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Now that the Department of Education (“ED”) is committed to revamping the Borrower Defense to Repayment rules and procedures, I thought it was time to re-visit an old foe.  I was disappointed to find Accrediting Counsel for Independent Colleges and Schools (“ACISC”) was STILL in business.  Despite the sudden closures of ITT Tech and Corinthian Colleges under its watch, it’s still out there, in part due to Secretary DeVos’ leadership of ED and former President Trump reinstating the accreditor in 2018.

This year, career staff at ED have again recommended that ACICS lose its accreditation power because it failed to demonstrate that it has competent and knowledgeable individuals, qualified by education and experience.  For example, when ACICS visited Reagan National University and didn’t locate any instructional material, it didn’t even note the lack of materials as a deficiency in its report.  ED stated that several other red flags were overlooked as well during site visits, USA Today reported in March 2021.

There are two levels of reviews and appeals available to ACISC which they are certain to use if nothing else to run out the clock.

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ORL-Conf

Presenting three topics today for Southern District Florida bankruptcy attorneys who are interested in taking advantage of their new Student Management Program!   Great program so far, tons of material, practice pointers — anyone who couldn’t attend today, contact Tammy Branson in Orlando to purchase the recording.  I wish something like this existed when I first started student loan work on behalf of borrowers.  Would have made a world of difference, and saved me a lot of time!

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The PPP window has closed four weeks ahead of schedule as it runs out of funds as reported by the ABI.

Restaurant owners should apply quickly for then Restaurant Revitalization Fund which opened this week and is expected to go quickly.  Here’s is a guide with helpful information about how to apply and what types of business requirements are necessary.  First come, first served. Here is another guide about who qualifies that is a very easy read and highly recommended.

Folks have been delaying reorganization type bankruptcies to qualify for various stimulus programs.  You should know that recently the rules have changed to allow stimulus and bankruptcy to co-exist.  In other words, filing for bankruptcy protection will not negate applying for government aid in most cases.

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Inflation and interest rates are the two primary culprits.

Bankruptcy can actually be a fix to this problem and is something that everyone should evaluate NOW.  Does it make sense to clear the deck and start fresh?  Especially when that deck is stacked against most Americans who are not otherwise wealthy.  Especially, for anyone who has private student loans, the decision is pretty much a no brainer — bankruptcy can result in a full discharge of many private student loans or a very low payment plan, with very low interest.  Basically, a way out.

High credit card balances, underwater vehicle loans, unpaid rent — bankruptcy can easily fix this.

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reboot_your_life_after_bk-ebook-picThere are so many things that set us apart and in my opinion make us one of the best law firms in the Tampa Bay area that you can choose to file your bankruptcy.  Whoever you are looking to hire to file a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you should ask these questions:

  • What kind of lawyer and staff turnover do you have?  (our bankruptcy paralegal and attorney have been with us for five plus years – nearly ten in fact – it helps to speak with the same person as your case progresses, who knows you and your situation)
  • Can you help me with my student loans (this is where we really stand out — we own student loans – every day, we are reducing or outright eliminating student loan debt in one form or another)
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Wells Fargo has always been difficult to work with when we try to negotiate private student loan settlements.  However, we’ve started to see better deals in the past two weeks from other private student loan servicers  – so I believe Wells Fargo loans are now fair game.

Well Fargo is exiting the student loan business.  In a recent Bizjournal article “Wells Fargo sells off private student loan business,” nearly $10 billion of student loans were transferred to Apollo Global Management, Inc. and Blackstone Group, Inc.  While it’ll be a few weeks, we expect this changing of the guard will open the doors for reasonable settlement opportunities.  Something we haven’t been seeing for most all of Wells Fargo loans.

What we’re telling our clients now is this:  don’t wait until the moratoriums are over.  Now is the time to get good deals.  In a few months time, after the moratoriums are lifted, creditor attorneys will back at it.  Filing lawsuits.  Garnishing wages.  Repossessions.  When they have the power to do those things, they will raise their settlement demands.  Their clients are bleeding money right now.  Now is the time to settle your debt  — whether it be credit card, deficiency judgments, private student loans, car loans, you name it.  In 6-12 months, the economic landscape will be better, and these deals we see now, won’t be there any longer.

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https://www.tampabankruptcylawyerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/07/christie_d._arkovich_p.a_1_small.jpgHow do you feel about discharging student loan debt in bankruptcy?

The American Bar Institute (ABI) Consumer Bankruptcy Committee conducted a poll on what changes would attendees like to make to student loan discharges that I found interesting:

10%    Recommended no changes – leave it as it is

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As the owner of a small bankruptcy law practice in Tampa, Florida, we were often thought of as the epicenter of the great recession and foreclosure crisis back in 2008-2012.

One thing that always made a big impression on me, was the number of people who genuinely believed and tried their very best to catch up with their bills once they became re-employed.  These were folks who unfortunately had to run up their credit cards when not working, only to encounter high interest rates and an inability to catch up and actually pay down the balance even after they got a good paying job.  Then I had to tell them that they could no longer file a Chapter 7 – the full bankruptcy.  Instead, they were limited to filing a Chapter 13 – and partially or even worse, fully repaying the debt.  Now this doesn’t always happen, but if you’re making 80k, are single and filing bankruptcy, it could.  And often did.

Don’t be this person.  Consult a bankruptcy attorney if you’ve had to run up your credit cards or incur a pile of debt whether medical expenses, unpaid rent, etc.

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Due to heavy demand, the CPAAcadmy is doing a video rebroadcast today at 10:00 of a Webinar course I did for them last month for those who help others try to reduce or get rid of student loan debt.

I also have a link to this on my website available anytime (audio only unfortunately).

So if you have an hour, your might want to tune it at 10:00 for the rebroadcast today!

 

 

 

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