On April 30, 2020, Student Defense and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), with the support of the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) and then-Secretary Betsy DeVos, demanding an immediate halt to the Department’s garnishment of student borrowers’ wages, which the Coronavirus Aid, […]

On January 20, 2021, his first day in office, President Biden directed the U.S. Department of Education to extend the coronavirus-related payment suspension and 0% interest rate on certain federal student loans. This relief had been set to expire on January 31, 2021. Hopefully, this is the first of many actions Biden takes to fulfill […]

On the campaign trail, President-Elect Biden made a number of student loan promises that would alter the lives of millions of Americans. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, he promised to provide wide-spread cancellation to all federal student loan borrowers(here at 1:10, here at 16:22, here at page 26, here). As we have written before, […]

Late last week, the House passed an amended version of the HEROES Act, which included a number of critical protections that student loan borrowers need now. Importantly, the amended bill extends the current payment suspension, stops interest from accruing on federal loans through September 2021, and extends CARES Act relief to the 9 million borrowers […]

This week, Congress is ramping up its debate about what protections it should extend as student loan borrowers continue to weather the Coronavirus crisis. These protections cannot come soon enough; on August 1, borrowers will begin to receive notices that the relief provided by the ‘‘Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’’ or the ‘‘CARES […]

Today on this Tax Day, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) has released Voices of Despair: How Seizing the EITC Is Leaving Student Loan Borrowers Homeless and Hopeless During a Pandemic. The updated report builds on a 2018 NCLC report that compiled stories from dozens of borrowers recounting the hardship caused by the federal government’s […]

Some states are taking action to help borrowers with private student loan debt in addition to other general debt relief steps. A number of state attorney general offices have reached an agreement with private student loan lenders to provide assistance during the Covid-19 crisis. Those lenders have agreed to offer the following forms of relief […]

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) continues to garnish the wages of student loan borrowers despite some efforts to comply with the law. One of those borrowers is Craigory Lee A. Jenkins, whose wages continue to be garnished, depriving her of exactly the relief Congress decided she needed when it passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, […]

The ‘‘Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’’ or the ‘‘CARES Act’’ provided much-needed relief to some federal student loan borrowers in the face of the coronavirus crisis. The package, however, fell short in several critical consumer protection areas, including student loans. As we explained in a summary of the key student loan repayment provisions […]

UPDATE (June 4, 2020): The Department of Education has provided more information about implementation of the CARES Act.  Updates are provided in the text below. **************************** On Friday, March 27th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed and the President signed into law the ‘‘Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’’ or the ‘‘CARES Act,’’ emergency […]