Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019
Latest action · Dec 22, 2020 Became Public Law No: 116-251.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedApr 11, 2019
- Passed SenateDec 1, 2020
- Passed HouseDec 7, 2020
- To the PresidentDec 11, 2020
- Became lawDec 22, 2020
Summary
Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019
This bill establishes criminal penalties for unauthorized access of certain student loan information and expands the requirements for student loan exit counseling.
Specifically, the bill makes it a crime to knowingly use an access device (e.g., account number) that was issued to another person or was fraudulently obtained to access Department of Education (ED) information technology systems for commercial advantage or private financial gain. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.
Further, the bill expands loan exit counseling requirements to require an institution of higher education that participates in federal student-aid programs to provide an explanation to borrowers cautioning them about third-party student debt relief companies.
It also requires ED to prevent unauthorized access to the central database for student aid (i.e., the National Student Loan Data System) and warn borrowers of suspicious activity regarding their student loan accounts.
Cosponsors 8
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 11, 2019 to Nov 18, 2020, with 3 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NE | Deb Fischer | Original | Apr 11, 2019 |
| D-NH | Jeanne Shaheen | Original | Apr 11, 2019 |
| R-IN | Mike Braun | Original | Apr 11, 2019 |
| R-TN | Lamar Alexander | Dec 9, 2019 | |
| R-NC | Richard Burr | Dec 18, 2019 | |
| D-NH | Margaret Wood Hassan | Jan 6, 2020 | |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Jun 15, 2020 | |
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Nov 18, 2020 |
Actions 18
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 22, 2020Became Public Law No: 116-251.
- Dec 22, 2020Signed by President.
- Dec 11, 2020Presented to President.
- Dec 7, 2020Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H6880-6883)
- Dec 7, 2020DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 1153.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2888 | Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019 | Identical bill | May 22, 2019 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
- Computer security and identity theft
- Computers and information technology
- Consumer affairs
- Education
- Fraud offenses and financial crimes
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Higher education
- Performance measurement
- Public contracts and procurement
- Student aid and college costs
Text 3
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- —Enrolled Bill
- Dec 1, 2020Engrossed in Senate
- Apr 11, 2019Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.
