,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #ddha  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,june #e1      
#bjbd,mr4 ,wyden 7for himself1 ,ms4     
,klobuchar1 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 and ,mr4 
,padilla7 introduced the following bill2
 which was read twice and referred to   
the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1  
,labor1 and ,pensions  ,a ,,bill  ,to   
strengthen requirements for contracts   
between the ,department of ,education   
and ,federal student loan servicers1 and
 for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title  
,this ,act may be cited as the ,student 
,loan ,servicers ,accountability ,act of
 #bjbd4  #b4 ,contract requirements for 
,federal student loan servicers  7a7 ,in
 general ,part ,g of title ,,iv of the  
,higher ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj   
,u4,s4,c4 #ajhh et seq47 is amended by  
adding at the end the following3        
#did;,a4 ,contract requirements for     
,federal student loan servicers  7a7    
,enhanced vetting ,before entering into 
a contract or other agreement with a    

,federal student loan servicer for the  
servicing of ,federal student loans1 the
 ,secretary shall evaluate the following
 factors3 7#a7 ,in the case of a        
servicer that has previously serviced   
,federal student loans1 the past        
performance of the servicer compared to 
all ,federal student loan servicers1    
including-- 7,a7 the levels of consumer 
satisfaction reported with respect to   
such servicer2 and  7,b7 the quality of 
customer service practices 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     
servicer1 as measured by-- 7i7 the      
service level methodology performance   
metrics and servicer allocation metrics 
issued by the ,office of ,federal       
,student ,aid of the ,department 7or any
 successor metrics72 and  7ii7 any other
 quantitative or qualitative factors the
 ,secretary determines appropriate for  
analysis4  7#b7 ,in the case of a       

servicer that has not previously        
serviced ,federal student loans1 the    
past performance of the servicer        
compared to other similarly situated    
servicers1 including-- 7,a7 the levels  
of consumer satisfaction reported with  
respect to such servicer2 and  7,b7 the 
quality of customer service practices   
and the demonstrated ability of the     
servicer to prevent errors and          
disruptions in services in the event a  
student loan is transferred to or from  
the servicer1 as measured by any        
quantitative or qualitative factors the 
,secretary determines appropriate for   
analysis4  7#c7 ,any penalties or other 
punitive measures previously imposed on 
the servicer by the ,department as a    
result of the servicer's misconduct1    
failure to adequately support borrowers1
 or inability to meet the terms and     
conditions of a servicing agreement with
 the ,department4  7#d7 ,any legal      
action previously taken against the     
servicer1 including any legal action    

taken by a ,state4  7#e7 ,the ability of
 the servicer to capture necessary data 
regarding borrowers and the eligible    
,federal student loans held by borrowers
 in the event such loans are transferred
 to the servicer1 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      
servicing such loans4  7#f7 ,the ability
 of the servicer to provide targeted    
services1 including personalized        
counseling and other high-quality       
services1 for borrowers most at risk of 
default and delinquency1 including      
borrowers who have previously defaulted4
  7#g7 ,the demonstrated ability of the 
servicer-- 7,a7 to support borrowers    
from traditionally underrepresented     
communities by providing information    
through the forms described in          
subsection 7f7 and through automatic    
website translation1 and services in    
multiple languages 7including ,spanish1 

,mandarin1 ,haitian ,creole1 ,arabic1   
and other languages72 and  7,b7 to      
provide appropriate access and support  
for borrowers with disabilities4  7b7   
,required contract terms ,as part of any
 contract or other agreement between the
 ,department and a ,federal student loan
 servicer1 the servicer shall agree to  
the following terms3 7#a7 ,the servicer 
shall place a borrower's loans into an  
administrative forbearance1 during which
 interest shall not accrue1 during any  
period in which the servicer has        
identified a servicer error but has not 
yet corrected the error4  7#b7 ,for a   
borrower who has submitted a            
certification of the borrower's         
employment status or income for purposes
 of the public service loan forgiveness 
program under section #dee7m7 or an     
income-driven repayment plan1           
respectively1 the servicer shall provide
 credit toward loan forgiveness under   
that program or plan for-- 7,a7 any     
period during which the borrower-- 7i7  

