In a report, the SBPC, the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition and SEIU Local 500 show how private student loan collection practices are harming borrowers across the country, including a spotlight on Maryland borrowers. With creditors dragging borrowers into court for debt they often do not owe and lacking the documents necessary to back up their claims, the report lays out how these companies are manipulating courts into garnishing borrowers’ wages for illegitimate debt. The analysis also shows that in Maryland, these lawsuits disproportionately target communities of color.
This report is an update to a brief released by the SBPC in March 2020. New data from during the COVID-19 crisis have been included to show how private student loan collection practices continue to harm borrowers in Maryland. As COVID cases and subsequent increases in unemployment and economic distress continue to harm Maryland residents, private student loan debt collectors have continued to pursue judgements in courts across the state.
Read the Report: The Long Legacy of Predatory Private Student Loans: Defrauding Borrowers and Lying to Courts
Read the Blog: Maryland Leads the Way in Ending Predatory Student Loan Debt Collection Machine that has Barreled on Amidst COVID-19