Social Security

Jul 31, 2020

Fintech Lenders’ Responses to Senate Probe Heighten Fears of Educational Redlining

The SBPC found that the company’s use of this data resulted in ‘educational redlining,’ penalizing borrowers who attended minority-serving institutions. Upstart’s practices highlight key problems related to the use of educational criteria in underwriting, federal fair lending laws, and equal credit access.

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Jul 31, 2020

Broken Promises: Investigating the Department of Education’s Employer Certification Process

In conjunction with the release of the report, “Broken Promises: Employment Certification Failures,” the SBPC has released two new sets of documents and records that have never before been available to the public

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Jul 30, 2020

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Student Borrower Protection Center Send Letter to Financial Technology Firm over Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act Violations

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the SBPC sent a demand letter to financial technology firm Upstart explaining how the firm’s algorithm likely violates the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act.

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Jul 28, 2020

56 Organizations Join in Opposition to Senate Bill that Fails to Protect Student Borrowers

The SBPC joined 55 other organizations in submitting a letter to Senate leadership in opposition to the Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act released yesterday.

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Jul 28, 2020

Solving Student Debt or Compounding the Crisis?: Income Share Agreements & Fair Lending Risks

This paper examines how the antidiscrimination framework underpinning federal and state fair lending laws apply to Income Share Agreements, with a particular focus on the Equal Credit Opportunity Act

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Jul 28, 2020

Innovation or Discrimination? Fair Lending Risks and ISAs

Although the U.S. is desperately in need of solutions for the student debt crisis—and the accompanying racial and ethnic disparities—features of existing Income Share Agreements threaten to exacerbate these inequalities.

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Jul 21, 2020

Credit By Any Other Name: How Federal Consumer Financial Law Governs Income Share Agreements

This paper lays out how ISAs share many characteristics with traditional student loans and how these financial products fall squarely within the consumer financial laws which broadly apply to credit products.

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Jul 21, 2020

This is not the Credit You’re Looking for: Why Jedi Mind Tricks Won’t Work for ISAs

Lenders offering Income Share Agreements (ISAs) claim they have found the perfect loophole to sidestep federal law. They argue that ISAs are “not credit,” and therefore federal consumer financial laws don’t apply. These companies have bet their business on this assumption, accruing massive liability if they are wrong.

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Jul 17, 2020

Web of Predatory Schools and Finance Companies Drive Students to Take On Billions in High-Cost ‘Shadow’ Student Debt New Study Finds

The SBPC released a new report exposing the web of predatory schools and financial services firms that drive students to take on billions in risky, high-cost “shadow” student debt.

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Jul 17, 2020

Shadow Student Debt Report

This report examines the web of predatory schools and financial services firms that drive students to take on risky, high-cost shadow student debt.

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Jul 16, 2020

SBPC Launching Income Share Agreement Conference and Paper Series: Using Consumer Law To Protect Student Loan Borrowers

The SBPC is announcing an unprecedented exploration into the role that consumer protection laws play in safeguarding borrowers from the harms posed by ISAs. Over the next month, we will release a paper series, authored by legal experts at the forefront of consumer law, exploring how ISAs fit into existing consumer financial protection framework.

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Jul 14, 2020

FAQs: Student Loan Repayment During COVID-19

To help provide guidance, here are answers to some frequently asked borrower questions about managing student loans during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.

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Jul 14, 2020

Student Loan Law Initiative Research Grant Program

The SLLI research program is an opportunity to explore the spillover effects of student debt on the economy and society by offering a closer look at the consequences of rising debt for those hardest hit by this crisis.

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News Clips

Jun 29, 2020

Student debt crisis creates a ‘vicious cycle’ of inequality in Black, Latino neighborhoods, report finds

The report by the Student Borrower Protection Center, a consumer advocacy group, analyzed previous borrower data prepared by regional Federal Reserve banks and the city governments of New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and San Francisco and found a commonality that students in majority Black and Latino neighborhoods are more reliant on student loans and shoulder a greater debt burden.

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Jun 29, 2020

Disparate Debts: How Student Loans Drive Racial Inequality Across Cities

This report examines alarming racial disparities in student debt burdens and borrower distress across American cities.

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Jun 29, 2020

New Report Finds Severe Racial Disparities for Student Loan Borrowers Across American Cities

Alarming racial disparities in student debt burden and borrower distress exist across American cities, according to a new report issued today by the Student Borrower Protection Center.

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Investigations

Jun 26, 2020

Private Student Loan Collections

The Student Borrower Protection Center and the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles are collecting stories to shed light on the egregious, predatory practices used by collectors of private student loan debt to expose how these companies exploit the California court system to rip off borrowers.

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