was in administrative forbearance due to
 a servicer error as described in       
paragraph 7#a72 and  7ii7 would have    
otherwise qualified for credit toward   
forgiveness if not for such forbearance2
 or  7,b7 any other period during which 
the borrower would have qualified for   
credit toward forgiveness if not for a  
servicer error4  7#c7 ,the servicer     
shall provide appropriate remedies to a 
borrower in the event a servicer error  
results in financial harm to the        
borrower 7as determined by the          
,secretary71 including-- 7,a7 refunding 
overpayments on a loan made due to a    
servicer error2  7,b7 reimbursing a     
borrower for fees and other expenses1   
such as insufficient funds fees1        
incurred by the borrower as a result of 
a servicer error2 and  7,c7 such other  
remedies as the ,secretary determines   
appropriate4  7#d7 ,the servicer shall  
ensure that credit reporting agencies   
remove delinquencies or other negative  
information from the credit reports of a

 borrower if the negative credit        
information was a result of an error by 
the servicer4  7#e7 ,the servicer shall 
maintain all records concerning the     
account of a borrower-- 7,a7 for the    
period during which the servicer        
services any loan of the borrower2 and  
7,b7 for a period of not less than #c   
years after-- 7i7 the loans of a        
borrower have been paid in full1        
discharged1 or assigned to collection2  
7ii7 the account has been transferred to
 another servicer2 or  7iii7 the        
servicer otherwise ceases the servicing 
of such loans4  7#f7 ,the servicer shall
 abide by any decision of the ,secretary
 to revoke the contract in accordance   
with subsection 7e74  7c7 ,applicability
  7#a7 ,contracts covered ,subsections  
7a7 and 7b7 shall apply with respect to 
contracts and other agreements entered  
into on or after the date that is #ij   
days after the date of enactment of the 
,student ,loan ,servicers               
,accountability ,act of #bjbd4  7#b7    

,special rule ,the requirements of      
paragraphs 7#a7 through 7#e7 of         
subsection 7b7 shall apply to the       
actions of the ,department in directly  
administering the public service loan   
forgiveness program under section       
#dee7m71 income-driven repayment plans1 
and other forgiveness and repayment     
programs authorized under this ,act in  
the same manner as such requirements    
apply to ,federal student loan          
servicers4  7d7 ,review of legacy       
contracts ,not later than #ahj days     
after the date of enactment of the      
,student ,loan ,servicers               
,accountability ,act of #bjbd1 the      
,secretary shall conduct a review of all
 legacy student loan servicing contracts
 to determine whether such contracts1   
and the ,federal student loan servicers 
providing services under such contracts1
 align with the requirements set forth  
in subsections 7a7 and 7b74 ,the        
,secretary shall use the results of such
 review to inform any decision of the   

,secretary to continue or renew such a  
contract4  7e7 ,revocation  7#a7 ,in    
general ,subject to paragraph 7#b71 the 
,secretary may revoke a contract or     
other agreement between the ,department 
and a covered servicer or vendor if the 
,secretary determines that the covered  
servicer or vendor knowingly withheld   
information or made misrepresentations  
to the ,department in connection with   
the vetting process described in        
subsection 7a7 or any element of a      
contract entered into under subsection  
7b74  7#b7 ,notice ,in the event the    
,secretary determines that a covered    
servicer or vendor described in         
paragraph 7#a7 withheld information or  
made misrepresentations as described in 
such paragraph1 the ,secretary shall    
provide the covered servicer or vendor  
7as the case may be7 with reasonable    
notice of such determination and an     
opportunity for a hearing before making 
taking final action to revoke the       
contract or other agreement concerned4  

7f7 ,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         
7including ,spanish1 ,mandarin1 ,haitian
 ,creole1 ,arabic1 and other languages7 
and are accessible to borrowers with    
disabilities4  7g7 ,report to ,congress 
,not later than #a year after the date  
of enactment of the ,student ,loan      
,servicers ,accountability ,act of      
#bjbd1 and on an annual basis           
thereafter1 the ,secretary shall submit 
to ,congress a report that evaluates the
 status of compliance with this section1
 including the compliance of-- 7#a7 the 
,department2 and  7#b7 covered servicers
 and vendors4  7h7 ,definitions ,in this
 section3 7#a7 ,covered servicer or     
vendor ,the term covered servicer or    
vendor includes-- 7,a7 a ,federal       
student loan servicer2  7,b7 a vendor in

