I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7359 
To provide a framework for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 
and the Department of Education to coordinate in providing assistance 
to and serving borrowers seeking to resolve complaints related to their 
private education or Federal student loans, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 14, 2024 
Ms. PORTER (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. SARBANES, and Mrs. HAYES) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Fi-
nancial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide a framework for the Bureau of Consumer Finan-
cial Protection and the Department of Education to co-
ordinate in providing assistance to and serving borrowers 
seeking to resolve complaints related to their private 
education or Federal student loans, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CFPB Student Loan 
Integrity and Transparency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means the 
Bureau or the Department, as applicable, and the 
term ‘‘agencies’’ means both the Bureau and the 
Department. 
(2) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. 
(3) COMPLAINT.—The term ‘‘complaint’’ means 
a comment, inquiry, or request for assistance from 
a student loan borrower. 
(4) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Education. 
(5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Bureau. 
(6) FEDERAL
CONSUMER
FINANCIAL
LAW.— 
The term ‘‘Federal consumer financial law’’ has the 
meaning given that term under section 1002 of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 
U.S.C. 5481). 
(7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
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meaning given that term under section 102 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 
(8) 
NONPUBLIC
INFORMATION.—The 
term 
‘‘nonpublic information’’ means— 
(A) confidential information, as such term 
is defined under section 1070.2 of title 12, 
Code of Federal Regulations; 
(B) any information collected by the De-
partment from persons engaged in student fi-
nancial services activities pursuant to the De-
partment’s oversight and other authorities that 
is not publicly available; and 
(C) the name, address, or other personally 
identifiable information relating to any con-
sumer, including any information so designated 
by a provider of information. 
(9) PRIVATE
EDUCATION
LOAN.—The term 
‘‘private education loan’’ has the meaning given that 
term under section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)). 
(10) PROVIDER.—With respect to information 
shared between the agencies, the term ‘‘provider’’ 
means the agency providing the information to the 
other agency. 
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(11) RECEIVER.—With respect to information 
shared between the agencies, the term ‘‘receiver’’ 
means the agency receiving the information from the 
other agency. 
(12) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Education. 
(13) STUDENT
FINANCIAL
SERVICES.—The 
term ‘‘student financial services’’ means consumer 
financial products or services (as defined under sec-
tion 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 
of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481)) that are related to stu-
dents of institutions of higher education, including 
student loan origination and student loan servicing. 
(14) TITLE
IV
LOANS.—The term ‘‘title IV 
loans’’ means loans made, insured, or guaranteed 
under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
SEC. 3. COOPERATION BETWEEN THE BUREAU AND THE 
DEPARTMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director and the Secretary 
shall— 
(1) establish points of contact between the Bu-
reau and the Department with respect to Bureau su-
pervision and Department oversight matters that are 
of common jurisdiction to both the Bureau and the 
Department; 
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(2) share with each other the Bureau’s schedule 
of examinations and the Department’s schedule of 
reviews of persons engaged in offering or providing 
student financial services that are subject to the Bu-
reau’s supervisory authority and the Department’s 
oversight authority; 
(3) coordinate the Bureau’s supervision activi-
ties and the Department’s oversight activities to pro-
mote the efficient use of resources; 
(4) meet at least quarterly to discuss observa-
tions about the nature of complaints received by the 
Bureau and the Department, characteristics of bor-
rowers, and available information about resolution of 
complaints, as well as analysis and recommenda-
tions; and 
(5) work to ensure the Bureau and the Depart-
ment understand the respective reporting categories 
and definitions of each agency and how such cat-
egories and definition relate to each other for com-
parison. 
(b) SHARING OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) BUREAU ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT DATA-
BASES.—For the purpose of the Bureau’s congres-
sional reporting, research, market analysis, com-
plaint resolution, enforcement, supervision, financial 
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education, engagement, and rulemaking needs, the 
Secretary shall work with the Bureau to provide the 
Bureau with access to Department databases, as ap-
plicable. 
(2) CONSUMER COMPLAINTS.— 
(A) BUREAU
ACCESS
TO
DEPARTMENT 
CONSUMER
COMPLAINTS.—The Director may 
request and obtain information from the Sec-
retary concerning consumer complaints and 
other information pertaining to specific entities 
or classes of entities that are relevant to the ex-
ercise of the Bureau’s supervisory, enforcement, 
or regulatory functions. 
(B) SHARING
OF
STUDENT
LOAN
BOR-
ROWER COMPLAINTS.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director and 
the Secretary shall transfer each complaint 
received by their agency from student loan 
borrowers to the other agency. 
(ii) DEADLINE FOR SHARING CERTAIN 
COMPLAINTS.—With respect to a complaint 
received by the Bureau related to the origi-
nation, disbursement, or servicing of a title 
IV loan or a complaint received by the De-
partment related to a private education 
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loan, the applicable agency shall direct the 
complaint to the other agency within 10 
days of receipt of the complaint. 
(C) ADDRESSING
COMPLAINTS
RELATED 
TO DEFAULTED TITLE IV LOANS.—The Director 
and the Secretary shall establish an efficient 
collaborative process to address complaints re-
ceived by the Bureau about private collection 
agency actions related to defaulted title IV 
loans. 
(D) STANDARDS
FOR
THE
FORMAT
AND 
SHARING OF COMPLAINT DATA.— 
(i) FORMAT.—In providing complaint 
data described under this paragraph, the 
Director and the Secretary shall provide 
the complaint data in a secure, digital for-
mat. 
(ii) PROCESS.—The Director and the 
Secretary shall establish an efficient, se-
cure, and legally compliant process to pro-
vide complaint data. 
(3) CERTAIN TAX RETURN INFORMATION.—Sec-
tion 6103(l)(13)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(vii) REDISCLOSURE
TO
THE
BU-
REAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTEC-
TION.—Authorized persons may redisclose 
return information received under subpara-
graph (C) to the Director of the Bureau of 
Consumer Financial Protection to the ex-
tent necessary to carry out the oversight 
activities of the Bureau of Consumer Fi-
nancial Protection.’’. 
(4) OTHER INFORMATION.—In addition to the 
information permitted to be shared under this sec-
tion, the Director and the Secretary may share any 
other information with each other as the Director 
and the Secretary determine appropriate. 
(5) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5.—Section 552a(b) 
of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(13) a disclosure between the Secretary of 
Education and the Director of the Bureau of Con-
sumer Financial Protection authorized under the 
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CFPB Student Loan Integrity and Transparency 
Act.’’. 
(6) DATA PRIVACY.— 
(A) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 
The Director and the Secretary shall enter into 
one or more memoranda of understanding to 
address data privacy issues related to informa-
tion shared between the Bureau and the De-
partment pursuant to this Act. 
(B) SAFEGUARDING NONPUBLIC INFORMA-
TION.—The Director and the Secretary shall es-
tablish and maintain such safeguards as are 
necessary and appropriate to protect the con-
fidentiality of any nonpublic information re-
ceived by their agency pursuant to this Act (as 
well as any derived information), including— 
(i) restricting access to the nonpublic 
information to only those of officers, em-
ployees, and contractors who have a need 
for such information to carry out the re-
ceiver’s responsibilities under applicable 
law; 
(ii) informing those persons who are 
provided access to the nonpublic informa-
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tion of their responsibilities under this Act; 
and 
(iii) ensuring that the nonpublic infor-
mation is protected in accordance with the 
standards applicable to Federal agencies 
for protection of the privacy and confiden-
tiality of personally identifiable information 
and for data security and integrity. 
(c) HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS BY THE BUREAU.— 
The Director shall— 
(1) accept complaints related to private edu-
cation loans and the servicing of title IV loans; and 
(2) process such complaints, including, where 
appropriate, providing the complaints to the applica-
ble servicer and providing any response from the 
servicer to the borrower, in accordance with section 
1034 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 
2010 (12 U.S.C. 5534). 
(d) TITLE IV LOAN SERVICER REQUIREMENT.—The 
Secretary may not enter into an agreement with a con-
tractor or vendor for the servicing of title IV loans unless 
the contractor or vendor, as part of that agreement, agrees 
to provide the Bureau, upon request, any information that 
the contractor or vendor is required to provide the Depart-
ment. 
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(e) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AGENCIES BY TYPE 
OF COMPLAINT.— 
(1) COMPLAINTS
REGARDING
THE
TITLE
IV 
LOAN PROGRAMS.—With respect to complaints re-
garding the title IV loan programs, the Department 
is responsible for— 
(A) program issue resolution; 
(B) attempting to resolve such complaints; 
and 
(C) as appropriate, discussing such com-
plaints with the Bureau regarding the impact, 
if any, on Federal consumer financial law. 
(2) COMPLAINTS REGARDING TITLE IV LOANS 
WITH
FEDERAL
CONSUMER
FINANCIAL
LAW 
ISSUES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to com-
plaints regarding title IV loans with Federal 
consumer financial law issues— 
(i) the Department shall collaborate 
with the Bureau; 
(ii) the Bureau is responsible for pro-
viding the Department with expertise, 
analysis, and recommendations regarding 
resolution consistent with Federal con-
sumer financial law; and 
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(iii) the Department is responsible for 
attempting to resolve informally such com-
plaints, 
in 
accordance 
with 
section 
141(f)(3)(A) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(f)(3)(A)), with 
the Bureau’s input. 
(B) INTERAGENCY PROCESS TO DISCUSS, 
TRACK, AND RESOLVE COMPLAINTS.—The Di-
rector and the Secretary shall determine an ef-
ficient process to— 
(i) discuss and track complaints re-
lated to both a title IV loan and a private 
education loan; and 
(ii) collaborate, where possible, to at-
tempt to resolve such complaints, including 
through the use of the ombudsmen estab-
lished under section 1035 of the Consumer 
Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 
U.S.C. 5535) and section 141(f) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1018(f)). 
(3) COMPLAINTS
REGARDING
PRIVATE
EDU-
CATION LOANS WITH FEDERAL CONSUMER FINAN-
CIAL LAW ISSUES.—With respect to complaints re-
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garding private education loans, the Bureau is re-
sponsible for— 
(A) attempting to resolve informally such 
complaints, 
in 
accordance 
with 
section 
1035(c)(1) of the Consumer Financial Protec-
tion Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5535(c)(1)); and 
(B) as appropriate, discussing issues with 
the Department regarding products offered by 
institutions of higher education or to students 
or prospective students, or other issues that 
may impact Federal programs overseen by the 
Department. 
(f) PAYMENT OF COSTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau and the Depart-
ment shall each bear its own costs of complying with 
this Act. 
(2) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT FOR TRANSFER 
OF FUNDS.—If funds are transferred between the 
Bureau and the Department for the provision of 
goods or services authorized by this Act, including 
access to Department databases described under 
subsection (b)(1), such transfer shall be accom-
plished by a separate interagency agreement. 
(g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
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(1) Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
limit the existing authorities of the Bureau or the 
Department. 
(2) Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
prohibit the Bureau or the Department from enter-
ing into memoranda of understanding to establish 
additional policies and procedures related to the re-
quirements of this Act. 
(3) Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
prevent an agency from complying with a legally 
valid or enforceable order of a court of competent ju-
risdiction, or, if compliance is compulsory, with a re-
quest or demand from a duly authorized committee 
of the United States Senate or House of Representa-
tives. 
Æ 
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