News
Update | Student Borrowers Speak Out in Unprecedented 500-Person Court Hearing on Borrower Defense
During a time when people have been more isolated than ever, student borrowers came together from across the country, gathering on Zoom for a remote hearing. They were there to share their views with the court about the proposed settlement in the borrower defense class action lawsuit, Sweet v. DeVos, in which the Department of Education agreed to decide on the more than 100,000 pending borrower defense applications within 18 months.
A Reckoning with Private Loan Cancellation: Jorge Villalba’s Quest for Full Loan Cancellation | Blog
Jorge Villalba was one of tens of thousands of students scammed by ITT and was left with a worthless degree and insurmountable debt in the form of both federal and private student loans. Now, after getting his federal loans discharged, he's fighting to get his private loans cancelled too.
Defrauded Students Slam DOE's Loan Relief 'Blanket Denial' | Law360
Student loan borrowers defrauded by "predatory" for-profit colleges and seeking relief from crippling debt delivered heartfelt pleas to a California federal judge during a settlement fairness hearing Thursday, seeking assurance that a U.S. Department of Education deal with 170,000 borrowers ends its "smothering blanket denial" of long-awaited loan forgiveness requests.
Student Borrowers to Judge: Department of Education Can’t be Trusted to Process Borrower Defense Claims Fairly | Press Release
A federal judge today heard from student borrowers at a fairness hearing on the proposed settlement between students and the United States Department of Education that forces the Department to process all pending borrower defense claims.
Defrauded Student Borrowers Tell Court: Dept. is Acting in Bad Faith, Breaching Settlement in Denials of Borrower Defense Claims | Press Release
Student borrowers filed a motion asking for final approval of a settlement that forces the Department to process all pending borrower defense claims, while also asking the judge to enforce the terms of the settlement. The borrowers argue that the Department has already breached the settlement agreement, finalized in April, by issuing cursory, blanket denials of nearly all of the borrower defense claims it has decided.
Statement on Senate Resolution to Cancel Student Debt | Press Release
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed a Resolution calling on the President to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt for 43 million Americans. The Senators cite a Project on Predatory Student Lending legal analysis which outlines the President’s legal authority to direct the Secretary of Education to cancel student loan debt.
35,000 Former ITT Tech Students Could See $330 Million in Private Loans Erased with New Settlement | Yahoo Finance
A new settlement related to the now-defunct for-profit school ITT Technical Institute would erase $330 million in privately-held student loan debt owed by around 35,000 former ITT students.
Update | CFPB and States Settlement with Private Loan Lender to Cancel Millions of Dollars in Student Loan Debt
As Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education issue blanket denials on borrower defense applications to former ITT students, the CFPB and a group of 44 states and the District of Columbia filed proposed settlements with one of ITT’s private lenders, known as PEAKS.
Lawsuit Against Student Loan Giant Navient Will Test Limits of Private Debt Discharge | Yahoo Finance
A former student at the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute and his mother are suing student loan giant Navient (NAVI) over the company’s refusal to cancel his private student loans despite the U.S. government erasing thousands of federal student loans related to the notorious for-profit school. The case could set a precedent for defrauded borrowers seeking relief from privately-held loans (as opposed to federally-backed loans).
Scammed Student Sues Navient, Asking for Cancellation of Debt he Took on to Attend For-Profit College | MarketWatch
For roughly a decade, Jorge Villalba has been contending with student debt that he believes — and the government has confirmed — he was illegally misled into borrowing. Villalba, 39, attended ITT Technical Institutes, a major for-profit college chain, from 2006 to 2010. Just six years after he graduated, ITT filed for bankruptcy, amid allegations the school used misleading job placement and graduation rates to convince students to sign up for classes and take on the loans that would pay for them.