Category: Student Loan Debt

IntroductionDespite considerable organizational upheaval within the U.S. Department of Education over the past year, the Department has maintained a notably borrower-friendly policy regarding the discharge of federal student loans in bankruptcy proceedings. This policy, implemented in 2022, marks a substantial departure from the Department's historical approach to undue hardship determinations under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8).Historical...

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been in a long standing battle with the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts ("NCSLT") since 2017 seeking to hold them liable under the Consumer Financial Protection Act ("CFPA").  NCSLT appealed the decision to the Third Circuit who just answered unequivocally that NCSLT is indeed subject to the CFPA.  What...

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The U.S. Department of Education’s (“DOE”) promise of a kinder and gentler response to complaints to discharge federal student loans in bankruptcy has been long awaited and may have arrived.    On November 17, 2022, DOE announced a radical departure in how it will analyze these types of cases.  The new procedure can result in DOE...

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The U.S. Department of Education’s (“DOE”) promise of a kinder and gentler response to complaints to discharge federal student loans in a bankruptcy has been long awaited and may have arrived.    On November 17, 2022, DOE announced a radical departure in how it will analyze these types of cases.  The new procedure requires the submission...

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The law is stacked against student loan borrowers in many ways which forces student loan lawyers to be creative so when that results in an outright victory for a borrower it is a fine day in the neighborhood. Some of mine include the following: (1) Got sanctions in NH Bankruptcy Court against ECMC for its...

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Private student loans are the worst debt in America, bar none.  Lenders have flocked to making private student loans, knowing there are few legal protections available to borrowers.  I can get rid of IRS debt in a bankruptcy easier than I can student loan debt.  One of my clients was told his payment would be...

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Unlike federal student loans, private student loans have a statute of limitation.  Some student lenders attempt to extend the statute of limitation to as long as 20 years by inserting language in student loan contract claiming it is one being executed under seal.  A contract under seal is an arcane concept derived from colonial times...

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Student loan debt in the United State has risen to $1.6 trillion dollars, second only to mortgages as the highest category of consumer debt in the United States. While new loans account for some of the increase, that’s only part of the story.  One of the more obscure reasons for the explosion of student loan...

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One of the more notorious private student loan businesses in America is National Collegiate Trust.    National Collegiate Trust is an organization that specializes in the collection of private student loan debt in New Hampshire,  Massachusetts and elsewhere.    Since your loan is one of thousands of student loans transferred multiple times, this can create a real...

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With student loan debt going back years, if not decades, having to disprove a billing error can be a daunting task.   Old payments on older student loans can become important only after assignment to a new servicer when a problem first comes to light.  Even if a borrower finds old canceled checks, how those payments...

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