Senator Durbin Presses Student Loan Servicers On SCRA; Consumer Group Wants More Student Borrower Information

Student Lending SCRA U.S. Senate

On May 14, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to student loan servicers calling on them to voluntarily establish a liaison for servicemembers with student loan accounts to assist those servicemember with obtaining SCRA protections. On May 12, the National Consumer Law Center sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan complaining about the Department of Education’s alleged inadequate responses to NCLC inquiries seeking (i) information and data about why borrowers default and incidence of re-default; (ii) information about the Department’s commission and compensation system for servicers and collectors and performance evaluation metrics; (iii) copies of guidance to servicers and collectors; (iv) information about servicer performance broken down by percentage of loans in various stages of delinquency, percentage of borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment (IDR), retention rates for those enrolled in IDR, re-default rates, and percentage of borrowers in deferments and forbearances; (v) information about collection and servicer complaint systems; and (vi) breakdown of accounts sent to the Department of Treasury for offset, including by type of benefit program and by demographic information including age. The letter also outlines NCLC’s operational concerns, including with regard to loan rehabilitation and affordable repayment, collection agency oversight, and servicing performance metrics.