AG Coalition Urges Department of Education to Reconsider Termination of MOUs With CFPB

Lending Student Lending State Attorney General Department of Education CFPB

On September 26, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, along with 18 other state attorneys general (state AGs) and the Executive Director of the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection, issued a letter to U.S. Department of Education (Department) Secretary Betsy DeVos in reaction to the Department’s August 31 letter to the CFPB, which terminated two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) that previously permitted the sharing of information in connection with the oversight of federal student loans. (See previous InfoBytes coverage regarding the MOUs here.) The letter to Secretary DeVos urges the Department to reconsider the termination of the MOUs and offers support for the work the CFPB has done—often in partnership with the Department and state AGs—to protect the millions of students and families that are repaying student loans. The State AGs contend the Department “falsely asserted it has exclusive jurisdiction over companies that service federal student loans when, in fact, student loan servicers are under the jurisdiction of the CFPB, [FTC], [DOJ], [state AGs] and other law enforcement agencies.” The state AGs further claim that the termination of the MOUs removes “critical protections” that were in place to “streamline the supervision of student loan servicers” and assist borrowers trying to resolve complaints related to their student loans. The letter cites several actions initiated by state AGs against the Department for allegedly abandoning its responsibility to protect student loan borrowers over the past seven months, including the Department’s decision to delay the Borrower Defense Rule and roll back the Borrower Defense and Gainful Employment Rules.