20 U.S.C. § 1082 - Legal powers and responsibilities

• Cite as: 20 U.S.C. § 1082

(a) General powers

In the performance of, and with respect to, the functions, powers, and duties, vested in him by this part, the Secretary may-

(1) prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this part, including regulations applicable to third party servicers (including regulations concerning financial responsibility standards for, and the assessment of liabilities for program violations against, such servicers) to establish minimum standards with respect to sound management and accountability of programs under this part, except that in no case shall damages be assessed against the United States for the actions or inactions of such servicers;

(2) sue and be sued in any court of record of a State having general jurisdiction or in any district court of the United States, and such district courts shall have jurisdiction of civil actions arising under this part without regard to the amount in controversy, and action instituted under this subsection by or against the Secretary shall survive notwithstanding any change in the person occupying the office of Secretary or any vacancy in that office; but no attachment, injunction, garnishment, or other similar process, mesne or final, shall be issued against the Secretary or property under the Secretary's control and nothing herein shall be construed to except litigation arising out of activities under this part from the application of sections 509, 517, 547, and 2679 of title 28;

(3) include in any contract for Federal loan insurance such terms, conditions, and covenants relating to repayment of principal and payment of interest, relating to the Secretary's obligations and rights to those of eligible lenders, and borrowers in case of default, and relating to such other matters as the Secretary determines to be necessary to assure that the purposes of this part will be achieved; and any term, condition, and covenant made pursuant to this paragraph or pursuant to any other provision of this part may be modified by the Secretary, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, if the Secretary finds that the modification is necessary to protect the United States from the risk of unreasonable loss;

(4) subject to the specific limitations in this part, consent to modification, with respect to rate of interest, time of payment of any installment of principal and interest or any portion thereof, or any other provision of any note or other instrument evidencing a loan which has been insured by the Secretary under this part;

(5) enforce, pay, or compromise, any claim on, or arising because of, any such insurance or any guaranty agreement under section 1078(c) of this title; and

(6) enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand, however acquired, including any equity or any right of redemption.

(b) Financial operations responsibilities

The Secretary shall, with respect to the financial operations arising by reason of this part prepare annually and submit a budget program as provided for wholly owned Government corporations by chapter 91 of title 31. The transactions of the Secretary, including the settlement of insurance claims and of claims for payments pursuant to section 1078 of this title, and transactions related thereto and vouchers approved by the Secretary in connection with such transactions, shall be final and conclusive upon all accounting and other officers of the Government. The Secretary may not enter into any settlement of any claim under this subchapter that exceeds $1,000,000 unless-

(1) the Secretary requests a review of the proposed settlement of such claim by the Attorney General; and

(2) the Attorney General responds to such request, which may include, at the Attorney General's discretion, a written opinion related to such proposed settlement.

(c) Data collection

(1) Collection by category of loan

(A) For loans insured after December 31, 1976, or in the case of each insurer after such earlier date where the data required by this subsection are available, the Secretary and all other insurers under this part shall collect and accumulate all data relating to (i) loan volume insured and (ii) defaults reimbursed or default rates according to the categories of loans listed in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.

(B) The data indicated in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall be accumulated according to the category of lender making the loan and shall be accumulated separately for lenders who are (i) eligible institutions, (ii) State or private, nonprofit direct lenders, (iii) commercial financial institutions who are banks, savings and loan associations, or credit unions, and (iv) all other types of institutions or agencies.

(C) The Secretary may designate such additional subcategories within the categories specified in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph as the Secretary deems appropriate.

(D) The category or designation of a loan shall not be changed for any reason, including its purchase or acquisition by a lender of another category.

(2) Collection and reporting requirements

(A) The Secretary shall collect data under this subsection from all insurers under this part and shall publish not less often than once every fiscal year a report showing loan volume guaranteed and default data for each category specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection and for the total of all lenders.

(B) The reports specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall include a separate report for each insurer under this part including the Secretary, and where an insurer insures loans for lenders in more than one State, such insurer's report shall list all data separately for each State.

(3) Institutional, public, or nonprofit lenders

For purposes of clarity in communications, the Secretary shall separately identify loans made by the lenders referred to in clause (i) and loans made by the lenders referred to in clause (ii) of paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection.

(d) Delegation

(1) Regional offices

The functions of the Secretary under this part listed in paragraph (2) of this subsection may be delegated to employees in the regional office of the Department.

(2) Delegable functions

The functions which may be delegated pursuant to this subsection are-

(A) reviewing applications for loan insurance under section 1079 of this title and issuing contracts for Federal loan insurance, certificates of insurance, and certificates of comprehensive insurance coverage to eligible lenders which are financial or credit institutions subject to examination and supervision by an agency of the United States or of any State;

(B) receiving claims for payments under section 1080(a) of this title, examining those claims, and pursuant to regulations of the Secretary, approving claims for payment, or requiring lenders to take additional collection action as a condition for payment of claims; and

(C) certifying to the central office when collection of defaulted loans has been completed, compromising or agreeing to the modification of any Federal claim against a borrower (pursuant to regulations of the Secretary issued under subsection (a)), and recommending litigation with respect to any such claim.

(e) Use of information on borrowers

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may provide to eligible lenders, and to any guaranty agency having a guaranty agreement under section 1078(c)(1) of this title, any information with respect to the names and addresses of borrowers or other relevant information which is available to the Secretary, from whatever source such information may be derived.

(f) Audit of financial transactions

(1) Comptroller General and Inspector General authority

The Comptroller General and the Inspector General of the Department of Education shall each have the authority to conduct an audit of the financial transactions of-

(A) any guaranty agency operating under an agreement with the Secretary pursuant to section 1078(b) of this title;

(B) any eligible lender as defined in section 1085(d)(1) of this title;

(C) a representative sample of eligible lenders under this part, upon the request of either of the authorizing committees, with respect to the payment of the special allowance under section 1087-1 of this title in order to evaluate the program authorized by this part.

(2) Access to records

For the purpose of carrying out this subsection, the records of any entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) ¹ of paragraph (1) shall be available to the Comptroller General and the Inspector General of the Department of Education. For the purpose of section 716(c) of title 31, such records shall be considered to be records to which the Comptroller General has access by law, and for the purpose of section 406(a)(4) of title 5, such records shall be considered to be records necessary in the performance of functions assigned by chapter 4 of title 5 to the Inspector General.