in-
come for purposes of the public service loan forgive-
ness program under section 455(m) or an income- 
driven repayment plan, respectively, the servicer 
shall provide credit toward loan forgiveness under 
that program or plan for— 
‘‘(A) any period during which the bor-
rower— 
‘‘(i) was in administrative forbearance 
due to a servicer error as described in 
paragraph (1); and 
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‘‘(ii) would have otherwise qualified 
for credit toward forgiveness if not for 
such forbearance; or 
‘‘(B) any other period during which the 
borrower would have qualified for credit toward 
forgiveness if not for a servicer error. 
‘‘(3) The servicer shall provide appropriate rem-
edies to a borrower in the event a servicer error re-
sults in financial harm to the borrower (as deter-
mined by the Secretary), including— 
‘‘(A) refunding overpayments on a loan 
made due to a servicer error; 
‘‘(B) reimbursing a borrower for fees and 
other expenses, such as insufficient funds fees, 
incurred by the borrower as a result of a 
servicer error; and 
‘‘(C) such other remedies as the Secretary 
determines appropriate. 
‘‘(4) The servicer shall ensure that credit re-
porting agencies remove delinquencies or other nega-
tive information from the credit reports of a bor-
rower if the negative credit information was a result 
of an error by the servicer. 
‘‘(5) The servicer shall maintain all records con-
cerning the account of a borrower— 
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‘‘(A) for the period during which the 
servicer services any loan of the borrower; and 
‘‘(B) for a period of not less than 3 years 
after— 
‘‘(i) the loans of a borrower have been 
paid in full, discharged, or assigned to col-
lection; 
‘‘(ii) the account has been transferred 
to another servicer; or 
‘‘(iii) the servicer otherwise ceases the 
servicing of such loans. 
‘‘(6) The servicer shall abide by any decision of 
the Secretary to revoke the contract in accordance 
with subsection (e). 
‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) CONTRACTS
COVERED.—Subsections (a) 
and (b) shall apply with respect to contracts and 
other agreements entered into on or after the date 
that is 90 days after the date of enactment of the 
Student Loan Servicers Accountability Act of 2024. 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL
RULE.—The requirements of 
paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b) shall 
apply to the actions of the Department in directly 
administering the public service loan forgiveness pro-
gram under section 455(m), income-driven repay-
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ment plans, and other forgiveness and repayment 
programs authorized under this Act in the same 
manner as such requirements apply to Federal stu-
dent loan servicers. 
‘‘(d) REVIEW OF LEGACY CONTRACTS.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Student 
Loan Servicers Accountability Act of 2024, the Secretary 
shall conduct a review of all legacy student loan servicing 
contracts to determine whether such contracts, and the 
Federal student loan servicers providing services under 
such contracts, align with the requirements set forth in 
subsections (a) and (b). The Secretary shall use the re-
sults of such review to inform any decision of the Sec-
retary to continue or renew such a contract. 
‘‘(e) REVOCATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
the Secretary may revoke a contract or other agree-
ment between the Department and a Federal stu-
dent loan servicer in the Unified Servicing and Data 
Solution system or a business process operation ven-
dor if the Secretary determines that the servicer or 
vendor knowingly withheld information or made mis-
representations to the Department in connection 
with the vetting process described in subsection (a) 
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or any element of a contract entered into under sub-
section (b). 
‘‘(2) NOTICE.—In the event the Secretary de-
termines that a Federal student loan servicer or ven-
dor described in paragraph (1) withheld information 
or made misrepresentations as described in such 
paragraph, the Secretary shall provide the servicer 
or vendor (as the case may be) with reasonable no-
tice of such determination and an opportunity for a 
hearing before making taking final action to revoke 
the contract or other agreement concerned. 
‘‘(f) INFORMATION IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.—The 
Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget shall ensure that forms and other information 
relating the rights of borrowers under this section are 
made available in multiple languages (including Spanish, 
Mandarin, Haitian Creole, Arabic, and other languages) 
and are accessible to borrowers with disabilities. 
