Student Loan Law

New Rights for Loan Cancellation, Income-Driven Repayment; Challenging Collector, Servicer, Private Loan and School Abuses

No consumer law area is experiencing such fast changes:

• Broad-based federal student loan cancellation announced in 2022
• Implications for borrowers of pandemic payment pause
• Fresh start for borrowers in default
• Expansion of Public Service Loan Forgiveness
• Improvements to income-driven repayment
• Regulatory improvements to loan discharge programs, including borrower defense, closed school discharge, and disability discharge
• Elimination of private debt collectors for federal Direct Loans
• Billions of loan cancellation available for borrowers who attended predatory schools

Comprehensive Explanation of All Student Loan Borrower Rights and Relief Programs

• Options to reduce payments and make progress toward eventual loan forgiveness via income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness
• Loan cancellation based on school closure, deceptive practices, false certification of student eligibility, failure to make owed refunds, or borrower disability
• Tools to postpone repayment or avoid default via loan deferments and forbearances
• Pathways out of default, including consolidation, rehabilitation, and new temporary fresh start program
• Rights to stop or challenge tax intercepts, wage garnishments, and seizure of Social Security benefits
• Understanding how student loans are treated in bankruptcy
• Challenges to predatory school recruitment, loan servicer misconduct, and unfair collection practices
• Defenses to private student loan collection and affirmative claims
• Litigation tactics and pointers, with a chapter on litigation against servicers, debt collectors, schools, and private lenders

Coverage of Multiple Types of Student Loans

• Federal Direct Loans, including Consolidation and Parent PLUS Loans
• Old Guaranteed Student Loans (FFEL/Stafford)
• Perkins Loans
• Private student loans

Praise

"The most important resource available to those of us in the field and the authoritative source on student loan issues. Many Philadelphians have received student loan help because of this manual." — Sharon Dietrich, Litigation Director, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia