A group of 22 state Attorneys General have sent a letter to the Department of Education seeking information “to determine whether the [ED] is providing relief to thousands of former ITT Tech students as required by federal law.”  The use of the seals of the Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Oregon AGs on the first page of the letter suggests that these AGs are taking the lead on the inquiry.

In their letter, the AGs cite provisions of ED regulations that require the ED to discharge federal student loans at closed schools subject to certain conditions.  The AGs indicate that they have been unable to confirm with the ED the accuracy of reports they have seen about the amount of relief the ED has given so far to ITT students.  They ask the ED to “clarify whether all eligible ITT students are now receiving the automatic discharges to which they are entitled” and “provide information sufficient to confirm that deserving ITT students have not been excluded from the automatic discharge program.”

The letter contains a list of questions to which the AGs request responses.  One notable question asks the ED whether it considered using an eligibility period beyond 120 days of ITT’s closure and, if not, why not.  Another begins with a claim that the ED previously failed to inform prior servicers when closed-school discharges were processed post-default, resulting in negative information from servicers remaining on borrowers’ credit report.  The AGs ask the ED when it will instruct prior servicers of defaulted loans and credit reporting agencies to remove information relating to discharged loans from credit reports of ITT borrowers.