Student loans

Published on: March 30, 2020

Watch out for These Pitfalls that may Come with Suspended Federal Student Loan Interest!

How do you determine if the COVID-19 federal law waiving interest applies to your federal student loans? The most recent changes are summarized here in a nice Q&A format: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/coronavirus.

My take on all this: The Act suspends student loan payments and interest accrual through September 30. For those in federal loan forgiveness programs, those months will count as months in which payments were made.

Now for the finer points: for the interest waiver, not all federal loans count, only Direct Loans and those Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) which are owned by the government. Most FFEL loans are owned by third parties and only guaranteed by the government. Perkins Loans are owned by the institution and the interest waiver does not apply either. Eighty percent of all federal loans were FFEL loans before the FFEL program was discontinued in 2010. I’d estimate one-quarter to one half of all federal loans are still FFEL loans.

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Published on: March 18, 2020

What to do with Your Federal Student Loan Payments during CoronaVirus/COVID-19:

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

We’ve gathered some information below for folks with student related questions if their job/business/income has been impacted by the CoronaVirus/COVID-19:

Here some info below on servicers and US Dept of ED current updates:

Nelnet; currently open “attempting to keep call centers staffed, however use online options” Offers: Deferment, forbearance

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Published on: March 5, 2020

Reducing Student Loan Debt In and Out of Bankruptcy.

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

Lawyers often spend too much time focused on whether a debtor meets the Brunner test for undue hardship that they miss major opportunities to reduce and eliminate federal and private student loan debt. Many people are in forbearance for years while their loan balances continue to grow. Taking advantage of Income Driven Plans in bankruptcy by using the Buchanan language and the new Student Loan Management Program in the Middle District of Florida can save tens of thousands of dollars.

How else can a student loan attorney help? By ensuring borrowers are placed in the correct IDR plans which can often save hundreds per month and allow for full forgiveness. Helping borrowers to understand and minimize the tax consequences. Curing defaults to stop wage garnishment, social security offset and tax intercepts. Helping borrowers ensure they are properly enrolled in Public Service Loan Forgiveness – to avoid being one of the 99.5% who are being denied this relief.

Private non-qualified, non-school certified, loans are subject to discharge. Recent case law permits the discharge of private loans to attend ineligible schools, Bar Study or Tuition Answer loans or for debt incurred beyond the cost of the education. Cases such as In re Kashikar, In re Campbell, In re Dufrane, In re Wiley, In re Essangui and In re Decena are paving the way to creating Florida precedent for discharge such as in In re Lysiuk and In re Lytkina a/k/a Mulligan. We help consumers to take control of their student loans and create a plan for a reduced amount of debt, and an affordable payment with an end in sight. Settlements outside of bankruptcy are also possible, although this will cause a taxable event for the forgiveness (which does not occur in a bankruptcy).

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Published on: March 2, 2020

Are Student Loans Considered “Consumer Debts” for Bankruptcy Filings?

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

Courts are divided on this issue. The answer may matter as to whether a debtor in bankruptcy must pass the means test.

The federal Bankruptcy Code defines consumer debt as debt incurred by an individual “primarily for a personal, family, or household purpose.” … The court may classify student loans as either consumer debt or non-consumer debt.

Some courts, like the court in In re Gentri, 185 B.R. 368, 373 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1995), assume that student loans are consumer debts, but do not analyze, whether student loans are “consumer debts.” See In re Dickerson, 193 B.R. 67, 70 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1996); In re Chapman, 146 B.R. 411, 416 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1992).

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Published on: February 26, 2020

Anyone Think Their Student Loan is Too Large to be Forgiven with a Total and Permanent Disability?

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

Our record now for obtaining forgiveness of federal student loans for one client is over a million dollars. So there is no cap — and this took less than three months. Client consulted with us on 11/11/19 and the Total and Permanent Disability forgiveness of over one million dollars was obtained on 2/4/20. Of course, much of that debt was interest accumulated over a looonnnnggg period of time. Something we often see!

The client’s income will be monitored for the next three years. He can make a little, up to the poverty level for a family of two, from employment income, but no more, otherwise the forgiveness could be reversed. Income from a spouse or from sources other than employment does not count.

What are you waiting for? Do you know a family member or friend who can no longer work, who is stressed about their student loans? If so, do them a favor and share this.

