Today’s News on the Student Loan Debacle

Senate & Congress Phone & Address Directory
 
This blog is 1 Week Old Today, thank you everyone who has left emails, comments and who has shown support for this blog. I think nearly 600 hits in a week is awesome, hopefully people have made some calls to their representatives, become more informed, and opted into the engagement process. Thank you!

Join the ‘student loan debt’ advocates & champions in the fight towards changing American perceptions; there is a movement to reach and change societal norms in regards of how people think of ‘student loan debt’ and the serious repercussions in aggregate when the next financial crisis hits. When the student loan bubble bursts, and it will; the devastation will be long reaching into our financial institutions, and then society will finally understand the foreboding economic condition and the actors who were involved in allowing this student loan debt catastrophe to happen: the responsible persons for the Student Loan Debacle, is majority of Congress & the Senate.

And the many thousands of individuals who are rising up and saying to Congress and the Senate “enough is enough, get out of the pockets of special interest groups; quit catering hand and foot to the PACS,” and do the job you were elected to do by the American people, in assisting the American people and not big corporations, you know the United States citizens, the ones who are paying your salaries!

I can’t emphasize enough, walking away from student loans is really not an option. Because, your student loans never go away! EVER! There are many ways in which your debt can be dealt with the utilization of various programs. There is a link on the right, Navigating Through Your Student Loan Nightmare, which may help. More info on restructuring your debt will come later.

Congress and the Senate should be held accountable because of the lack of financial protections they eradicated; or should I say, [the bankruptcy protections] they have done away with, for the sake of their special interest associations.

• Sub-Prime Economics, “Student loans do not come with “free-market consumer protections.” Student loans cannot easily be discharged in bankruptcy (compared to other unsecured loans); borrowers do not have the option to restructure their student loans; and these loans come with no real statute of limitations in most cases. Lacking these protections, borrowers are more or less bound for life to repay any money they borrow for their education.
• The organizations that are meant to oversee student lenders (called “guarantors”) make roughly 60 percent of their revenue from fees and penalties associated with loans that have gone into default. In other words, the groups intended to protect borrowers from lender abuse actually have a financial interest in borrowers not being able to repay their loans as outlined in their loan terms.
• Student lenders have broader debt collection rights than other types of lenders. This means that they have a better chance of collecting some or all of the money owed to them (including money owed as part of penalties and fees).” (http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/blog/without-bankruptcy-option-are-student-loans-predatory/).

Check back later, I will have a more comprehensive argument about all the money people on The Hill are burning. I mean 535 in Congress people make at least $174,000.00 a year and the same with the 100 in the Senate so you have 635 making a ton of money (that we are paying, and what are we paying for? Not much as I can see; oh yea creating incentives for their rich friends. More on that later.

Know your rights if you have student loan debt and the collection practices you may encounter, “The FDCPA [Fair Debt Collection Practices Act] is federal law that allows consumers to sue if their rights are violated by unfair debt collection practices.” (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf).

Not only are the suffering students proposing that bankruptcy laws need to be changed, “…high levels of student loan debt are threatening to disrupt the economic recovery, and the Obama Administration should tweak bankruptcy laws to allow an easier path for student loan relief. According to Laitinen, instead of patching the problem with short-term solutions, the government should amend bankruptcy laws so that students could discharge private student loan debt in bankruptcy court.” (http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/bankruptcy-news/personal-bankruptcy/should-student-loans-discharged-800443334.aspx).

According to The White House – and President Obama’s administration, more steps need to be taken for student loan borrowers, “Allow borrowers to cap their student loan payments at 10% of discretionary income.  In the 2010 State of the Union, the President proposed – and Congress quickly enacted – an improved income-based repayment (IBR) plan, which allows student loan borrowers to cap their monthly payments at 15% of their discretionary income. Beginning July 1, 2014, the IBR plan is scheduled to reduce that limit from 15% to 10% of discretionary income.” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/25/fact-sheet-help-americans-manage-student-loan-debt#.T6_fkGFVtiQ.facebook).

If you are being harassed or treated unethically by student loan collection agencies, there is several recourses: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) - Student Debt Repayment Assistant, an online tool for borrowers, in regards to: repayment, income-based repayment, deferments, and other payment programs.  (ConsumerFinance.gov/students/repay).

or the FTC.GOV

I have never personally heard of anyone being able to discharge ‘student debt’ under the undue hardship clause, “Student loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy—both in theory and in fact. Surprisingly, not much empirical research has been done on the topic. But in a 2003 study, 57% of debtors seeking to discharge student loans were successful. A follow-up study of bankruptcy cases filed between 2002 and 2006 found similar trends. At the very least, this limited data debunks the “impossibility” meme. Discharge is possible. It happens. It’s just difficult to predict when and to what extent.” (http://lawyerist.com/undo-undue-hardship/).

Transparency: No to any information from ‘The Freedom of Information Act’ on Members of Congress or the Senate, “The Legislative Branch and Congress [is exempt]. For records and more information on both houses of Congress, please contact your local House Representative or Senator. You may also visit www.house.gov, www.senate.gov, or www.congress.gov for additional information on the legislative branch.” No Transparency Here! Really are they going to give me the industries and shell corporations they are involved in? NO!

“Much like the mortgage brokers who promised pain-free borrowing to homeowners just a few years back, many colleges don't offer warnings about student debt in the glossy brochures and pitch letters mailed to prospective students. Instead, reading from the same handbook as for-profit colleges, they urge students not to worry about the costs. That's because most students don't pay full price. Even discounted, the price is beyond the means of many. Yet too often, students and their parents listen without question.

"I readily admit it," said E. Gordon Gee, the president of Ohio State University, who has also served as president of Vanderbilt and Brown, among others. "I didn't think a lot about costs. I do not think we have given significant thought to the impact of college costs on families.” (http://www.statesman.com/news/education/current-generation-likely-to-be-hobbled-by-student-2353555.html).