 the ,unified ,servicing and ,data      
,solution system2  7,c7 a business      
process operation vendor2 and  7,d7 a   
vendor or servicer as designated by the 
,secretary4  7#b7 ,federal student loan 
,the term ,federal student loan means a 
loan made under part ,b1 ,d1 or ,e that 
is held by the ,department4  7#c7       
,federal student loan servicer ,the term
 ,federal student loan servicer means   
any individual1 ,state1 or private1     
for-profit or nonprofit organization1   
which enters into1 or seeks to enter    
into1 a contract with the ,secretary to 
administer1 through either manual or    
automated processing1 any aspect of a   
,federal student loan program1 including
 monitoring1 processing1 servicing1 or  
collecting loans4  7#d7 ,legacy student 
loan servicing contract ,the term legacy
 student loan servicing contract means a
 contract between the ,department and a 
,federal student loan servicer that--   
7,a7 was entered into before the date   
that is #ij days after the date of      

enactment of the ,student ,loan         
,servicers ,accountability ,act of      
#bjbd2 and  7,b7 was in effect as of    
such date4  4  7b7 ,conforming amendment
 to ,,pslf ,section #dee7m7 of the      
,higher ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj   
,u4,s4,c4 #ajhg;e7m77 is amended by     
adding at the end the following3  7#e7  
,treatment of certain periods of        
forbearance ,each month during which an 
eligible ,federal ,direct ,loan is in an
 administrative forbearance described in
 section #did;,a7b77#a7 shall be treated
 as a qualifying payment counted for    
purposes of paragraph 7#a77;,a71        
regardless of whether the borrower made 
a payment on such loan during such      
period4  4  #c4 ,comptroller ,general   
study and report  7a7 ,study ,the       
,comptroller ,general of the ,united    
,states shall conduct a study-- 7#a7 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
 borrowers of such loans1 which shall   
include evaluation of-- 7,a7 negative   
effects resulting from a servicer's     
failure to maintain accurate1 up-to-date
 information on the status of a         
borrower's account2  7,b7 the root      
causes of such failures1 such as errors 
caused by a lack of compatibility       
between the information technology      
systems of different ,federal student   
loans servicers2 and  7,c7 how such     
failures impact borrowers1 such as by   
presenting borrowers with inaccurate    
account balances1 inaccurate or         
incomplete payment histories1 and       
miscalculated monthly payment amounts2  
7#b7 to develop1 in consultation with   
the ,director of the ,bureau of         
,consumer ,financial ,protection1       
recommendations to assist the           
,department of ,education in mitigating 
any negative effects of such transfers  
on the credit ratings of borrowers2     
7#c7 to determine how and to what extent

 servicing errors1 servicer             
noncompliance with ,state or ,federal   
requirements1 or servicer failure to    
provide timely and accurate information 
to borrowers negatively impacts the     
credit scores of borrowers or otherwise 
results in harm to borrowers2  7#d7 to  
assess the effectiveness of the         
processes used by servicers to receive  
and respond to consumer complaints1     
including-- 7,a7 servicer requirements  
regarding how complaints can be filed2  
and  7,b7 servicer processes for        
tracking1 investigating1 resolving1 and 
addressing the root causes of consumer  
complaints1 including complaints        
submitted through the websites and      
feedback systems of the ,department of  
,education2 and  7#e7 to determine how  
the ,unified ,servicing and ,data       
,solution will effectively address      
errors and other issues arising from the
 transfer of ,federal student loans to  
and from different servicers4  7b7      
,comptroller ,general report ,not later 

than two years after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller
 ,general shall submit to the           
appropriate congressional committees a  
report on the results of the study      
conducted under subsection 7a74  7c7    
,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7     
,appropriate congressional committees   
,the term appropriate congressional     
committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee  
on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and     
,pensions of the ,senate2 and  7,b7 the 
,committee on ,education and the        
,workforce of the ,house of             
,representatives4  7#b7 ,federal student
 loan2 federal student loan servicer    
,the terms ,federal student loan and    
,federal student loan servicer have the 
meanings given those terms in section   
#did;,a of the ,higher ,education ,act  
of #aife 7as added by section #b of this
 ,act74