16 STUDENT LENDING During 2017, Goodwin tracked 12 federal and state enforcement actions related to student lending, representing a slight increase in comparison to the 10 actions Goodwin tracked in 2016. These actions included litigation, administrative actions, settlements, and investigations involving student loan servicers, a college accreditation organization, student loan debt relief providers, and a student loan trust securitizer. In bringing these actions, enforcers relied primarily on the CFPA and general state consumer protection statutes. KEY TRENDS In contrast to 2016, most student lending enforcement actions in 2017 were brought by the federal government, rather than the state attorneys general. The CFPB was the most active participant, having brought over half of the enforcement actions, either alone or in conjunction with another agency. As Goodwin noted in last year’s issue, it was expected that the CFPB was likely to increase its enforcement activity in this area in 2017. Student lending enforcement activity continued to shift in 2017 from a focus in recent years on private educational institutions to student loan servicing. The CFPB’s 50-State Snapshot reported that, as of the end of 2016, student loan borrowers collectively owed more than $1.4 trillion in student loan debt. The CFPB kicked off the year by filing a lawsuit against student loan servicing giant Navient, and followed with three more lawsuits later in the year against student loan servicers. States remained active in the student lending space through legislation rather than enforcement. The District of Columbia released a “Student Loan Borrower’s Bill of Rights” under the District’s student loan servicing act, which became effective in February 2017. The Bill “sets out the basic principles and protections that borrowers can rely on as they work to reduce their student debt.” The Illinois Legislature recently enacted legislation over the governor’s veto, which establishes a licensing regime for student loan servicers and prohibits a litany of servicing practices that the Illinois attorney general may sue to enforce. Similar bills were introduced in at least seven states. 2017 HIGHLIGHTS CFPB Files Lawsuit Against Largest U.S. Student Loan Servicer. In January 2017, the CFPB filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania federal court against Navient, the country’s largest servicer of private and federal student loans, alleging that it employed deceptive servicing practices, including automatically enrolling borrowers in expensive forbearance programs, failing to alert borrowers to payment deadlines, allowing payment processing errors, and providing false information about repayment options. In August, the court denied Navient’s motion to dismiss the CFPB’s lawsuit, and the case proceeded to discovery. Navient services more than $300 billion in student loans. Lawsuits were also filed against Navient by the attorneys general of the states of Washington, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Federal Judge Allows Immigrant Lending Discrimination Case to Proceed. In January 2017, an immigrant authorized to work in the United States under DACA filed a putative class action in the Northern District of California, captioned Perez et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co. et al., No. 17-454 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2017), alleging that Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. discriminated