Student loan servicing was the focus of recent CFPB attention in the form of a blog post, “Busting myths about bankruptcy and private student loans,” and a report (labeled a “special issue brief”) titled “Student Loan Borrowers Potentially At-Risk when Payment Suspension Ends.” Both items raise areas of compliance risk for
discharge
State student loan officials unite to seek automatic federal student loan discharges for disabled borrowers
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
Taking a step that undoubtedly presages further coordinated action, state officials holding the title of Student Loan Ombudsman or comparable titles sent a joint letter to Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul urging the ED and SSA to establish an automatic process for discharging federal student loans of disabled…
State AGs seek information from ED on discharge of federal loans to former ITT students
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
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…
Dept. of Education to issue guidance on arbitration ban
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
As we reported, the Department of Education announced earlier this month that it would begin implementing its “borrower defense” final rule which was issued in November 2016 by providing discharges of federal student loans made to any borrowers who, in addition to other conditions, could not complete his or her program of study…
Education Dept. to discharge federal student loans under borrower defense rule
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
In a December 13 posting, the Department of Education announced that on December 14, it would begin sending emails to borrowers “to inform them that the company that handles billing and other services related to their federal student loans will discharge some or all of the borrower’s loans within the next 30-90 days.”
The…
Education Dept. seeks comment on factors used to evaluate student loan discharge claims in bankruptcy cases
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
The Department of Education has published a request for information in today’s Federal Register seeking comment on the factors used to evaluate claims of undue hardship made by student loan borrowers attempting to discharge student loans through adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court. Responses to the RFI must be received by May 22, 2018.
Under the…
CFPB highlights alleged credit reporting errors relating to discharged student loans of disabled veterans
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
In a new blog post, the CFPB provides credit reporting advice to service-disabled veterans who take advantage of federal student loan forgiveness available from the Department of Education for veterans who receive a 100 percent disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The CFPB encourages veterans who use this benefit to confirm that…