A Deep Dive into the Debate Over Federal Student Loan Forgiveness
After more than seven years of litigation, on September 12, 2024, the CFPB filed the Stipulated Order reflecting its settlement with the Company over alleged violations of the CFPA, FCRA, and FDCPA....more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2023 applicable to student lending along with some information related to financial products and services offered to students....more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlighted its observations of the resumption of federal student loan payments by consumers after more than three years of a payment moratorium due to COVID-19 in a report released on...more
The White House signaled last week that, with the resumption of federal student loan payments, federal student loan servicers can expect to face increased scrutiny. The Department of Education issued a “Framework for Student...more
As part of its pledge to improve student loan programs and advance diversity and opportunity in higher education, the Biden administration has forgiven a total of $127 billion in student debt for 3.6 million borrowers,...more
Higher education clients who accept federal student loans may have recently received emails from the Department of Education (“Department”) notifying them of borrower defense claims seeking to avoid loan repayment obligations...more
On June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court invoked the “major questions doctrine” for the second time, concluding that the Biden Administration’s plan to forgive $430 billion of federal student loans under the Health and...more
On March 27, Republican lawmakers Representative Bob Good (R-VA) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Department of Education’s (DOE)...more
Building on its previous efforts to reduce the cost of federal student loans, the Department of Education (DOE), as directed by the Biden-Harris administration, proposed a new rule on Tuesday, January 10, that would reform...more
On July 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) to revise its regulations governing student loan discharge standards...more
Our Education Team examines how the Borrower Defense Rule is again expanding under the Biden Administration, beginning with a huge decision involving, for the first time, for-profit schools that are still operating. Nearly...more
Here are 5 Changes Student Loan Borrowers Could See in 2022 - "Experts say that if student loan forgiveness is going to happen, it will likely be before the midterm elections." Why this is important: During the last...more
After reviewing the existing types of federal student loans and forgiveness programs, we discuss the current political debate over forgiveness, including the Education Dept.’s upcoming analysis of the President’s forgiveness...more
On August 8, 2020, President Trump signed four executive orders that are designed to provide additional COVID-19 relief as talks on Capitol Hill collapsed on August 7 between White House negotiators and Democratic leaders...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last week in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Navient Corp. that the PA Attorney General could bring a parallel enforcement action against Navient, a servicer of federal...more
Section 3513, one of the many provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), addresses the handling of most federal student loans....more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136 (the “CARES Act”) was signed into law on March 27, 2020. Although much has been made of the obligations imposed on student loans and the servicers of...more
As we’ve been tracking for over a year now, courts across the country have addressed the significant question of whether the federal laws governing federally owned or guaranteed student loans preempt state laws placing...more
The New York Department of Financial Services ("DFS") has finalized the last piece of the Empire State's student loan servicer puzzle. On October 1st, the DFS issued a Student Loan Servicers Regulation (the "Regulation") that...more
The Colorado Attorney General’s Office recently published licensing applications for entities that are engaged in servicing student loans owed by Colorado residents....more
Culminating two years of negotiated rulemaking, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published on Aug. 30, 2019, new "Institutional Accountability" regulations that apply to all federal student loans disbursed...more
New Jersey has enacted a law, P.L. 2019, c. 200 (Act), that is designed to assist potential and existing student loan borrowers in understanding and managing their student loans. Briefly, the Act: 1) authorizes the New Jersey...more
The May 2019 issue of Insights included discussion of a growing trend to regulate student loan servicers. Currently, there are a handful of states that impose requirements specifically on such parties. However, the ranks of...more
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck a blow to student loan servicers’ arguments that certain state law claims brought by borrowers are preempted under the Higher Education Act (HEA). In a lengthy opinion issued on...more
In courts across the country, servicers are facing off against states and borrowers over the extent to which federal laws preempt state regulation of federal student loan servicers. Numerous states have stepped up their...more