Normally, a teacher who qualifies for Teacher forgiveness after five years of service at a low income Title I school, cannot also obtain Public Service Loan Forgiveness using that time. That won’t matter for someone who has less than $17,000 of federal student loan debt which is the cap for…
I fondly recall our very first Total and Permanent (“TPD”) case a few years back. An older borrower, as I remember, who was probably in her late 60s, reached out to us after she basically gave up trying to get her federal student loans forgiven even though she had qualified…
The Senate passed a bill a few weeks ago, the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act, to unravel the Joint Spousal Consolidation Loan program which has trapped many older borrowers who were encouraged to consolidate their loans with their spouses upon graduation. While that may have sounded like a good idea…
It just occurred to me that our quarterly column, the “Student Loan Sidebar,” which appears in our local newsletter called the Cramdown which is sent to fellow bar members and our judiciary for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, is something that everyone may want to see. These are…
I just wanted to flag that as of 7/1/ 2022, PSLF Certification & Application Forms must be submitted to MOHELA. Section 7 of the form has been updated to reflect the new submission instructions if it is accessed using this link. However, if you generate the form using the PSLF…
I know the Borrower Defense to Repayment Program has undergone so many changes, and been impacted by political and practical concerns that sometimes none of us knew which way was up, however, the recent Sweet settlement gives hope! And some much needed finality. (Remember the settlement is not yet final…
Whoo Hoo! In a class action Sweet v. Cardona, the parties, including the Department of Education, have just announced a settlement of Borrower Defense to Repayment claims (“BDTR”). It’s still early, and we don’t yet know if this settlement will be approved by the Court or if some of the…
If you have significant debt but have been told that you cannot file a Chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy, now you can file bankruptcy and not risk dismissal by the U.S. Trustees office. This change occurred because the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act was signed into law yesterday. Prior…
On Friday, the Senate passed a bill that would provide relief to thousands who have been trapped in a long battle with the Department of Education after a married couple had the misfortune of consolidating their loans. While at first blush that may have seemed like a good idea, the…
This week, the parties in Sweet v. Cardona filed a motion with the court that they had reached a settlement in principle to resolve the case. As a quick refresher, this case challenged 1) the Department’s failure to issue timely adjudications on borrower defense claims and 2) the Department’s blanket denials…