IB 
Union Calendar No. 266 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3621 
[Report No. 116–331] 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to remove adverse information 
for certain defaulted or delinquent private education loan borrowers who 
demonstrate a history of loan repayment, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 5, 2019 
Ms. PRESSLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
DECEMBER 9, 2019 
Additional sponsor: Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ 
DECEMBER 9, 2019 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 5, 2019] 
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A BILL 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to remove adverse 
information for certain defaulted or delinquent private 
education loan borrowers who demonstrate a history of 
loan repayment, and for other purposes. 
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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 Borrower Credit 
Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The October 2014 report of the Bureau of 
Consumer Financial Protection titled ‘‘Annual Re-
port of the CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman’’ noted 
many private education loan borrowers, who sought 
to negotiate a modified repayment plan when they 
were experiencing a period of financial distress, were 
unable to get assistance from their loan holders, which 
often resulting in them defaulting on their loans. This 
pattern resembles the difficulty that a significant 
number of mortgage loan borrowers experienced when 
they sought to take responsible steps to work with 
their mortgage loan servicer to avoid foreclosure dur-
ing the Great Recession. 
(2) Although private student loan holders may 
allow a borrower to postpone payments while enrolled 
in school full-time, many limit this option to a cer-
tain time period, usually 48 to 66 months. This lim-
ited time period may not be sufficient for those who 
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need additional time to obtain their degree or who 
want to continue their education by pursing a grad-
uate or professional degree. The Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection found that borrowers who were 
unable to make payments often defaulted or had their 
accounts sent to collections before they were even able 
to graduate. 
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF ADVERSE INFORMATION FOR CERTAIN 
PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN BORROWERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
605B the following new section: 
‘‘§ 605C. Credit rehabilitation for distressed private 
education loan borrowers. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency may 
not furnish any consumer report containing any adverse 
item of information relating to a delinquent or defaulted 
private education loan of a borrower if the borrower has 
rehabilitated the borrower’s credit with respect to such loan 
by making 9 on-time monthly payments (in accordance 
with the terms and conditions of the borrower’s original 
loan agreement or any other repayment agreement that 
antedates the original agreement) during a period of 10 
consecutive months on such loan after the date on which 
the delinquency or default occurred. 
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‘‘(b) INTERRUPTION OF 10–MONTH PERIOD FOR CER-
TAIN CONSUMERS.— 
‘‘(1) PERMISSIBLE INTERRUPTION OF THE 10- 
MONTH PERIOD.—A borrower may stop making con-
secutive monthly payments and be granted a grace 
period after which the 10-month period described in 
subsection (a) shall resume. Such grace period shall 
be provided under the following circumstances: 
‘‘(A) With respect to a borrower who is a 
member of the Armed Forces entitled to incentive 
pay for the performance of hazardous duty under 
section 301 of title 37, United States Code, haz-
ardous duty pay under section 351 of such title, 
or other assignment or special duty pay under 
section 352 of such title, the grace period shall 
begin on the date on which the borrower begins 
such assignment or duty and end on the date 
that is 6 months after the completion of such as-
signment or duty. 
‘‘(B) With respect to a borrower who resides 
in an area affected by a major disaster or emer-
gency declared under the Robert T. Stafford Dis-
aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the 
grace period shall begin on the date on which the 
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major disaster or emergency was declared and 
end on the date that is 3 months after such date. 
‘‘(2) OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau may allow 
a borrower demonstrating hardship to stop mak-
ing consecutive monthly payments and be grant-
ed a grace period after which the 10-month pe-
riod described in subsection (a) shall resume. 
‘‘(B) BORROWER
DEMONSTRATING
HARD-
SHIP
DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 
‘borrower demonstrating hardship’ means a bor-
rower or a class of borrowers who, as determined 
by the Bureau, is facing or has experienced un-
usual extenuating life circumstances or events 
that result in severe financial or personal bar-
riers such that the borrower or class of borrowers 
does not have the capacity to comply with the re-
quirements of subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) PROCEDURES.—The Bureau shall establish proce-
dures to implement the credit rehabilitation described in 
this section, including— 
‘‘(1) the manner, content, and form for request-
ing credit rehabilitation; 
‘‘(2) the method for validating that the borrower 
is satisfying the requirements of subsection (a); 
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‘‘(3) the manner, content, and form for notifying 
the private educational loan holder of— 
‘‘(A) the borrower’s participation in credit 
rehabilitation under subsection (a); 
‘‘(B) the requirements described in sub-
section (d); and 
‘‘(C) the restrictions described in subsection 
(f); 
‘‘(4) the manner, content, and form for notifying 
a consumer reporting agency of— 
‘‘(A) the borrower’s participation in credit 
rehabilitation under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(B) the requirements described in sub-
section (d); 
‘‘(5) the method for verifying whether a borrower 
qualifies for the grace period described in subsection 
(b); 
‘‘(6) the manner, content, and form of notifying 
a consumer reporting agency and private educational 
loan holder that a borrower was granted a grace pe-
riod. 
