I expect many of you are wondering: Should defaulted borrowers do the fast-tracked rehab or wait for “fresh start”? Here is what we are hearing: The Fresh Start process is intended to be easier and more accessible than the rehab process, and hopefully will be, so many borrowers/advocates will reasonably…
We are hearing from folks that they believe there is a 7/28 deadline to file a BDTR application for auto approval. The case Preliminary Settlement Approval hearing in Sweet v Cardona is 7/28/22. It is NOT a deadline, but we should know more after that hearing. Hopefully, they will set …
We’re 40 some days away from the 8/31/22 federal student loan re-start date. We’re all waiting for the details of the Fresh Start announcement for borrowers in default to reenter payment in good standing when the pause expires. This would theoretically eliminate the need for a rehab or consolidation to…
Are you unsure whether your private student loans are covered by the Navient/AG settlement? Navient has sent or is still sending out correspondence to all qualifying private loans under the Navient/AG settlement – give that until the end of July per the settlement – if your address is current with…
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…