Americans for Financial Reform and 71 consumer, student, and borrower advocacy organizations submitted comment on a Request for Information from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Education and the Treasury Department on their proposed “Payback Playbook.” The Payback Playbook is a proposed one-pager that student loan servicers could send along with student loan bills, that compare the amount a borrower is paying now to what they would pay if they were on an income-driven repayment plan.
The letter praises the CFPB for the proposal, and provides several suggestions for improvement, including that the agencies ensure any personalization they do using income data comes from the government agencies (for accuracy); that the agencies tailor of language for borrowers at imminent risk of default (which would make them ineligible for income-driven repayment plans); and encourage the agencies to ensure language access.