Category: Uncategorized

Shocking New Data Show Why California Lawmakers Must Protect Borrowers and Rein in Abusive Student Loan Debt Collectors

The SBPC released a new report exposing the punishing consequences for private student loan borrowers in California who fall behind on their debts. This study, authored by Claire Johnson Raba, an SBPC fellow and a clinical teaching fellow at the University of California Irvine School of Law’s Consumer Law Clinic, shows why California’s AB 424 is urgently needed.

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For-Profit Schools Target Minority Communities That Typically Owe More Student Debt, Report Says

Over the past decade, a number of for-profit schools have shut down over accusations of misleading students and leading them to take on more debt than they can pay off. A recent report found those schools target minority communities that were already disproportionately burdened by student debt.

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ED, the CFPB, and Borrowers Can All Hold School and Creditors Accountable for Predatory Lending Schemes

Our new legal memo provides a roadmap to ensure that companies are held accountable for unlawful practices.

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SBPC Applauds Biden Administration for Reversing Trump-era Scheme to Deny Justice to Borrowers Cheated by Student Loan Companies

Today, the U.S. Department of Education rolled back a Trump Administration directive issued by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that attempted to block state governments and individual student loan borrowers from seeking justice when student loan companies break the law.

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SBPC Statement on the Extension of the Student Loan Payment Pause

Before the pandemic, our nation was in the midst of a $1.7 trillion student debt crisis with more than 1-in-4 borrowers already struggling. The Biden Administration has five short months to repair this badly broken system.

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SBPC Statement on California DFPI Consent Order with Income Share Agreements Servicer Meratas

Today, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced a landmark consent order with New York-based Meratas, Inc., a company that partners with educational institutions to offer students Income Share Agreements or ISAs to finance post-secondary education and training.

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A Quirk of the Calendar is About to Lead Borrowers to Pay Billions More on their Federal Student Loans. The Department of Education Can Prevent This.

A legal quirk is slated to lead millions of students taking on federal student loans over the next year to face billions of dollars of unnecessary added charges throughout repayment.

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California Announces Deal to Treat Fintech’s ISAs as Student Loans

State authorities in California struck a deal with a fintech firm to treat a controversial finance product known as income-share agreements as student loans, requiring compliance with the state’s student borrower protection laws.

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Student Debt In Disguise: How Employers are Using Predatory Debt to Hurt Workers and Hold Back Competition

New evidence indicates that employers nationwide are increasingly leveraging shadow student debt to trap workers into unfair contracts and substandard working conditions. In particular, a growing number of industries and employers are using bait-and-switch tactics to force workers to take on loans and debt through nefarious “training repayment agreements.”

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Report: For-Profit Institutions Target Communities of Color

Despite pushes to address predatory practices—such as the withholding of Title IV federal financial aid—for-profit institutions are continuing to target communities of color through recruitment and location strategies, according to a new Student Borrower Protection Center report.

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