§ 31–101. Definitions.

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term:

(1) "Abusive act or practice" means an act or practice that:

(A) Materially interferes with the ability of a student loan borrower to understand a term or condition of a student education loan or private education loan;

(B) Takes unreasonable advantage of:

(i) A lack of understanding on the part of a student loan borrower of the material risks, costs, or conditions of a student education loan or private education loan;

(ii) The inability of a student loan borrower to protect the interests of the student loan borrower when selecting or using:

(I) A student education loan or private education loan; or

(II) A feature, term, or condition of a student education loan or private education loan; or

(iii) The reasonable reliance by the student loan borrower on a person engaged in servicing a student education loan or private education loan to act in the interests of the borrower; or

(C) Misrepresents the amount, nature, or terms of any fee or payment due or claimed to be due on a student education loan or private education loan, the terms and conditions of the student education loan agreement or private education loan agreement or the student loan borrower's obligations under the student education loan or private education loan.

(1A) “Associate Commissioner for Securities and Banking” means the Associate Commissioner of the Securities and Banking Bureau.

(2) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking, who shall be the chief executive officer of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking.

(2A)(A) "Cosigner" means an individual who is liable for the obligation of a student loan borrower without compensation, regardless of how the individual is designated in the contract or instrument with respect to that obligation, including an obligation under a private education loan extended to consolidate a student loan borrower's pre-existing student loans.

(B) The term includes an individual whose signature is requested as a condition to grant credit or to forbear on collection, but does not include a spouse of a student loan borrower, the signature of whom is needed to perfect the security interest in a loan.

(3) “Department” means the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking.

(4) “Deputy Commissioner” means the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking.

(5) “District of Columbia Banking Code” means the statutory provisions concerning banking and financial institutions codified in Title 26, laws administered by the Commissioner, and rules and regulations promulgated under those statutory provisions and laws.

(6) “Insurance Bureau” means the office overseeing the regulation of insurance, insurers, and health maintenance organizations.

(6A) "Licensee" means the holder of a SLS license.

(6B) "Ombudsman" means the position of Student Loan Ombudsman established within the Department by § 31-106.01.

(6C) "Overpayment" means a payment on a student education loan or private education loan in excess of the monthly amount due from the student loan borrower on a student education loan or private education loan.

(6D) "Partial payment" means a payment on a student education loan account that contains multiple individual loans in an amount less than the amount necessary to satisfy the outstanding payment due on all loans in the student education loan account.

(6E)(A) "Postsecondary education expense" means an expense related to enrollment in or attendance at a postsecondary education institution regardless of whether the debt incurred by a student to pay those expenses is owed to the provider of postsecondary education whose school, program, or facility the student attends.

(B) For the purpose of this paragraph, the term "postsecondary" has the same meaning as that term is defined in § 38-1302(12B).

(6F) "Private education lender" means a person engaged in the business of securing, making, or extending private education loans, or a holder of a private education loan. The term does not include, to the extent preempted by federal law:

(A) A bank or credit union;

(B) A wholly owned subsidiary of a bank or credit union; or

(C) An operating subsidiary of a bank or credit union where each owner of the operating subsidiary is wholly owned by the same bank or credit union.

(6G)(A) "Private education loan" means an extension of credit that is not made, insured, or guaranteed under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. § 1070 et seq.), and is extended to a consumer expressly, in whole or in part, for postsecondary education expenses regardless of whether the loan is provided by the educational institution that the student attends.

(B) The term does not include:

(i) Open-end credit or any loan that is secured by real property or a dwelling; or

(ii) An extension of credit in which the covered educational institution is the creditor if the term is 90 days or less or an interest rate will not be applied to the credit balance and the term of the extension of credit is one year or less, even if the credit is payable in more than 4 installments.

(7) “Securities and Banking Bureau” means the office administering the District of Columbia Banking Code and overseeing the regulation of securities.

(8) "Student education loan" means a loan obtained for personal use to finance education or other school-related expenses.

(9) "Student loan borrower" means a resident of the District of Columbia who has received or agreed to pay a student education loan or a private education loan to fund his or her postsecondary education.

(10) "Student loan servicer" means a person or entity, whether located within or outside the District, responsible for the servicing of a student education loan of a student loan borrower.

(11) "Student loan servicing" means the process of collecting payments and interest and performing other administrative tasks associated with maintaining a student education loan. The term "student loan servicing" includes:

(A) Receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a student loan borrower or notification of payments;

(B) Applying payments to the student loan borrower's account pursuant to the terms of the student education loan or contract governing the servicing;

(C) Maintaining account records for the student education loan during a period when no payment is required on the loan; and

(D) Communicating with the student loan borrower regarding the student education loan; and having other interactions to assist a student loan borrower, including activities to help prevent default on obligations arising from a student education loan.

(12) "SLS license" means the business license issued by the Department pursuant to § 31-106.02 that is required for a student loan servicer.

(13) "Total and permanent disability" is the condition of an individual who:

(A) Has been determined by the United State Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be unemployable due to a service-connected disability; or

(B) Is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death, has lasted for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.

(May 21, 1997, D.C. Law 11-268, § 2, 44 DCR 1730; June 11, 2004, D.C. Law 15-166, § 3(a), 51 DCR 2817; Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-354, § 98, 52 DCR 2638; Sept. 24, 2010, D.C. Law 18-223, § 2112(a), 57 DCR 6242; Feb. 18, 2017, D.C. Law 21-214, § 2(a), 63 DCR 15334; Nov. 27, 2024, D.C. Law 25-219, § 2(a), 71 DCR 12314.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 35-121.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 15-166 redesignated par. (1) as paragraph (1B); in the redesignated par. (1B), substituted “Commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking” for “Commissioner of Insurance and Securities”; rewrote par. (1); added par. (1A); and in par. (2), substituted “Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking” for “Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation”. Prior to amendment, par. (1) had read as follows: “(1) ‘Commissioner’ means the Commissioner of Insurance and Securities, who shall be the chief executive officer of the Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation.”

D.C. Law 15-354 validated a previously made technical correction.

D.C. Law 18-223 rewrote the section.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(a) of Consolidation of Financial Services Emergency Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-381, February 27, 2004, 51 DCR 2653).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2112(a) of Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-463, July 2, 2010, 57 DCR 6542).

Short Title

Short title: Section 2111 of D.C. Law 18-223 provided that subtitle K of title II of the act may be cited as the “Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking Reorganization Amendment Act of 2010”.