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Coloradans issued over 1000 complaints against loan services in 2017
(Apr. 11) — The House Education committee approved a bill sponsored by Rep. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, and Rep. Dominique Jackson, D-Aurora, that would help prevent fraud and misconduct, and improve transparency on student loan servicers.
“In passing this bill we can ensure borrowers are not steered away from the best borrowing option for them and are not the victims of deception,” said Rep. Roberts. “This is one of the most pressing issues for my generation and people my age are growing frustrated with the inaction of their elected leaders on this issue. Student debt in Colorado has ballooned from $19 billion to over $27 billion in just three years – we can no longer wait to act. This is a crucial step that we can take for generations and generations to come and help borrowers repay their loans as quickly as possible.”
This bill would include student loan servicers in the Uniform Consumer Credit Code to establish licensing requirements for these service providers. It also empowers the Colorado Attorney General’s office to field, review, and attempt to resolve any complaints by borrowers against service providers.
“I put myself through undergraduate school and a very expensive graduate program. I took out a lot of student loans,” said Rep. Jackson told the committee. “It’s not just my colleagues’ generation, it’s mine too. I don’t get to retire because I have this debt and I feel like I will die with this student loan debt.”
In 2017, Coloradans issue over 1000 complaints against loan service providers. That is a 78 percent increase compared to previous years, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
SB19-002 passed the committee on a vote of 8-5 with every House Republican voting to leave student loan borrowers unprotected from fraud and misconduct.
The bill now heads to the House Finance committee. The Senate approved the bill on a vote of 27-8 in March. The Senate sponsors are Sen. Faith Winter and Sen. Steve Fenberg.