Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has issued emergency state regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These regulations provide student loan borrowers and other consumers with some of the strongest legal rights and protections in the country against debt collectors.
Here’s an overview of what these new regulations do:
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Student loan borrowers — in particular, federal student loan borrowers — do have some options for managing student loans during this time of hardship. Start assessing your situation and making a plan of action.
As Congress and the President work towards providing economic relief, we will do our best to stay on top of the latest developments. You can check back here periodically, as well as Attorney Minsky’s Forbes page, where he frequently posts articles on breaking developments. You can also follow Attorney Minsky on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Here is the most up-to-date information we have on various student loan protections enacted in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Read MorePublic Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a program that can allow federal student loan borrowers to get their federal loans forgiven after 120 “qualifying payments.” A qualifying payment is a payment made on a Direct federal student loan under an income-driven repayment plan (or the 10-year Standard repayment plan) while working as a full-time employee for a domestic public or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Because of the complexity of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and the fact that many student loan servicers did a poor job communicating the program’s requirements, many student loan borrowers thought they were making progress, but were not. If a borrower made a payment on the wrong type of federal loan, or made payments under a non-qualifying repayment plan, they may not be eligible for loan forgiveness.
Congress recently passed a legislative fix to try to address some of these peculiarities. This new program is called Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or TEPSLF. TEPSLF is somewhat limited, and it has some serious flaws. But here’s how it works.
Read MoreThere is currently $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. That figure has nearly doubled over the course of the past 10 years. 44 million Americans carry student loan debt, and one in four of those borrowers are struggling with their payments. Millions of student loan borrowers are putting off critical life decisions such as home purchases, marriage, having children, and saving for retirement.
The scope of the problem is only aggravated further by a sprawling and dysfunctional student loan system, skyrocketing higher education costs, uniquely restrictive rights and options for borrowers, and poor government oversight.
Can the system be fixed? Yes. Here’s how.
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Student loan lawyer Adam S. Minsky has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer “Rising Star” for the fifth year in a row. The designation is awarded only to the top 2.5% of attorneys in Massachusetts, and it reflects Attorney Minsky’s ongoing work helping student loan borrowers and their families.
Attorney Minsky started his practice nearly nine years ago with a mission to defend, protect, and advocate for people saddled with student loan debt. Since then, he has battled student loan servicers, debt collection agencies, and government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, and he has helped people navigate the confusing and often predatory student loan system.
In the past several years, Attorney Minsky expanded his student loan practice to New York, published several student loan guidebooks, became a contributing writer to Forbes, and has travelled the country training other professionals to help student loan borrowers.
This year, Attorney Minsky presented to financial planners in New York City, to attorneys in Miami and New Hampshire, and to AmeriCorps service members in Massachusetts. He was quoted in The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Boston Globe. Next month, Attorney Minsky will be presenting at the National Consumer Law Center’s Consumer Rights Litigation Conference in Boston.
Attorney Minsky’s name will be published in Boston magazine and Super Lawyers magazine.
There has been a surge in new collections lawsuits in Massachusetts against student loan borrowers during the past year. Based on what I’m seeing on the ground, the majority of these suits are being initiated by one entity: an organization called the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, also known as MEFA.
Read MoreThe 2020 presidential primary elections are ramping up, and student loan debt has become one of the most important issues on the campaign trail. But the candidates for the Democratic nomination have dramatically different views on how to solve the student loan crisis. Some are calling for widespread student loan cancellation, while others want to streamline and fix some of the current, broken student loan programs. Others want to create new, targeted paths to student loan forgiveness and cancellation.
Read MoreDefaulting on student loans can be terrifying, damaging, and costly. Federal student loan lenders have enormously powerful tools to pursue student loan borrowers in default. For example, the federal government and federally-backed guaranty agencies can garnish a borrower’s wages, offset a borrower’s Social Security benefits, and intercept a borrower’s tax refund, all without a court order. Private student loan lenders don’t always have the same powers, but they can file lawsuits against borrowers in state courts, and then try to attach assets to satisfy any resulting judgments. Defaulting on both private and federal loans can lead to financial penalties and significant credit damage, as well.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Borrowers in default on their student loans have legal rights and options. And they may ultimately have the ability to fix their defaulted student loans.
Read MorePublic Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a popular program that millions of student loan borrowers are depending on. PSLF provides for complete forgiveness of federal student loans after 120 “qualifying payments.” A qualifying payment is one made on a Direct federal student loan under an income-driven repayment plan or the 10-year Standard plan, while working full-time for a qualifying employer (typically a public entity or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization).
The program has been a hot topic lately, especially in these polarized political times. It can be difficult to stay on top of the latest developments. Here’s where things stand.
Read MoreSenator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) is running for President and has announced a major proposal to forgive a massive amount of student loan debt. Here’s everything you need to know.
No, but it would effectively forgive most student loans. Warren’s proposal would allow for a maximum student loan forgiveness benefit of $50,000 per borrower. The average college graduate leaves school with between $30,000 and $40,000 in student loan debt, so many borrowers would see most or all of their student loans forgiven.