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Published on: February 20, 2020

Will President Trump Eliminate Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness?

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

President Trump’s proposal to eliminate public service is not nearly as bad as the headlines make it appear. Basically, 99.5% of folks are being denied for PSLF right now because they do not know how to qualify. Their federal student loan servicers are doing a poor job of communicating to the borrowers what is necessary for forgiveness. It’s not hard, we do this type of work for our clients all the time, but then again, we know what to do.

President Trump proposes to simplify the process and have one income driven plan for all. Won’t matter where you work etc. The payment would consist of 12.5% of discretionary income for 15 years. Right now those seeking public service forgiveness pay between 10-20% discretionary income over 10 years. So it adds five years for those in public service. But it drops ten years for those employed in the private market who are often on a 25 year IBR plan. That’s huge — who wouldn’t want ten years shaved off! And if you were to ask someone in public service if they would rather pay for 15 yrs and have the certainty of forgiveness tax free, as opposed to 10 years, with only ½ of one percent getting approved, I’d say the vast majority would select the new plan. The current program is a nightmare.

Current borrowers could stay in the 10 year plan if they wished as well. I know, I know, that’s what they said when President Obama was pushing Obamacare, but that’s what the proposal states.

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Published on: December 15, 2019

Do You Need a Student Loan Attorney? Despite What The DOE Says — YES!

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

See below for tips to end roadblocks faced by our older population when dealing with student loans!

In a Yahoo Finance article this week, several problems were outlined and addressed during Secretary DeVos’ testimony on Capitol Hill. First, lengthy delays in the Borrower Defense to Repayment program for those who were fraudulently misled by their schools. Second, public service forgiveness denials for those who believed their student loan payments have been counting for years. And third, confusion and difficulties for those trying to obtain student loan relief due to their disabilities. I’d like to focus on this problem because while public service and fraudulent schools have had tons of press over the past couple years, the roadblocks faced by disabled borrowers have not been discussed much at all.

Under federal law, a disabled person can apply for total and permanent disability discharge to relieve their federal student loan debt. However, on December 4, 2019, NPR released the data and results of an investigation that showed that only 28% of eligible borrowers identified between March 2016 and September 2019 have either had their loans wiped clean or are on track for that to happen.

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Published on: November 10, 2019

What Types of Income is Allowed Post-Disability Discharge of Federal Student Loans?

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

Some of our student loan clients have asked what they can make in terms of income and still be approved for a social security disability discharge. Normally we tell them income from employment counts, income from investments do not. For those that fear that they have to do a little part-time work in order to meet their bills, the guidelines allow someone to earn up to the poverty guidelines for their family size (and a family of one can use a family of two).

What forms of income are used to determine if I am exceeding the Poverty Guidelines or not?
The only income used to determine if you are exceeding the Poverty Guideline amount is income from employment.

Type of Income	Counts Toward Poverty Guideline Amount?
Earnings from wages, tips or other taxable employee pay	Yes
Earnings from self-employment	Yes
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)	No
Child Support	No
Federal or state assistance	No
Retirement Plan Income	No
Unemployment Benefits	No
Your spouse’s income (from any source)	No

Published on: November 5, 2019

Do My Federal Student Loans Accrue Interest While I’m in School?

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

Many federal student loans placed in in-school deferment will accrue interest during school and capitalize upon graduation:

Loan types that do not require payment of interest when deferring student loans include:

Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans

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Published on: October 25, 2019

Very Interesting Article this Week about Certain For-Profit Schools Receiving Federal Loans Although They Were Not Actually Eligible!

By Christie D. Arkovich, P.A.

Interesting times to be a student loan attorney. Just this week, a key decision was issued by the Fifth Circuit in In re: Crocker, No. 18-20254 which discharged private student loans. Why is this important? Well, it’s the first published Circuit level case on this issue. And the Court ruled against Navient!

Of course, you have to meet certain criteria to have a non-qualified student loan — the loans must have been outside or beyond the actual cost of education, or provided to an ineligible institution or ineligible student.

Which brings to mind, what is an ineligible institution? Simple, one that was not eligible for federal funding. Including a school which got federal aid under false pretenses. Perhaps federal loans were provided to a for-profit school BEFORE they were actually eligible. This opens a whole new batch of loans which may be discharged.

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