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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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https://www.tampabankruptcylawyerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/07/christie_d._arkovich_p.a_1_small.jpgThis 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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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:
  • What happens to my inheritance if my parents, grandparents, etc. die while I’m in bankruptcy?
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angel-wings-scaledI 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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TBBBAThe 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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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…

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What are the most common errors on a credit report that lead to FCRA claims — and resulting damages?

  1. Status Disputes – error/inaccuracy standards which give rise to valid disputes:
  • these are things that are factually inaccurate such as:
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Along with the PPP (Payroll Protection Program) another fed run program rolled out this week called Main Street to provide low-cost loans to firms with fewer than 15,000 workers.  The Main Street launch has received a luke warm welcome from community banks due to the paperwork required per an American Bankruptcy Institute article today, but basically the lender has a 95% backstop from the federal government in event of default.

I wonder why the lukewarm interest from community banks?  My guess is that they much prefer PPP for their clients, which is a 100% forgiveable loan, and has been extended recently to allow for forgiveness for 24 weeks of payroll rather than just eight, for those businesses who were under shut down orders for the first couple months and couldn’t bring back their workers.  Since PPP funds are still available and the application deadline is not until the end of June, of course that sounds like a much better alternative.  Plus, we have found that community banks did a far better job than larger banks in getting approvals from the SBA.

But for those who need funds that will be spent for things not covered under PPP, this may be an excellent alternative.

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