News
Judge Rejects Settlement Over Stalled Student Debt Relief Claims, Blames DeVos for Harming Borrowers | Washington Post
A federal judge on Monday rejected a proposed settlement between the Trump administration and defrauded borrowers after the Education Department revealed its widespread denials of requests for student debt cancellation. U.S. District Judge William Alsup in the Northern District of California blasted Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for denying 94 percent of the debt relief claims the department has processed since reaching the agreement in April.
DeVos’ Settlement With For-Profit College Borrowers Rejected | Bloomberg Law
A California federal judge rejected a settlement Tuesday that would have given the Department of Education an 18-month deadline to answer loan forgiveness applications by 160,000 students who say their for-profit colleges misled them to get them to enroll.
Judge Rejects Settlement, Fast-Tracks Student Debt Relief Class Action | Courthouse News Service
Finding strong indications of “bad faith” in the way Education Secretary Betsy DeVos denied 94% of student debt relief claims in recent months, a federal judge rejected a proposed settlement Monday night and fast-tracked a lawsuit over long delays in deciding borrower defense claims.
Judge Blasts DeVos’ Sweeping Denials of Student Loan Relief Claims as ‘Disturbingly Kafkaesque’ | Politico
A federal judge scrapped a settlement Tuesday over the Trump administration’s slow processing of loan forgiveness for borrowers who have accused their colleges of fraud, ruling that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos undermined the deal.
Judge Slams DeVos For Blanket Denials Of Student Loan Forgiveness, Cites “Irreparable Harm” To Borrowers | Forbes
A federal judge issued a scathing rebuke to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for issuing mass denials of student loan forgiveness applications. “The Secretary’s new perfunctory denial notices... contradict her original justification for delay, raise substantial questions under [federal law], and may impose irreparable harm upon the class of student-loan borrowers,” Judge William Alsup, of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, wrote in his decision yesterday.
In New Ruling, Judge Denies Borrower Defense Settlement Over Department of Education’s “Perfunctory, Alarmingly-Curt Denials” | Press Release
A federal court issued a new ruling in the borrower defense case Sweet v. DeVos that shuts down a proposed settlement, raises the possibility of an injunction against the Department’s blanket borrower defense denials, and takes the unusual step of allowing plaintiffs to take depositions of officials from the Department of Education.
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.