The CFPB has announced an inquiry into student loan servicing practices. The inquiry includes a formal Request for Information from borrowers, institutions, financial service providers, and others, and call to borrowers to share their stories more informally. Comments on the RIN are due on or before July 13, 2015. Director Cordray, in prepared remarks at the Field Hearing on Student Loans, stated that student loans are “the largest source of consumer debt outside of mortgages.” He added that the CFPB believes that “the problems” that defaulting borrowers “encounter bear an uncanny resemblance to the situation where struggling homeowners reached out to their mortgage servicers before, during, and after the financial crisis.” The key materials, including a formal request for information, are:
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CFPB Launches Public Inquiry Into Student Loan Servicing Practices, CFPB Press Release, 5/14/2015
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Prepared Remarks of CFPB Director Richard Cordray at the Field Hearing on Student Loans, CFPB Press Release, 5/14/2015
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Request for Information Regarding Student Loan Servicing, CFPB, 5/14/2015, unpublished notice. Docket No. CFPB-2015-0021
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Live from Milwaukee!, CFPB Blog, 5/14/2015
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Factsheet: Borrower Experiences With Student Debt Stress, CFPB, 5/14/2015
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Tell us about your student debt stress, CFPB Blog, 5/14/2015 (asking borrowers to let the CFPB know if they “have. . . experienced roadblocks on the path to pay off their student debt”).