Student Loan Servicers’ Fight over Federal Preemption of State Regulation of May End Up in the Supreme Court – JD Supra
In courts across the country, servicers are facing off against states and borrowers over the extent to which federal laws preempt state regulation of federal student loan servicers. Numerous states have stepped up their enforcement activity against student loan servicers and begun enacting new laws aimed at regulating student loan servicing, partially in response to what the states view as a slowdown in federal oversight. Some servicers of federal student loans, pushing back against the state regulations, have argued that the state laws impermissibly conflict with the federal student lending laws.
The dispute largely centers on the Higher Education Act (HEA), which servicers argue preempts all state regulation of federal student loan servicers. Because the HEA and its implementing regulations govern the procedures and standards that servicers must follow when servicing federal student loans, servicers have argued that the HEA preempts all state laws that potentially conflict with the HEA, such as state disclosure and licensing laws. States and borrowers disagree that the HEA completely preempts the state regulation, instead contending that the HEA was never intended to completely preempt state laws and leaves room for states to regulate many aspects of student loan servicing.