Submitted by Alan Collinge (not verified) on June 5, 2008 - 10:08pm.
...For bringing attention to this issue. Bankruptcy protections should never have been stripped from student loans. Period. The fact that there are decent citizens being forced off the grid, fleeing the country and even much worse as a result of their student loan debt is unfathomable in the richest country in the world. And this goes not only for private loans, but publicly guaranteed loans as well. Thousands of additional stories from people who are having their wages, tax returns, social security and disability income taken to cover a bare fraction of the penalties and fees on their loans demonstrate this in crystal clarity at www.studentloanjustice.org. The bankruptcy laws have been strengthened to guard against fraud and abuse. Why should student loans stand alone as the ONLY type of loan in U.S. HISTORY to be stripped of this important protection? We have seen the predatory practices that have resulted from this: Sallie Mae's "fee income" has increased by a whopping 227% between 2000-2005. Albert Lord actually brags to shareholders in their 2003 annual report that their record profits were attributable to collections on defaulted loans. There is actually a student loan company in Indiana that has installed a 4000 gallon shark tank in their corporate headquarters. This cannot be what Congress had in mind when it created the Higher Education Act. It is a shame that the sitting Congress has done nothing to remedy this situation. Bills from Senators Durbin, Clinton, and Congressman Davis that would have returned protections such as bankruptcy to student loans have died as a result of intense lobbying by the student loan industry, and opposition from both Republicans and Democrats.
Bravo to the New America Foundation
...For bringing attention to this issue. Bankruptcy protections should never have been stripped from student loans. Period. The fact that there are decent citizens being forced off the grid, fleeing the country and even much worse as a result of their student loan debt is unfathomable in the richest country in the world. And this goes not only for private loans, but publicly guaranteed loans as well. Thousands of additional stories from people who are having their wages, tax returns, social security and disability income taken to cover a bare fraction of the penalties and fees on their loans demonstrate this in crystal clarity at www.studentloanjustice.org. The bankruptcy laws have been strengthened to guard against fraud and abuse. Why should student loans stand alone as the ONLY type of loan in U.S. HISTORY to be stripped of this important protection? We have seen the predatory practices that have resulted from this: Sallie Mae's "fee income" has increased by a whopping 227% between 2000-2005. Albert Lord actually brags to shareholders in their 2003 annual report that their record profits were attributable to collections on defaulted loans. There is actually a student loan company in Indiana that has installed a 4000 gallon shark tank in their corporate headquarters. This cannot be what Congress had in mind when it created the Higher Education Act. It is a shame that the sitting Congress has done nothing to remedy this situation. Bills from Senators Durbin, Clinton, and Congressman Davis that would have returned protections such as bankruptcy to student loans have died as a result of intense lobbying by the student loan industry, and opposition from both Republicans and Democrats.