Earlier this week, Judge Randolph D. Moss of the D.C. federal district court heard oral argument on the renewed motion for a preliminary injunction filed by the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) seeking to preliminary enjoin the arbitration ban and class action waiver provisions in the “borrower defense” final rule (Final Rule) issued
education
Dept. of Education proposal allows use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements by schools receiving Title IV aid for student borrowers
The Department of Education has issued a proposal that would rescind the “Borrower Defense” final rule issued by the ED in November 2016 and replace it with the “Institutional Accountability regulations” contained in the proposal. Among the major changes to the final rule that would be made by the proposal is the removal of the…
New Jersey Attorney General seeks active role in ED investigations
The New Jersey Attorney General, Gurbir Grewal, has sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Betsy Devos in which the NJ AG invites the ED to work with his office “to ensure that any investigations of fraudulent activities by educational institutions are completed properly, rather than ended prematurely or allowed to grow dormant.”
The…
Federal regulators’ Spring 2018 rulemaking agendas: items of interest to consumer financial services providers
In addition to the CFPB’s Spring 2018 rulemaking agenda that we have already blogged about, the Spring 2018 rulemaking agendas of several other federal agencies contain some items of interest to consumer financial services providers.
Items of particular interest are:
- OCC. The OCC plans to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking “for modernizing
…
Another trade group seeks federal preemption guidance from ED
The National Council of Higher Education Resources (NCHER), a national trade association representing higher education finance organizations, has written to the Department of Education urging the ED to issue preemption guidance.
In its letter, NCHER urges the ED “to issue regulatory guidance that clearly states that federal student loan servicers and guaranty agencies are…
Dept. of Education postpones effective date of arbitration ban and other provisions of “borrower defense” rule, announces intent to open negotiated rulemaking; state AGs seek to intervene in CAPPS lawsuit
In a notice published in today’s Federal Register, the Dept. of Education announced that it is postponing “until further notice” the July 1, 2017 effective date of various provisions of the “borrower defense” final rule issued by the ED last November, including the rule’s ban on arbitration agreements. In a second notice also…
Secretary DeVos withdraws Dept. of Education’s policy direction for student loan servicing
In a memorandum issued last week, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos withdrew various memoranda issued by the Obama Administration ED Secretary and the ED’s Financial Student Aid Division (FSA) that provided policy direction for a new federal student loan “state-of-the-art loan servicing ecosystem” to be procured by the ED. The memoranda were intended…
Dept. of Education announces federal student loan policy direction
The Department of Education has released a memorandum to provide policy direction for the new federal student loan “state-of-the-art loan servicing ecosystem” that the ED is currently procuring. According to the memorandum, ED expects the policy direction to guide the development of contract provisions in the new contracts that the ED will enter into with…
Former CFPB student loan ombudsman joins Education Dept.
Politico has reported that Rohit Chopra, the CFPB’s former student loan ombudsman, has joined the Education Department in a senior leadership position focused on protecting student borrowers. Politico also reported that in his new position Mr. Chopra will look at how to judge the financial solvency of colleges, examine state level consumer protections for borrowers,…
CFPB issues third Financial Literacy Annual Report
The CFPB has issued its third Financial Literacy Annual Report to Congress. The report covers the CFPB’s activities to improve consumer financial literacy during the period from June 2014 through September 2015. The report’s Appendix contains a list of the CFPB’s currently available financial education resources, which includes web-based tools, CFPB brochures and other publications,…