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On February 28, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard nearly four hours of oral argument in two separate cases challenging the Biden Administration’s authority to proceed with its plan to forgive approximately $400 billion in federal student loans.  After reviewing the background of the two cases, we look at the three key issues: the plaintiffs’ theories for why they have standing to challenge the plan, the Administration’s reliance on the HEROES Act as authority for the plan, and the applicability of the “major questions” doctrine to the Court’s analysis. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a new bulletin (2023-01) titled “Unfair Billing and Collection Practices After Bankruptcy Discharges of Certain Student Loan Debts.”  The bulletin warns servicers that they risk engaging in a UDAAP violation by resuming collection of student loans that were discharged through the regular course of a borrower’s bankruptcy.… Continue Reading

On February 28, 2023, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in two separate cases challenging the Biden Administration’s authority to proceed with its plan to forgive approximately $400 billion in federal student loans.  In the first case, the Biden Administration seeks to vacate an injunction granted by a three-judge panel of the U.S.… Continue Reading

On September 9, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) proposed to amend its student loan servicing regulations, which we previously covered  here.  After reviewing public comments, on January 6, 2023, the DFPI released a Notice requesting an additional round of public comments on a modified set of regulations.  … Continue Reading

The New York state legislature is currently considering a pair of companion bills which would impose detailed notice and records requirements upon student loan servicers.  New York Senate bill S5136B, which was passed by the New York Senate earlier this year, and New York House bill A6226B, which is currently under consideration with the New York Legislature’s Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee, would require “creditors and debt collectors” to provide certain written disclosures to borrowers or cosigners of private education loans at the time of the first collection communication (or within five days after the first communication). … Continue Reading

On December 12, 2022, the Supreme Court announced that it would grant a petition for certiorari as to the separate loan-forgiveness challenge pending before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and calendar the matter for argument in February 2023.

On December 1, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to consider the standing of the plaintiffs who obtained an an injunction from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that currently prevents the Biden Administration from enacting its plan to forgive approximately $400 billion in federal student loans. … Continue Reading

On December 1, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed an application by the Biden Administration to vacate an injunction entered by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that currently prevents the administration from enacting its plan to forgive approximately $400 billion in federal student loans.  Justice Kavanagh—the designated Justice for certain emergency appeals from the Eighth Circuit—referred the Administration’s application to the full Court, which, on its own initiative, converted the application to a petition for writ of certiorari before judgment and granted the petition. … Continue Reading

In conjunction with efforts to forgive federal student debt for certain borrowers, President Biden’s Justice Department recently announced new guidance for its attorneys to use when deciding whether to recommend that a bankruptcy judge discharge an individual’s federal student loans. 

The guidance seeks to streamline the process of discharging federal student debt which, unlike other consumer debt, is not automatically discharged through bankruptcy. … Continue Reading

On December 22, 2021, New York State Senate Bill 2767A was signed into law. The Bill establishes the Private Student Loan Refinancing Task Force (the “Task Force”), which was charged with “study[ing] and analyz[ing] ways lending institutions that offer non-federal student loans to students of New York institutions of higher education can be incentivized and encouraged to create student loan refinance programs.”… Continue Reading

After reviewing the background of the current moratorium on federal student loan payments and the Biden Administration’s decision to grant loan forgiveness, we discuss two recent decisions that have paused the Administration’s ability to proceed with forgiveness.  We first analyze the Texas federal district court decision vacating the forgiveness program, including the court’s standing analysis and application of the “major questions doctrine.” … Continue Reading