Introduction It is estimated that about 20% of adults in the United States have student loan debt and that about 93% of all student loan debt is federal.[1] The Covid-19 pandemic paused a variety of financial obligations: from mortgage forbearances to temporary moratoriums on evictions for non-payment of rent, to the interest-free student loan freeze; […]
Student Loan Discharge – the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Over the last thirty-years student loan debt has nearly quadrupled.[1] Your average American carries student loan debt ranging from $25,000.00 to $50,000.00. Many people carry substantially more than that. When one is struggling financially student loans can feel like the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. And while deferment or income driven repayment plans […]
Student Loan Dischargeability
Can Your Student Loan Debts be Discharged in Bankruptcy? As of March 2020, federal student loan payments were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden recently extended the pause for an additional 90 days– it is now set to expire on May 1, 2022. Many of us are taught that to secure a financially […]
Broken Promises and Debt Pile Up as Loan Forgiveness Goes Astray
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Attorney, Lee M. Perlman. A federal loan forgiveness program made a promise to students: Stick with your vital but low-wage professions and your debts will be wiped clean. Then they weren’t. WASHINGTON — When Congress created a student loan forgiveness program in 2007, lawmakers wanted to draw people to vital […]
How Student Debt Can Ruin Home Buying Dreams
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyer, Lee M. Perlman When Rebecca Wills pictures the home she would like to buy, it looks like the one she grew up in: Small house. Big backyard. Enough grass for the family to lie out on when the New Jersey summers cooperate. “A place where you can come take […]
6 Tips for Avoiding the Worst Student Loan Repayment Traps
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy and Student Loan Debt Lawyer, Lee M. Perlman. Whether or not you believe the allegations, the jaw-dropping dossier of sins that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accuses the nation’s largest student loan servicer of committing is useful for two crucial reasons. First, it’s a reminder of just how much can […]
In New Jersey Student Loan Program, Even Death May Not Bring a Reprieve
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyer, Lee M. Perlman. Amid a haze of grief after her son’s murder last year, Marcia DeOliveira-Longinetti faced an endless list of tasks — helping the police gain access to Kevin’s phone and email; canceling his subscriptions, credit cards and bank accounts; and arranging his burial in New Jersey. And […]
How REPAYE Differs From Other Income-Driven Repayment Plans
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Attorney, Lee M. Perlman. In early 2015, President Obama proposed the Student Aid Bill of Rights, which included a provision to make it easier for borrowers to repay their students loans. As the result of this provision, the government introduced a new repayment option for federal student loans: Revised Pay […]
How to Approach Student Loans, as First Payments Come Due
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyer, Lee M. Perlman. IF you graduated from college last spring, it may soon be time to start repaying your student loans. Many federal student loans come with a six-month grace period after graduation, during which payments are not required. The idea is that new graduates need some breathing room […]
A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower
Submitted by New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyer, Lee M. Perlman. “It feels like I’m being set up to fail.” That’s how Patrick Wittwer, 31, described his experience trying to repay his roughly $50,000 in student loans. Between misdirected payments by one of the companies servicing his loan and the abusive collection tactics he encountered when he […]
