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Will your employer help you with student loans?

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With student loans a growing crisis for many consumers – and the economy in general – the search for a solution is ongoing and intensifying. If you can’t afford your payments, or can but they’re causing a bite in your budget, you may want to take notice of a new piece of legislation. A new bill introduced on October 11, 2018, by Senator Cory Gardner (R) encourages employers to chip in and help their employees pay off their student loan debt.

Student loan solutions to fraud

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There’s a special type of student loan forgiveness targeted at people with college debt who were done wrong by their school. It’s called a “borrower defense to repayment” and allows you to request cancellation of your student loans. Even better, if you qualify, you can get back payments you made on the student loans. Here is what you need to know about this one-of-a-kind program and whether it could benefit you.

Student loan study shows Millennials struggling

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Student loans are a growing plague on our economy and affect consumers of all ages. However, not all are affected equally. A recent study by AARP and Association of Young Americans found that Millennials (individuals ages 21 - 36) are the hardest hit by this debt, among all the generations in the US.

Student loan problems?

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As student loan debt consumes more Americans, the search for solutions intensifies. One option to consider is bankruptcy. At one time, student loans were much easier to discharge in bankruptcy, then it got much harder, and now the pendulum may be swinging the other way finally.

Stressed about student loans

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Very few debts are ineligible for bankruptcy discharge. Among them are recent income taxes, alimony, child support, and student loans. Also, ineligible are debts taken fraudulently or via theft or other similar shady means. However, student loans weren’t always nondischargeable – so how and why did they get carved out of the federal debt relief mechanism?

Student loan servicer Navient facing another lawsuit

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Student loans can be burdensome, but Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) offers hope to millions of borrowers. This program offers debt relief through service to police, firefighters, teachers, nurses, social workers, and other public servants. But now, a new class-action lawsuit accuses federal loan servicing company Navient of shortchanging student loan borrowers and making their road to debt discharge needlessly difficult and, in some cases, impossible.

Is refinancing or consolidating your student loans the right move?

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When you graduate college with student loans, it’s not just one big loan. It can be lots of smaller ones. To make things worse, they won’t all automatically fall under the same student loan servicer. It can leave you with a frustrating task when you want to request a change to an income-driven repayment plan or need a deferment, forbearance, or even answers to a question. Two ways to make your loans easier to manage are consolidation and refinancing. But what’s the difference and is either a good option for you?

Don't play dangerous games with student loans

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This week, Forbes reported a disturbing trend among some student loan borrowers engaging in what’s called strategic default. The site reports that there are “intentional” defaulters fighting back at what they call student loan slavery, servitude, and “economic terrorism.” While social protest can help change the world, it can also wreck your financial future if you’re not careful. For those considering taking a stand by not paying their student loans, here’s what you need to know.

Adversary proceedings are the tool to fight student loans in bankruptcy

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If you’ve got student loans you can’t afford, one of the possible routes to relief is bankruptcy discharge. Before the 2005 bankruptcy reform act, it was much easier to unload student loans in bankruptcy if your financial situation was rocky. Post-2005, it became much harder - almost impossible in fact. But now the tides are turning again and it’s increasingly possible to diminish or eliminate your student loans in bankruptcy, but step one is an Adversary Proceeding. Let’s look at what it is and why it’s necessary.