On March 10, 2015, President Obama introduced the Student Aid Bill of Rights; another executive action to deal with student loan debt. Read the official Memorandum.
Let's take a look at some of the details.
State-of-the-Art Complaint and Feedback System
The President is requesting a "simple . . .
Read More
IBR, ICR, PAYE, and IBR. Wait, what?
Dealing with Federal loans means understanding industrial acronyms. But what do you do when the same acronym means different things - or multiple acronyms mean almost the same thing. Does a letter really make a difference? You bet it does!
Today we'll discuss income driven plans - repayment based . . .
Read More
What You Don’t Know About Student Loans Can Really Hurt!
IBR, ICR, and PAYE – the income driven repayment plans:
These three plans, Income Based Repayment (IBR), Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), and Pay As You Earn (PAYE), are all based on your income. That means low income earners, or those on social security, can qualify for an exceptionally low . . .
Read More
Top 10 Favorite Student Loan Comments:
I've been doing student loan work for over 6 years now. Here is a chance for me to share some of my favorite comments I've heard over the years. Enjoy!
1) I co-signed a private student loan for my child. He/she isn't paying the loan. I want to sue them to make them pay.
My Response: I suppose a . . .
Read More
Treating Servicers like Potty-Training Toddlers
This past weekend, I attended the Consumer Rights Litigation Conference put on by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC). The opening speech was by Deputy Treasury Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin. It was a fabulous speech about my favorite topic - student loans. Understand that the NCLC conference . . .
Read More
Bankruptcy is not the answer…or is it?
When it comes to student loans, bankruptcy tends to be useless. But not always. Sometimes it can help. Sometimes it can hurt. Let's take a deeper look.
Bankruptcy Helps
If you have a federal student loan with a wage garnishment or social security offset, a bankruptcy can offer protection. Once a . . .
Read More
Fear not the Difficulty of Discharging Student Loans in Bankruptcy
True or false? Discharging a student loan in bankruptcy is insanely difficult. If you answered, you're correct.
True
Because perception is often reality, and the perception is that discharging student loans in bankruptcy is difficult, most folks believe this, attorney and non-attorneys alike. . . .
Read More
Student Loan Assistance Companies Sued
I heard Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan speak two years ago at NCLC's Consumer Rights Litigation Conference in Chicago. It was obvious then that she was very protective of consumers. So it comes as no surprise to me that she's suing two student loan assistance companies.
Why Sue?
The . . .
Read More
This is the end…
I pondered all the songs that could be appropriate for this post - ding dong the witch is dead, deadman's party, celebration time, the list goes on. But in the end, sing what you want, because it appears the death knell is ringing. Corinthian colleges is on its way out.
Corinthian Colleges
I . . .
Read More
For-Profit School Status Report
For-profit schools are often in the news, especially when discussing student loan debt. It's a statistical truth that their students have a higher rate of default, a higher drop-out rate, and more often require private student loans. These students are also more often sub-prime borrowers. Lets . . .
Read More