Student Loans in Bankruptcy
In order to eliminate student loans in bankruptcy, it is necessary to sue the lender and prove that it would be an “undue hardship” to be required to repay the loan. The courts have interpreted this requirement stringently, making it difficult for most borrowers to eliminate their student loans in bankruptcy.
In March 2015, President Obama directed the US Department of Education and other federal agencies to develop clear standards as to when a person would be considered to have an undue hardship. This would be beneficial because people who met such standards could file their lawsuit and not have to worry that it would be opposed. This would significantly decrease the cost of bringing a lawsuit to prove undue hardship and many deserving people could then eliminate their debts through bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the US Department of Education forgot who they are working for and instead gave the green light to student loan lenders to aggressively fight student loan hardship discharges. I urge everyone to let their Congressmen and Senators know how they feel about this.
If you need to file bankruptcy, save yourself a lot of misery and do it before matters reach this point. When you file a bankruptcy petition, you are protected by the automatic bankruptcy stay against collection efforts and you don’t need to worry about being held in contempt of court.
For more information regarding your specific situation, contact Minnesota Bankruptcy Attorney Gregory J. Wald at 952-921-5802 or at www.www.gregorywald.com for a consultation.