940 CMR 31.07 - Unfair or Deceptive Practices Involving Student Loans and Financial Aid

(1) It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a school to make any statement or representation to students, prospective students, or any other person as to student loans or financial aid that is misleading or has the capacity to deceive students or prospective students.

(2) It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a school to make any statement or representation to students, prospective students, or any other person that:

(a) a federal or state grant, or federal, state, or private loan or financial aid is exclusively available at or through the school;

(b) a program is free or costless to the student as a result of financial aid, when the financial aid consists in whole or in part of loans;

(c) financial aid need not be repaid, when the financial aid consists in whole or in part of loans; or

(d) financial aid need not be repaid while the student is in school when the financial aid consists in whole or in part of public or private loans, any of which have no grace period or deferral term.

(3) It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for any school that recommends specific Lending Institutions to prospective or current students to fail to disclose:

(a) that the Lending Institution is affiliated with the school or its corporate parent or subsidiaries, if that is the case; or

(b) that the Lending Institution is providing something of value in the form of a payment or in-kind service to the school in exchange for any advantage or consideration provided to the Lending Institution relating to educational loan activities, if that is the case.

(4) It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a school to:

(a) deny any consumer's right to choose any Lending Institution; or

(b) discourage any consumer from choosing a lender solely because that Lending Institution is not on the school's Preferred Lender List.

(5) It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for any school to permit or authorize a Lending Institution, in conjunction with discussing loan options with consumers, to identify the Lending Institution's employees or agents as employees or agents of the school. This includes the identification of any employee or agent of a Lending Institution in a call center that represents the school.

Notes

940 CMR 31.07

Adopted by Mass Register Issue 1263, eff. 6/20/2014.