Domino: A Blog About Student Debt

Every day, consumer reporting companies across the country collect information and produce reports about hundreds of millions of Americans. These reports are provided to or bought by other companies and used to determine access to credit, employment, housing, insurance, and more. The information contained in the reports significantly impacts millions...

As reports of widespread servicing breakdowns leading to significant borrower harm continue to emerge, it is critical that we examine the disparity in loan performance between borrowers of color in comparison to their white peers, the role of student loan servicers in exacerbating these outcomes, and the federal inaction that...

For too long, the student loan industry has sought to sell judges on exotic legal theories to absolve these companies of the consequences of their abuses and deny borrowers their day in court. Today’s amicus brief, co-authored with Montana Legal Services and National Consumer Law Center, is the most recent...

Although student loans are the second-largest class of consumer debt, borrowers are armed with fewer rights and protections than consumers with mortgages, credit cards, or nearly any other type of debt. 

While policymakers strengthened consumer protections for most credit products in the wake of the financial crisis, the rights of student loan borrowers continue to lag far behind. At every step of the lending and repayment process, 44.7 million American student loan borrowers still lack the same basic rights enjoyed by...

The student loan industry has repeatedly demonstrated that it is unable to do business in a fair and honest manner, these cases also reveal how the absence of enforceable, industry-specific standards for common practices has left borrowers’ vulnerable to a staggering range of abuses.

Setting the Record Straight: ED’s Failures in Student Borrower Protection By Ben Kaufman | November 26, 2019 In October, the Department of Education (ED) and its Secretary, Betsy DeVos were held in contempt and fined $100,000 for violating a court order preventing them from illegally collecting on defrauded students’ debts....

DeVos and Navient are losing this fight in court. Navient is being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the States of Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania, California, and Mississippi for illegal servicing practices.

Recently, lawmakers have been raising the pressure on the CFPB to fight for student loan borrowers, calling on Director Kraninger to get to work. Below is a recap of lawmakers' recent exchanges with Director Kraninger around the Bureau's failure to stand up for student loan borrowers and the need for...

What Betsy DeVos’s Brush with the Law Reveals About Our Broken Student Loan System By Mike Pierce | October 24, 2019 Earlier this month, a federal judge in California held a hearing to consider whether Education Secretary Betsy DeVos should be held in contempt of court. At issue: student loan...