Reboot Your Life: Tampa Student Loan and Bankruptcy Attorney BlogIf you have private student loan debt, do yourself a favor and listen to our latest podcast “How To Discharge Student Loans During Covid-19“. And then call me.
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COVID Relief for Private Student Loan Borrowers is Elusive: But Read to the Bottom – You won’t be Sorry!.
This week I received an email from a borrower who believed that she didn’t have to make her private student loan payments due to COVID and the CARES Act.
Not true. While many private lenders have indeed voluntarily agreed to forbearance of two to six months per a recent Wall Street Journal article, “For Student-Loan Borrowers, There is Some Relief – but That Isn’t the Whole Story“. The article emphasized that these are uncertain times for all student loan borrowers, but especially those with private loans.
First, these short forbearances are coming to an end and decisions will need to be made.
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Whatever Happened to the Borrower Defense to Repayment Claims for Attendance at a Fraudulent School?
A proposed court settlement between the Trump administration and defrauded borrowers is in jeopardy after the administration revealed its widespread denials of requests for student debt cancellation for those who attended schools who lied to them in order to get them to attend, the Washington Post reported recently.
The settlement required that borrowers who were still awaiting a decision on their Borrower Defense to Repayment (“BDTR”) application after 18 months would get 30 percent of their federal loans discharged for every month that the department is late, and those who are denied reserve the right to an appeal. Not surprisingly, as a result, we have seen mass denials this summer. I personally have seen around ten outright denials – no specifics, just a general denial of failure to state a claim. I have seen two approvals – but these were only for 10% of the principal and waiver of interest during the review period. A drop in the bucket.
This reminds me of the FTC lawsuit against DeVry. They had them dead to rights with written misrepresentations in their marketing material regarding job placement rates. The settlement? Everyone got checks. The problem was the checks were only for around $500. For screwing up someone’s life forever.
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McDaniel v Navient Case: Is this a Game Changer to Discharge Private Student Loan Debt?
This recent 10th Circuit case, McDaniel v. Navient, has gotten a lot of press among those in the student loan arena when it paved the way for discharge of 200k of private student loans. But what does it really mean?
First, here is what wasn’t addressed in this case. Navient admitted that 523(a)(8) (a) (i) (government or non-profit lender/guarantor) and (b) (cost of attendance) didn’t apply. In other words, they agreed that the loans were not guaranteed by a non-profit, and were outside the cost of attendance – so neither argument would prevent a discharge.
Instead, Navient hung its hat on the loans being covered under the “educational benefit” under (a) (ii). But Navient lost. The McDaniel case is consistent with the 9th Circuit BAP case In re Kashikar as far as the determination that educational loans do not equate educational benefit under (A)(ii). The 5th Circuit in In re Crocker found the same thing last fall.
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Our team will be presenting a webinar for the TBBBA tomorrow on The Intersection of Bankruptcy and Estate Planning
Don’t forget to register and put tomorrow’s (9/1/20) TBBBA consumer Zoom lunch at noon on your calendar. An attendee link was blasted out to all Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association members.
This month we have Ha Dao and Barbara Leon presenting: The Intersection of Bankruptcy and Estate Planning: How to Protect your Clients in this Life and Beyond. Examples of some questions to be covered include:
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What happens to my inheritance if my parents, grandparents, etc. die while I’m in bankruptcy?
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Pop Quiz: which option will END your private student loan debt?
Pop quiz: which option below is more likely going to END your student loan debt?
- Investment in Bitcoin (up 60+% this year) or Ethereum (up 300-400% this year);
- Winning the lottery;
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Are You Filled with Questions about how your Children will do School this Fall?
I don’t have kids of my own, but if I did, I would absolutely talk with Kellyann below about how best to do this. She’s full of good ideas on virtual learning, homeschooling, tutoring, socialization. Ideas that could really help right now! Check out her Collaborative Classroom Cubes on her website for instance:
Home2SchoolConnection.com
Kellyann Goring has 22 years of elementary teaching experience plus a bunch of years doing tech integrations and teaching teachers how to use tech in their classrooms. Full disclaimer: this is a plug for my sister in law — but I felt what she is doing is perfect right now and I hope very helpful to parents, students and even teachers!!
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For our attorney followers: we’re setting up the TBBBA fall line up now!
The TBBBA is entering the Zoom age for the Consumer Lunches starting at Noon August 4 and continuing the first Tuesday of every month. The Zoom coordinates will be sent later in a TBBBA email blast.It’s bring your own lunch – but no commute! CLE credit.
First up is: The Intersection of Bankruptcy and Tenant rights: Monetizing FDCPA and FCCPA claims for tenants.
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Heartland ECSI – 1 star reviews –
We’re investigating this company for potential violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), among other things, and I ran across their Better Business Bureau reviews.
I’ve never seen so many 1 star reviews! They’ve been in business for 48 years, are a major debt collector for universities and colleges for student loan debt. Some of these reviews say they would have given a ZERO review if possible, stating they are the worst
The reviews stem from ECSI charging a service charge for a single payment; misrepresenting the facts on credit reports and making collection calls even when an account is current, and lots more…