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Blogs

Oct 24, 2019

What Betsy DeVos’s Brush with the Law Reveals About Our Broken Student Loan System

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 servicers’ and debt collectors’ continued […]

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Blogs

Oct 21, 2019

Stamping out Fraud in Higher Education through the False Claims Act: “Material” Should Mean Something

Students also look at the total cost of the program and determine whether they qualify for financial aid and student loans. In doing their homework, students generally trust the information they get from these schools or programs because they assume some government agency is making sure schools tell the truth. But maybe they shouldn’t.

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Blogs

Oct 10, 2019

SLLI Convenes Student Loan Policy and Litigation Colloquium

On October 4th SLLI convened leading legal scholars, student loan experts, and practitioners from across the country to share their work and shape the future of student loan research and litigation.

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News Clips

Oct 5, 2019

Bill to prohibit colleges from withholding transcripts as debt collection tactic signed into law

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Press Releases

Oct 3, 2019

California Advocates Renew Call to Pass AB 376 to Protect Teachers, Nurses and other California Student Loan Borrowers

Today, New York Attorney General Tish James sued student loan giant Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, also known as PHEAA or FedLoan Servicing, for cheating teachers, nurses and other public service workers out of their right to loan forgiveness. In the face of mounting lawsuits and growing evidence of widespread predatory practices across the student loan industry, the organizations co-sponsoring AB 376, the California Student Borrower Bill of Rights, have renewed their call…

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News Clips

Sep 25, 2019

Student loan bill of rights protects R.I. borrowers

Rhode Island’s new Student Loan Borrower Bill of rights aims to address servicing companies’ predatory practices by requiring loan servicers to register with the state and setting standards for their conduct.

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Blogs

Sep 23, 2019

Supporting States in the Fight to Protect Borrowers

States are on the front lines of the student debt crisis. State legislators and policymakers are among the first to hear stories of struggling borrowers, learn about industry abuses, and spot problems and trends in communities. Many states are also playing a critical role in overseeing student loan companies and cracking down on predatory practices by enforcing consumer protection law.

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Blogs

Sep 19, 2019

Five Things We Learned About Navient’s Plot to Cheat Student Borrowers

Yesterday, over the objections of Navient’s attorneys, a federal judge unsealed a trove of new documents revealing a years-long, coordinated effort by company executives to cheat student loan borrowers out of their rights.

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Press Releases

Sep 18, 2019

Statement by SBPC Executive Director Seth Frotman on New Evidence Revealing Navient Executives’ Plot to Cheat Borrowers

Newly unsealed court documents reveal executives at the nation’s largest student loan company orchestrated a predatory scheme to place borrowers in high-cost repayment options to boost corporate profits. Reliance on these high-cost options, known as “forbearances,” resulted in more than $4 billion in unnecessary interest charges passed on to borrowers, according to lawsuits filed by federal and state enforcement officials.

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Testimony & Remarks

Sep 10, 2019

Testimony of Seth Frotman Before the United States Congress House Financial Services Committee

We cannot continue to ignore the trillion-dollar blackhole in our financial markets. As it has done time and again, this Committee must act.

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News Clips

Sep 4, 2019

CPAs: Action From Congress Needed To Help Reduce Student-debt Load

State professional association says indebted clients are putting off saving for retirement and buying a home.

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News Clips

Aug 29, 2019

Advocates File Amicus Brief to Defend Students Against Navient Corporation

New Jersey Citizen Action, The Center for Responsible Lending, the Student Borrower Protection Center the Pennsylvania Senior Law Center and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed an amicus brief in support of Pennsylvania’s lawsuit against Navient.

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Blogs

Aug 29, 2019

Supporting States in the Fight to Protect Borrowers

A coalition of national and local non-profit organizations joined together in filing an amicus curie brief in support of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office versus large student loan servicing company Navient.

