Equity in Student Loan Relief Act

Equity in Student Loan Relief Act

This bill establishes a temporary program to suspend payments and interest through September 30, 2020, on Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs) that are not held by the Department of Education (ED). (Currently, payments and interest are suspended through this period on certain Federal Direct Loans and FFELs held by ED.)

Specifically, ED must (1) enter into agreements with eligible lenders and guaranty agencies to reduce the interest rate to 0% on FFELs, and (2) make monthly payments to lenders and guaranty agencies to offset the cost of the reduced interest rate.

A lender or guaranty agency that enters into an agreement with ED must (1) temporarily waive interest and suspend all payments due from borrowers through September 30, 2020; (2) suspend all involuntary collections; (3) notify borrowers, within 15 days, that their loan payments have been suspended and interest has been waived; and (4) carry out a program, beginning on August 1, 2020, to provide not fewer than six notices to borrowers that normal payment obligations will resume.

Additionally, ED must deem each month for which a loan payment was suspended as if the borrower of the loan had made a payment for the purpose of any authorized loan forgiveness program or loan rehabilitation program.

Finally, ED must ensure that any suspended payment on such a loan is treated as a regularly scheduled payment made by a borrower for the purpose of reporting information about the loan to a consumer reporting agency.