Advocates call on incoming congress and state legislatures to deliver bold agenda on affordability and household debt crisis and hold Trump Administration and private corporations accountable.
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On October 30, 2026, AFT President Randi Weingarten joined nine AFT members and student loan borrowers in a class action lawsuit to sue Education Secretary McMahon for systematically preventing tens of thousands of public service workers from securing millions in debt relief they are owed under federal law. All plaintiffs and the proposed class of borrowers are represented by Protect Borrowers and Berger Montague PC.
Trump Administration deliberately mishandled Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, leaving over 90,000 borrowers in the lurch.
Broad coalition of nonprofit organizations, local governments, and labor unions successfully stop unlawful effort to punish perceived political opponents.
Citing new research from Protect Borrowers and Columbia Law School’s Center for Law and the Economy, New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection moves to ban doom loops and other abuses.
Today, The Washington Sun reported a secret plan by the U.S. Department of Education to eject the Office of Federal Student Aid, establishing the government’s scandal-plagued student loan arm as a new, independent federal agency.
Speakers addressed rising student, credit card, auto, and medical debt and highlighted a medical debt bill moving through the Colorado legislature.
The fact sheet includes data on student loan, credit card, and auto debt for borrowers in the Denver metropolitan area of Colorado.
See our fact sheets and reports on household debt in Colorado.
Protect Borrowers, Project on Predatory Student Lending, and The Debt Collection Lab at Princeton University sent a letter to Sec. Bessent demanding a full audit of the more than 9 million student loan borrowers currently in default.
Read Part 3 of our series examining the shadow network of vendors that control the federal student loan market and the role they play in driving student loan defaults.
How decades of cost-cutting, outsourcing, and automation left customers stranded with AI chatbots, and what we can do about it.
A new joint issue brief urges state enforcers and private plaintiffs to use existing law against chatbots that give wrong answers, trap customers in “doom loops,” or fail to fix problems.
Former regulators warn in joint issue brief that many AI customer service chatbots may already break the law and urge state enforcers and private plaintiffs to use existing law against chatbots that give wrong answers, trap customers in “doom loops,” or fail to fix problems.
Why the POWER Act can deliver in ways that government alone never will.
The POWER Act will allow tenants, workers, consumers, and small businesses to sue over unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices.
Analysis shows borrowers in the south will see the largest tax increases.
Over the next decade, 2 to 3 million Americans who earn student debt cancellation after making payments for 20+ years could be hit with a massive tax bill.
Starting in the 2026 tax year, federal student loan borrowers enrolled in an Income-Driven Repayment plan could be forced to pay federal income tax on their cancelled debt. These tax changes equate to a massive “tax bomb” that will force families to pay as much as an additional $12,000 in federal taxes and will hit between 2 and 3 million Americans over the next 10 years.
As midterm elections put medical debt relief on the ballot, state lawmakers aren’t waiting for Washington to act.