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Press Releases

Aug 19, 2019

Trump Administration’s Selection of Industry Insider for Nation’s Student Loan Watchdog Heightens Urgency to Pass AB 376 to Protect California Student Loan Borrowers

Trump Administration’s Selection of Industry Insider for Nation’s Student Loan Watchdog Heightens Urgency to Pass AB 376 to Protect California Student Loan Borrowers Recent Revolving-Door Hire is Further Proof Washington is Failing to Stand up for Borrowers The Trump Administration’s appointment on Friday of a student loan industry executive to serve as the nation’s top […]

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Press Releases

Aug 16, 2019

Statement from SBPC Executive Director Seth Frotman on Appointment of Industry Executive to Top Student Loan Watchdog Job

Student Borrower Protection Center Executive Director and former CFPB student loan ombudsman Seth Frotman released the following statement on today’s announcement by the Bureau that student loan industry executive Robert G. Cameron will serve as the Bureau’s student loan ombudsman.

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Press Releases

Aug 14, 2019

Statement from SBPC Executive Director Seth Frotman on the Congressional Inquiry into Trump Administration Obstruction and Industry Abuses

Student Borrower Protection Center Executive Director and former CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman issued a statement on the congressional inquiry announced into the Trump Administration’s failure to protect student loan borrowers, including potential obstruction of justice by senior Trump Administration officials and abuses by the student loan servicing industry.

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Press Releases

Aug 2, 2019

Nation’s Top Student Loan Watchdog Post Remains Vacant 150 Days After CFPB Director Promised to “Quickly” Fill the Role

Tomorrow marks one hundred fifty days since Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger committed to quickly filling the nation’s top student loan watchdog position—a role that has been vacant for almost a year. As student debt nears $1.6 trillion and predatory practices plague the market, the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) are releasing a roundup of failures by the current CFPB Director to…

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News Clips

Jul 28, 2019

R.I. Student Loan Bill of Rights created

Rhode Island now has a Student Loan Bill of Rights that sets standards for student loan servicing, prohibits predatory behavior and provides guidelines for protecting consumers’ rights.

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Blogs

Jul 24, 2019

Educational Redlining? The use of education data in underwriting could leave HBCU and MSI graduates in the dark

Tomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee’s Fintech Task Force is holding a hearing on the use of alternative data to expand access to credit. It is critical that the Committee examine what I believe is a dangerous and discriminatory trend—the use of education data for determining creditworthiness under the guise of “innovation.”

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Letters & Memos

Jul 18, 2019

SBPC and SVA Urge Department of Education to Protect Service Members from Student Loan Abuses

In a letter to Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the SBPC and Student Veterans of America (SVA), urges the Department of Education to abandon a policy intended to obstruct oversight by agencies charged with enforcing law that protect military borrowers including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

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What Betsy DeVos’s Brush with the Law Reveals About Our Broken Student Loan System

Stamping out Fraud in Higher Education through the False Claims Act: “Material” Should Mean Something

SLLI Convenes Student Loan Policy and Litigation Colloquium

Bill to prohibit colleges from withholding transcripts as debt collection tactic signed into law

California Advocates Renew Call to Pass AB 376 to Protect Teachers, Nurses and other California Student Loan Borrowers

Student loan bill of rights protects R.I. borrowers

Supporting States in the Fight to Protect Borrowers

Five Things We Learned About Navient’s Plot to Cheat Student Borrowers

Statement by SBPC Executive Director Seth Frotman on New Evidence Revealing Navient Executives’ Plot to Cheat Borrowers

Testimony of Seth Frotman Before the United States Congress House Financial Services Committee

CPAs: Action From Congress Needed To Help Reduce Student-debt Load

Advocates File Amicus Brief to Defend Students Against Navient Corporation

Supporting States in the Fight to Protect Borrowers

Trump Administration’s Selection of Industry Insider for Nation’s Student Loan Watchdog Heightens Urgency to Pass AB 376 to Protect California Student Loan Borrowers

Statement from SBPC Executive Director Seth Frotman on Appointment of Industry Executive to Top Student Loan Watchdog Job

Statement from SBPC Executive Director Seth Frotman on the Congressional Inquiry into Trump Administration Obstruction and Industry Abuses

Nation’s Top Student Loan Watchdog Post Remains Vacant 150 Days After CFPB Director Promised to “Quickly” Fill the Role

R.I. Student Loan Bill of Rights created

Educational Redlining? The use of education data in underwriting could leave HBCU and MSI graduates in the dark

SBPC and SVA Urge Department of Education to Protect Service Members from Student Loan Abuses

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