Providing a sign that the federal student loan repayment pause will be extended once again – perhaps from August 31, 2022 to December 31, 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported today that servicers are being requested NOT to send bills to borrowers. Even if the pause is extended, there can…
Reboot Your Life: Tampa Student Loan and Bankruptcy Attorney Blog
Should defaulted borrowers do the fast-tracked rehab or wait for “fresh start”?
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…
BDTR Confusion on Hearing Date for Final Approval of Class Settlement
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 Approaching the Payment Restart Date — and Buy a House while you Wait.
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…
Questions about the Navient/AG Settlement and Whether Your Private Loans are Discharged?
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…
PSLF Waiver Fixes Lesser Known Issues as well: Deadline to Apply is October 31, 2022.
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…
Our Very First Disability Student Loan Discharge Case
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…
Joint Spousal Consolidation Loans — President Biden is Expected to Sign a New Act Any Day Now
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…
Student Loan Updates Available in the Cramdown
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…
What to do with Medical Debt in Bankruptcy?
Credit reporting is changing for medical debt. Starting July 1, 2022, previously defaulted, but subsequently repaid, medical debt will no longer be reported on someone’s credit. Next year, medical debt of less than $500 will not be reported on credit reports any longer. This doesn’t mean that the medical provider…