Student Loans

A trio of companies and two individuals have been permanently banned from offering debt relief services nationwide and will repay $250,000 out of a $5.5 million judgment to settle claims brought by the Attorney General of New York that they perpetrated a student loan debt relief scam that cheated thousands …

A coding error by a student loan servicer has resulted in incorrect information being applied to the credit reports of nearly 5 million individuals, according to a published report. Great Lakes Educational Loan Services accidentally reported to the major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and TransUnion — that the …

A number of states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington — enacted additional collection regulations aimed at providing expanded relief for individuals with private student loans, including prohibitions against certain collection activities, which will remain in place during the coronavirus pandemic. The relief package has …

The Department of Education announced yesterday that it has stopped collecting on defaulted student loans and has ordered private collection agencies working on its behalf to halt collection activities “until further notice,” according to a published report, which cites a memo that was sent to collection agencies. Individuals with defaulted …

The city of Chicago, state of Colorado, and the House Financial Services Committee all either took steps or proposed taking steps to address debt collection during the coronavirus outbreak, joining a growing number of governments across the country to do so. Among the proposals floated by Rep. Maxine Waters [D-Calif.], …

The state of New York announced yesterday that it is suspending all debt collection activities on debts that are owed to the state, including student loans and medical debts, for 30 days while residents deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-day suspension may be extended, depending on the situation at …

The Senate yesterday joined the House of Representatives in passing legislation aimed at overturning a rule from the Department of Education that would have limited which individuals are entitled to debt relief for their unpaid student loans, which could end up being a symbolic move if President Trump decides to …

A District Court judge in the District of Columbia has granted motions to dismiss filed by the remaining defendants in a whistleblower’s False Claims Act lawsuit that alleges the a number of debt collectors defrauded the federal government of more than $100 million in relation to a contract to service …

Eight Senate Democrats are calling on Kathleen Kraninger, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to “do your job” and “stand up” to Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, over an “abandonment” of regulating part of the student loan servicing market. The Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.] and …

A group of 20 Democratic Senators, including four of whom are currently running for president, sent a letter on Monday to Kathleen Kraninger, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, requesting an investigation into how a student loan servicer’s “widespread violations of federal law” is causing “harm” to public …