A “statute of limitations” is a period of time within which someone must bring a legal claim or file a lawsuit in court. These time periods are set by law, and they vary in length depending on the subject matter. There are statutes of limitations for charging someone with a crime, for suing someone for breaching a contract, and for seeking recovery from someone who caused an injury. If someone brings a legal action or files a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has run (meaning, after the requisite time period has passed), the action could be dismissed, and then they wouldn’t be able to prevail on their claims.
In the student loan context, it’s usually student loan creditors who are suing borrowers to collect on defaulted student loans. In some cases, if the creditor waits too long, collection of the debt could be “time-barred” by the statute of limitations. If the borrower raises this as a legal defense in response to the lawsuit and prevails, the creditor’s lawsuit would be dismissed, and the debt would effectively become uncollectible (although it doesn’t necessarily just cease to exist).
But when it comes to student loan collections, understanding the statute of limitations can be challenging. How long does a lender have to sue someone to collect on student debt? The length of that limitations period – and whether there even is one – depends on a number of key elements including the type of student loan, the status of that loan, federal law, state law, and the loan’s history. It can be complicated; let’s break it down.Read More
The Trump/DeVos administration has been busy during the past 18 months, rolling back significant protections for student loan borrowers and their families. Just in the past couple of weeks, there have been two new developments that curtail regulation of predatory schools, lenders, servicers, and debt collectors.
Student loan refinancing has been a hot topic during the past several years. Trendy new companies – like SoFi, Earnest, LendKey, and CommonBond – have been offering slick refinancing products to entice borrowers. Major banks and credit unions have also jumped in, sometimes offering tantalizingly low interest rates. The best loan products are generally marketed to doctors, lawyers, and other high-income professionals who tend to have large amounts of federal student loan debt, but great earning potential and excellent credit.
This week, the Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed the Student Loan Bill of Rights – powerful legislation that would enshrine new state-level protections for student loan borrowers in the Commonwealth. I was 
Last week, Congress passed – and the President signed – a major spending package that touches nearly every element of society. Buried deep within the 2,200 pages of legislation are some interesting provisions regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which allows borrowers to get any remaining balance on their federal student loans forgiven after 10 years of “qualifying payments.”
Time flies when you’re having fun. This month marks seven years since I went out on a limb and opened my law office devoted to helping student loan borrowers. It’s been an incredible experience. I’ve met hundreds of wonderful people over the years, and I never imagined how impactful this work could be.
The Trump administration released a budget blueprint yesterday, outlining how it wants Congress to address government spending. The proposal calls for 
During the past few months, I have seen a fairly rapid increase in new collections lawsuits being filed against student loan borrowers in Massachusetts for defaulted student loans that were previously held by Sallie Mae and/or Navient. This is noteworthy because in my experience, these loans had been predominantly placed with non-attorney third-party debt collection agencies, or out-of-state collection law firms that rarely filed suit. This is a major shift.
Getting sued on a defaulted student loan can be overwhelming and terrifying. In my experience, most people who are brought to court by student loan debt collectors have never been sued before, so they don’t know what to expect. And dealing with debt collectors, attorneys, court personnel, and judges can be intimidating and embarrassing.
Well, 2017 has been quite an explosive year, hasn’t it? And there’s been a lot going on in the world of student loan law – so much, in fact, that it can be a bit overwhelming to keep everything straight. So as we wrap up this year, here’s an overview of what went down for student loan borrowers, and some hints of what’s to come in 2018.