A license issued pursuant to this Article expires at the close of business on September 30th of the odd-numbered year following its issuance, unless renewed or earlier surrendered, suspended or revoked pursuant to this Article. Licensing of student loan servicersĪ person may not act as a student loan servicer, directly or indirectly, without first obtaining a license from the superintendent pursuant to this section, unless that person is exempt from licensure pursuant to subsection 1.Ĥ. For purposes of this section, "exempt organization" means the Finance Authority of Maine and financial institutions exempt from this Article pursuant to section 14-107, subsection 1. Annually, an exempt organization that is involved in the resolution of a complaint pursuant to this section shall report to the ombudsman the number of complaints received and the number of complaints resolved by the exempt organization. Assistance by exempt organization reportĪn exempt organization that is requested by the student loan ombudsman to provide assistance pursuant to section 14-104, subsection 8 shall provide, in a timely manner, the information requested by the ombudsman necessary to investigate and resolve a student loan borrower complaint, including the steps taken by the exempt organization to resolve the complaint, or, on its own, shall resolve, in a timely manner, the complaint and provide the ombudsman with documentation regarding the resolution. Recommendations regarding additional steps for the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation to gain regulatory control over licensing and enforcement with respect to student loan servicers. It also states that “No licensing entity shall refuse to issue nor suspend or revoke a license to an applicant or licensee who is a borrower in default who is not in satisfactory repayment status.3. The bill is quite straightforward: it repeals wholesale large sections of Georgia law that allow for the suspension or denial of licenses for those in default, and adds explicit protections for borrowers in default by adding a simple “not” to previous law that said failure to repay shall be sufficient grounds for denying, suspending, or revoking an occupational license. To amend various titles of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated so as to prohibit professional licensing boards from refusing to issue a license or suspending or revoking the license of a person who is a borrower in default under an educational loan issued through the Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation or through a federal agency to provide for related matters to repeal conflicting laws and for other purposes. Thankfully, a just-introduced bill in Georgia (HB 42) would repeal this regressive regulation in the Peach State: We’ve written about this previously, but it’s worth reiterating how nonsensical these laws are: if someone is in default, the last thing you should do is make it harder for them to repay their loans. Fifteen states across the country have laws that allow for the denial or revocation of an occupational license for individuals who have defaulted on their student loans.
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