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Student Loan Law: 4.3.7 Deferments for FFEL Program Loans Extended Before July 1, 1993

A different set of rules applies to those with FFEL Program loans extended before July 1, 1993. Although loans incurred in 1993 and before are now quite old, advocates may still see clients with these loans. The elimination of the statute of limitations for student loan collections makes it very difficult to escape a student loan, no matter how old it is.

The grounds for deferment under these loans include:

Home Foreclosures: 14.4.5 Protection from Foreclosure for Military Personnel

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act restricts foreclosure sales of real property owned and occupied by a servicemember or their dependents while the servicemember is on active duty.395 If state law requires that an assessment lien be enforced through a judicial proceeding, the Act would apply as it provides general procedural protections to servicemembers who are parties to civil litigation.

Home Foreclosures: 14.4.6 Protection from Foreclosure During a Government Shutdown

Nevada law was amended in 2019 to provide that if a unit owner or the owner’s successor in interest is a federal worker, tribal worker, or state worker, or a household member or landlord of a federal worker, tribal worker, or state worker, an association shall not initiate the foreclosure of a lien by sale during the period starting on the date that a government shutdown405 begins and ending ninety days after the date the shutdown ends.406 This prohibition does not apply if a court determines th

Home Foreclosures: 14.4.7 Mortgage Holder or Servicer Liability for Unpaid Assessments

Due to a mortgage holder’s negligence or malfeasance, or that of its servicer, a unit owner who is paying condominium assessments through an escrow account set up by the mortgage servicer will sometimes nevertheless receive notice of a delinquency. Escrow payments may have been misdirected, lost, or retained by the servicer. When this occurs, further investigation is necessary to find out whether payments were sent in a timely fashion by the servicer.410

Home Foreclosures: 14.5.2 Priority of Claims to Foreclosure Proceeds

State laws differ regarding the order in which various liens are settled from funds that are available after the property has been sold through foreclosure. These laws often refer to the dates the liens at issue were recorded and to what kinds of liens are involved. Certain kinds of liens are generally superior to a condominium association lien, such as a lien for real property taxes and a first mortgage on the property, provided the mortgage was recorded before the association lien.

Home Foreclosures: 14.5.3 Superpriority Lien Provisions in Condominium Acts

A number of states have enacted laws that give the condominium association’s lien “superpriority” or “super lien” status under certain circumstances.427 These laws, which are fashioned after a provision in the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act,428 bestow the association’s lien with a higher priority than various other types of liens.

Home Foreclosures: 14.5.6 Third Party’s Liability for Assessments Following Sale

When a condominium unit is sold at a foreclosure sale, a question often arises as to who is responsible for paying any remaining unpaid assessments on the unit. Is the purchaser at the foreclosure sale responsible for making those payments to the association?

The answer to this question may depend largely upon whether or not the purchaser at foreclosure is the first mortgagee.

Home Foreclosures: 14.5.7 Dischargeability of Assessments in Bankruptcy

Section 523(a)(16) of the Bankruptcy Code makes nondischargeable certain condominium and cooperative fees or assessments in chapter 7 cases.532 The provision was amended in 2005 to add fees and assessments with respect to a lot in a homeowners’ association and to change the language concerning when fees are nondischargeable. The prior standard had been limited to fees incurred during a period that the debtor occupied the dwelling.

Home Foreclosures: 14.6 Obligations of Tenants Where Owner Is Delinquent in Payments

A handful of condominium acts specifically address the obligations of tenants in the situation where a unit owner is delinquent in making payments to the condominium association.549 Generally speaking, these provisions state that if a unit is occupied by a tenant and the unit owner is delinquent in paying any monetary obligation due to the association for a specified period of time, the association may demand payments directly from the tenant.550 The obligation to make payments is thereafter a c

Home Foreclosures: 14.7 Condominium Owner Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

The District of Columbia recently amended its condominium statute to include the Condominium Association Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. This Bill of Rights essentially restates the rights and obligations already articulated in the statute, and it also requires that this summary be provided to new condominium unit owners and be posted on the District’s Department of Housing and Community Development website, in at least 12-point type.

Student Loan Law: 18.4.3 Developing a Case

One of the best ways to develop evidence of school malfeasance is to find disgruntled former employees. Employee names, school misconduct, and other information about the school’s operation are sometimes revealed in litigation against the school for labor and employment disputes or Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations.

Student Loan Law: 9.3.8 Bankruptcy and Tax Offsets

Filing a personal bankruptcy petition before the offset occurs triggers the automatic stay provision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.98 The stay prohibits virtually all actions against the debtor’s property, including intercepts of owed tax refunds based on a student loan default.99 The Department claims it will always readily and promptly return any amount taken by an offset during a pending bankruptcy.

Student Loan Law: 10.6.2.5.4.1 The group discharge process

The 2016 borrower defense regulations that went into effect in October 2018 established specific procedures through which the Department may provide relief to groups of borrowers who attended a school where widespread school misconduct is found, or where there are otherwise “common facts and claims” that support providing relief through a group process.593 Unfortunately, only the Secretary may initiate a group process under these regulations, and a Department official—rather than a borrower’s lawyer or

Student Loan Law: 4.4.1 Introduction

The Department of Education (the Department) encourages the granting of forbearances to prevent borrowers from defaulting on their loans or to permit borrowers in default to resume “honoring” their loan obligations.140 Forbearance is defined to include a loan holder agreeing to a temporary stoppage of payments, an extension of time for making payments, or acceptance of smaller payments.141 As of late, forbearances most often mean allowing a temporary pause or postponement in making payments.

Student Loan Law: 4.4.4 Discretionary and Administrative Forbearances

The FFEL regulations make a distinction between discretionary and mandatory forbearances. The Direct Loan Program does not make this distinction. If a Direct Loan borrower qualifies for forbearance, the regulations provide that the Secretary of the Department of Education (the Secretary) will grant forbearance, with no reference to discretion on the Secretary’s part.170 The grounds for forbearance vary between the two programs in some respects.

Home Foreclosures: 14.1.1 The Power of the Condominium Association to Collect Dues and Levy Assessments

As a member of a common interest community, a condominium unit owner is responsible for paying dues and other applicable fees to the condominium or homeowner association.1 The individual is also, of course, responsible for making payments on any mortgage or mortgages that are on the property. A default with respect to either of these obligations may lead to foreclosure proceedings brought by the association, the lender, or both.

Home Foreclosures: 14.1.2 Dual Threat of Foreclosure by Lender and Condominium Association

A condominium unit owner who is unable to continue both making payments upon a mortgage and paying association dues or other fees faces a dual threat of foreclosure. Just as a lender can foreclose upon a mortgage or deed of trust following default, so can a condominium association obtain a lien against the owner for the amount owed and then proceed to foreclose upon the lien if the debt remains unpaid for a given period of time.

Home Foreclosures: 14.1.3 Overview of State Condominium Acts

Condominiums are purely creatures of statute.7 Because condominiums are creatures of statute, unit owners’ rights and responsibilities are not the same as those of real property owners at common law.8 All states and the District of Columbia have enacted statutes9 that authorize the establishment of condominiums and include various provisions relating to their governance and operation.

Home Foreclosures: 14.1.4 Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act

In 1982, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (Uniform Law Commissioners) promulgated the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA). This Act was intended to consolidate and subsume earlier acts, including the Uniform Condominium Act, the Uniform Planned Community Act, and the Model Real Estate Cooperative Act. The Act addressed the formation, governance, management, and termination of common interest communities, including condominiums.