Students and Young Consumers Empowerment Act
Bill: H.R.5322 | Sponsor: Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne (D-OR)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Students and Young Consumers Empowerment Act
This bill establishes the Office for Students and Young Consumers within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and eliminates the position of Private Education Loan Ombudsman. (Currently, the Private Education Loan Ombudsman provides assistance to borrowers of private education loans.)
The Office for Students and Young Consumers must provide assistance to borrowers of private or federal student loans and enter into an information-sharing agreement with the Department of Education. The office must also report annually regarding campus banking and the student loan marketplace.

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to establish the 
 position of the Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower Advocate 
of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, to establish the Office 
for Students and Young Consumers of the Bureau, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Students and Young Consumers 
Empowerment Act''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND STUDENT LOAN BORROWER ADVOCATE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1035 of the Consumer Financial Protection 
Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5535) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1035. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND STUDENT LOAN BORROWER ADVOCATE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established the position of 
Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower Advocate, who shall be 
appointed by the Director.
    ``(b) Duties.--The Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower 
Advocate shall--
            ``(1) serve as the head of the Office for Students and 
        Young Consumers established under subsection (e);
            ``(2) not later than the end of the 60-day period beginning 
        on the date of enactment of this section, enter into a 
        memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Education, 
        the Chief Operating Officer appointed under section 141(d) of 
        the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(d)), and the 
        Student Loan Ombudsman appointed under section 141(f) of the 
        Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(f)) that--
                    ``(A) ensures coordination in providing assistance 
                to and serving borrowers seeking to resolve complaints 
                related to their private education or Federal student 
                loans; and
                    ``(B) authorizes the Bureau to access all relevant 
                Department of Education information systems, records, 
                and data, including any relevant information systems, 
                records, or data maintained by contractors of the 
                Department of Education;
            ``(3) accept and attempt to resolve complaints from 
        borrowers with both private education loans and Federal student 
        loans, including complaints against lenders, servicers, and 
        debt collectors; and
            ``(4) carry out such other duties as the Director may 
        determine appropriate.
    ``(c) Notification to Congress.--The Director shall provide written 
notice and an explanation to the appropriate congressional committees, 
if--
            ``(1) the position of the Assistant Director and Student 
        Loan Borrower Advocate has been vacant for a period of 60 days 
        or more; or
            ``(2) the memorandum of understanding required under 
        subsection (b)(2) has lapsed for a period of 60 days or more.
    ``(d) Reports.--
            ``(1) Annual report on the student loan marketplace.--The 
        Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower Advocate shall--
                    ``(A) compile and analyze complaints from borrowers 
                with Federal student loans or private education loans;
                    ``(B) not less than once per year, submit a report 
                to Congress summarizing the activities of the Assistant 
                Director and Student Loan Borrower Advocate in the 
                previous year and including an independent evaluation 
                of risks to consumers posed by policies and practices 
                in the student loan marketplace; and
                    ``(C) as part of each report submitted in 
                accordance with subparagraph (B), and any other time 
                deemed prudent by the Student Loan Borrower Advocate, 
                make recommendations to the Director, the Secretary of 
                the Treasury, the Secretary of Education, and the 
                appropriate congressional committees to address risk to 
                student loan borrowers and strengthen the student loan 
                marketplace.
            ``(2) Annual report on campus banking.--Not less than once 
        per year, the Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower 
        Advocate shall issue a report to the appropriate congressional 
        committees analyzing the use of consumer financial products and 
        services by students enrolled at institutions of higher 
        education, including an evaluation of contracts and other 
        financial arrangements between institutions of higher education 
        and providers of consumer financial products and services, 
        including an evaluation of revenue sharing provisions, 
        marketing provisions, and fees assessed to students who use 
        such products and services.
            ``(3) Report on risks to young consumers.--Not less than 
        once per year, the Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower 
        Advocate shall issue a report to the appropriate congressional 
        committees containing an analysis of complaints submitted to 
        the Bureau by young consumers during the previous year and 
        offering an independent evaluation of risks to consumers posed 
        by policies and practices in the marketplace for consumer 
        financial products and services.
    ``(e) Office for Students and Young Consumers.--There is 
established an Office for Students and Young Consumers, which shall be 
responsible for developing and implementing initiatives for students, 
young consumers, and their families intended to--
            ``(1) educate and empower students, young consumers, and 
        their families to make better informed decisions regarding 
        consumer financial products and services; and
            ``(2) coordinate efforts among Federal and State agencies, 
        as appropriate, regarding consumer protection measures relating 
        to consumer financial products and services offered to, or used 
        by, students, young consumers, and their families.
    ``(f) Collection of Information; Market Monitoring.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out this section, the 
        Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower Advocate shall 
        have the authority to gather information from time to time 
        regarding the organization, business conduct, markets, and 
        activities of covered persons and service providers.
            ``(2) Sources of information.--In gathering information 
        described under paragraph (1), the Assistant Director and 
        Student Loan Borrower Advocate may gather and compile 
        information from a variety of sources, including examination 
        reports concerning covered persons or service providers, 
        consumer complaints, voluntary surveys and voluntary interviews 
        of consumers, surveys and interviews with covered persons and 
        service providers, and review of available databases.
            ``(3) Authority to require reports and other information.--
        The Director shall, upon the recommendation of the Assistant 
        Director and Student Loan Borrower Advocate, require covered 
        persons and service providers participating in consumer 
        financial services markets to file with the Bureau, under oath 
        or otherwise, in such form and within such reasonable period of 
        time as the Bureau may prescribe by rule or order, annual or 
        special reports, answers in writing to specific questions, or 
        other information described under section 1022(c)(4).
            ``(4) Limitation.--The Bureau may not use its authorities 
        under this subsection to obtain records from covered persons 
        and service providers participating in consumer financial 
        services markets for purposes of gathering or analyzing the 
        personally identifiable financial information of consumers.
    ``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        `appropriate congressional committees' means the Committees on 
        Education and Labor and Financial Services of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
        Senate.
            ``(2) Truth in lending act terms.--The terms `private 
        education loan' and `institution of higher education' have the 
        meanings given those terms, respectively, under section 140 of 
        the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents under section 1(b) 
of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is 
amended, in the item relating to section 1035, by striking ``Private 
Education Loan Ombudsman'' and inserting ``Assistant Director and 
Student Loan Borrower Advocate''.

SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

    Part D of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1018 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 144. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND 
              STUDENT LOAN BORROWER ADVOCATE.

    ``Not later than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date 
of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Education, the Chief 
Operating Officer appointed under section 141(d), and the Student Loan 
Ombudsman appointed under section 141(f) shall enter into a memorandum 
of understanding with the Assistant Director and Student Loan Borrower 
Advocate of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection that--
            ``(1) ensures coordination in providing assistance to and 
        serving borrowers seeking to resolve complaints related to 
        their private education loans or loans made, insured, or 
        guaranteed under title IV; and
            ``(2) authorizes the Bureau to access all relevant 
        Department information systems, records, and data, including 
        any relevant information systems, records, or data maintained 
        by contractors of the Department.''.
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