On December 1, 2020, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act. SLSA has supported this bipartisan legislation legislation that will enhance efforts to identify and shut down student debt relief scams.
The Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act will:
- Clarify that it is a federal crime to access certain federal student loan information for fraud and impose fines on scammers for violations of the law;
- Direct the U.S. Department of Education to create a new form of third-party access in order to protect legitimate organizations that offer real and valuable help to borrowers;
- Require the U.S. Department of Education to track potential or known debt relief scams; and
- Require loan exit counseling to warn federal loan borrowers about debt relief scams.
“This bill represents a meaningful step forward to help protect student loan borrowers from predatory behavior by these so-called debt relief firms, and during these polarized times it is impressive to see these Senators and their colleagues work together across the aisle to pass such an important piece of legislation,” said Scott Buchanan, Executive Director of SLSA.
