Posts by Rose McConnell
Middle-Aged and Burdened by Educational Debt
There are two primary means by which people can find themselves burdened by educational debt in middle age. One, is by making the mistake of signing a Parent PLUS loan for a younger relative. This is a mistake 100% of the time. No relative should sign such a loan for any reason. First, the origination…
Read Full PostWorst to First Advice About Your Student Loan Payments
Lately I have been visiting various Facebook pages and blogs to see what people are saying about student loans. There are a lot of credit clearing companies, banks wanting to refinance such loans and general information sites. I am stuck by the range of suggestions given to struggling borrowers. Often, the advisor is another struggling…
Read Full PostThe DOE is NOT Protecting the Interest of the Taxpayer when Hounding Student Loan Debtors
There’s a anecdote about caged laboratory monkeys that were tempted by bananas hanging above them. Trouble was, every time a monkey reached the bananas, the whole group of monkeys was sprayed with cold water by the scientists observing them. Soon all the monkeys learned not to reach for the bananas. When a new monkey was…
Read Full PostQualifying Educational Debt as Business Debt
As is too well known to need further elucidation here, borrowers are uniquely challenged to meet the “undue hardship” standard required by law to discharge educational debt in bankruptcy. The Department of Educations July 07, 2015 guidance letter provides little additional clarity and no new options for discharge. It appears that the DOE continues to…
Read Full PostDid You Get Your Student Loan to Pay for Your Education or Your Rent?
The way you spent your student loans can affect the extent to which they are dischargeable in bankruptcy.
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