Section 208-620-960 - Servicing student education loans-Requests for information(1) You must make a reasonable attempt to comply with a borrower's request for information about the student education loan account and to respond to any dispute initiated by the borrower about the loan account. A reasonable attempt includes, but is not limited to: (a) Maintaining written or electronic records of each written request for information involving the borrower's account until the student education loan is paid in full, sold, or otherwise satisfied;(b) Providing a written statement to the borrower within fifteen business days of receipt of a written request from the borrower. The borrower's request must include the name and account number, if any, of the borrower, a statement that the account is or may be in error, and sufficient detail regarding the information sought by the borrower to permit the servicer to comply. If you are in compliance with an applicable federal requirement, you are deemed in compliance with this subsection.(2) You must provide, at a minimum, the following information to a borrower's request described in this section:(a) Whether the account is current or, if the account is not current, an explanation of why the account is not current and the date the account became past due;(b) The current balance due on the student education loan, including the principal due, the amount of funds, if any, held in a suspense account, if any, and whether there are any shortages known to the servicer;(c) The identity, address, and other relevant information about the current holder, owner, or assignee of the student education loan; and(d) The telephone number and mailing address of the servicer's business unit where the borrower will reach an individual with the information and authority to answer questions and resolve disputes.(3) You must promptly correct any errors and refund any fees assessed to the borrower resulting from an error you made.(4) If the borrower applies for or attempts to certify progress toward a discharge or refund of amounts paid on their federal student education loans with the United States Department of Education, you must provide explanations to the borrower on any decision made with respect to their application.(5) Unless you are complying with an applicable federal requirement, in addition to the statement described in subsection (2) of this section, a borrower may request more detailed information from a servicer, and the servicer must provide the information within fifteen business days of receipt of a written request from the borrower to the servicer at the address the servicer has provided to the borrower for such requests for information. The request must include the name and account number, if any, of the borrower, a statement that the account is or may be in error, and provide sufficient detail to the servicer regarding information sought by the borrower. If requested by the borrower, this statement must also include:(a) A copy of the original note, or if unavailable, an affidavit of lost note, with all endorsements; and(b) A statement that identifies and itemizes all fees and charges assessed under the loan servicing transaction and provides a full payment history identifying in a clear and conspicuous manner all of the debits, credits, application of and disbursement of all payments received from or for the benefit of the borrower, and other activity on the student education loan including suspense account activity, if any.(c) The period of the account history shall cover at a minimum the two-year period prior to the date of the receipt of the request for information. If the servicer has not serviced the student education loan for the entire two-year time period, the servicer must provide the information going back to the date on which the servicer began servicing the loan and identify the previous servicer, if known. If the servicer claims that any delinquent or outstanding sums are owed on the loan prior to the two-year period or the period during which the servicer has serviced the student education loan, the servicer must provide an account history beginning with the month that the servicer claims any outstanding sums that are owed on the student education loan up to the date of the request for the information.(d) If the borrower requests this statement, you must provide it free of charge; but the borrower is only entitled to one free statement annually. If the borrower requests more than one statement annually, you may charge thirty dollars for the second and subsequent statements.Wash. Admin. Code § 208-620-960
Adopted by WSR 18-24-013, Filed 11/27/2018, effective 1/1/2019Amended by WSR 19-21-157, Filed 10/22/2019, effective 11/24/2019