‘‘(d) STANDARDIZED REPORTING CODES.—A con-
sumer reporting agency shall develop standardized report-
ing codes for use by any private educational loan holder 
to identify and report a borrower’s status of making and 
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completing 9 on-time monthly payments during a period 
of 10 consecutive months on a delinquent or defaulted pri-
vate education loan, including codes specifying the grace 
period described in subsection (b) and any agreement to 
modify monthly payments. Such codes shall not appear on 
any report provided to a third party, and shall be removed 
from the consumer’s credit report upon the consumer’s com-
pletion of the rehabilitation period under this section. 
‘‘(e) ELIMINATION OF BARRIERS TO CREDIT REHA-
BILITATION.—A consumer report in which a private edu-
cational loan holder furnishes the standardized reporting 
codes described in subsection (d) to a consumer reporting 
agency, or in which a consumer reporting agency includes 
such codes, shall be deemed to comply with the requirements 
for accuracy and completeness under sections 623(a)(1) and 
630. 
‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON CIVIL ACTIONS FOR CONSUMERS 
PURSUING REHABILITATION.—A private educational loan 
holder may not commence or proceed with any civil action 
against a borrower with respect to a delinquent or defaulted 
loan during the period of rehabilitation if the private edu-
cational loan holder has been notified, in accordance with 
the procedures established by the Bureau pursuant to sub-
section (c)— 
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‘‘(1) of such borrower’s intent to participate in 
rehabilitation; 
‘‘(2) that such borrower has satisfied the require-
ments under subsection (a); or 
‘‘(3) that such borrower was granted a grace pe-
riod. 
‘‘(g) IMPACT ON STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR PRIOR 
DEBT.—Payments by a borrower on a private education 
loan that are made during and after a period of rehabilita-
tion under this section shall have no effect on the statute 
of limitations with respect to payments that were due on 
such private education loan before the beginning of the pe-
riod of rehabilitation. 
‘‘(h) PAYMENT PLANS.—If a private educational loan 
holder enters into a payment plan with a borrower on a 
private education loan during a period of rehabilitation, 
such payment plan shall be reasonable and affordable, as 
determined by the Bureau. 
‘‘(i) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION TO SUBSEQUENT DEFAULT OR 
DELINQUENCY.—A borrower who satisfies the require-
ments under subsection (a) shall be eligible for addi-
tional credit rehabilitation described in subsection (a) 
with respect to any subsequent default or delinquency 
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of the borrower on the rehabilitated private education 
loan. 
‘‘(2) INTERRUPTION OF CONSECUTIVE PAYMENT 
PERIOD REQUIREMENT.—The grace period described 
in subsection (b)(1)(A) shall not apply if any regula-
tion promulgated under section 987 of title 10, 
United States Code (commonly known as the Military 
Lending Act), or the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.) allows for a grace period 
or other interruption of the 10-month period described 
in subsection (a) and such grace period or other inter-
ruption is longer than the period described in sub-
section (b)(1)(A) or otherwise provides greater protec-
tion or benefit to the borrower who is a member of the 
Armed Forces.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 623(a)(1) of 
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s-2(a)(1)) 
is amended by striking subparagraph (E). 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table of 
contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 605B the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘605C. Credit rehabilitation for distressed private education loan borrowers.’’. 
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SEC. 4. PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN DEFINITIONS. 
Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(bb) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN DEFINITIONS.—The 
terms ‘private education loan’ and ‘private educational 
lender’ have the meanings given such terms, respectively, 
in section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending Act.’’. 
SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 
Except as otherwise provided, the Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection shall, not later than the end of the 
2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, issue final rules to implement the amendments made 
by this Act. 
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Union Calendar No. 266 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 3621 
[Report No. 116–331] 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to remove 
adverse information for certain defaulted or de-
linquent private education loan borrowers who 
demonstrate a history of loan repayment, and for 
other purposes. 
DECEMBER 9, 2019 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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