‘‘(g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of the Student Loan Servicers 
Accountability Act of 2024, and on an annual basis there-
after, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that 
evaluates the status of compliance with this section, in-
cluding the compliance of— 
‘‘(1) the Department; 
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‘‘(2) Federal student loan servicers; 
‘‘(3) vendors in the Unified Servicing and Data 
Solution system; and 
‘‘(4) business process operation vendors. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) FEDERAL
STUDENT
LOAN.—The term 
‘Federal student loan’ means a loan made under 
part B, D, or E that is held by the Department. 
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
STUDENT
LOAN
SERVICER.— 
The term ‘Federal student loan servicer’ means any 
individual, State, or private, for-profit or nonprofit 
organization, which enters into, or seeks to enter 
into, a contract with the Secretary to administer, 
through either manual or automated processing, any 
aspect of a Federal student loan program, including 
monitoring, processing, servicing, or collecting loans. 
‘‘(3) LEGACY STUDENT LOAN SERVICING CON-
TRACT.—The term ‘legacy student loan servicing 
contract’ means a contract between the Department 
and a Federal student loan servicer that— 
‘‘(A) was entered into before the date that 
is 90 days after the date of enactment of the 
Student Loan Servicers Accountability Act of 
2024; and 
‘‘(B) was in effect as of such date.’’. 
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(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO PSLF.—Section 
455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(m)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) TREATMENT
OF
CERTAIN
PERIODS
OF 
FORBEARANCE.—Each month during which an eligi-
ble Federal Direct Loan is in an administrative for-
bearance described in section 494A(b)(1) shall be 
treated as a qualifying payment counted for pur-
poses of paragraph (1)(A), regardless of whether the 
borrower made a payment on such loan during such 
period.’’. 
SEC. 3. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY AND REPORT. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall conduct a study— 
(1) to determine how and to what extent the 
transfer of Federal student loans to Federal student 
loan servicers leads to disruptions in repayment or 
servicer errors that affect the credit ratings of bor-
rowers of such loans, which shall include evaluation 
of— 
(A) negative effects resulting from a 
servicer’s failure to maintain accurate, up-to- 
date information on the status of a borrower’s 
account; 
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(B) the root causes of such failures, such 
as errors caused by a lack of compatibility be-
tween the information technology systems of 
different Federal student loans servicers; and 
(C) how such failures impact borrowers, 
such as by presenting borrowers with inaccurate 
account balances, inaccurate or incomplete pay-
ment histories, and miscalculated monthly pay-
ment amounts; 
(2) to develop, in consultation with the Director 
of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 
recommendations to assist the Department of Edu-
cation in mitigating any negative effects of such 
transfers on the credit ratings of borrowers; 
(3) to determine how and to what extent serv-
icing errors, servicer noncompliance with State or 
Federal requirements, or servicer failure to provide 
timely and accurate information to borrowers nega-
tively impacts the credit scores of borrowers or oth-
erwise results in harm to borrowers; 
(4) to assess the effectiveness of the processes 
used by servicers to receive and respond to consumer 
complaints, including— 
(A) servicer requirements regarding how 
complaints can be filed; and 
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(B) servicer processes for tracking, inves-
tigating, resolving, and addressing the root 
causes of consumer complaints, including com-
plaints submitted through the websites and 
feedback systems of the Department of Edu-
cation; and 
(5) to determine how the Unified Servicing and 
Data Solution will effectively address errors and 
other issues arising from the transfer of Federal stu-
dent loans to and from different servicers. 
(b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 
than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the results of the 
study conducted under subsection (a). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce of the House of Representatives. 
(2) FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN; FEDERAL STU-
DENT LOAN SERVICER.—The terms ‘‘Federal stu-
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dent loan’’ and ‘‘Federal student loan servicer’’ have 
the meanings given those terms in section 494A of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as added by sec-
tion 2 of this Act). 
Æ 
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