More student loan borrowers are getting relief through bankruptcy after Biden policy change
CNN
More student loan borrows have successfully received debt relief through bankruptcy after the Biden administration made a policy change to make the process easier nearly two years ago, according to data released by the Department of Justice Wednesday.
More student loan borrows have successfully received debt relief through bankruptcy after the Biden administration implemented a new policy to make the process easier nearly two years ago, according to data released by the Department of Justice Wednesday. A total of 588 people filed cases seeking student debt discharges through bankruptcy between October 2023 and March — a 36% increase from the prior six-month period. As of March, a total of 1,220 new cases had been filed since the new federal guidance was put in place. Of cases decided by the courts during that time, 98% have provided a full or partial student debt discharge. Previously, a student debt discharge was largely out of reach for people going through the bankruptcy process because — unlike credit card, medical and other consumer debts — borrowers must show that paying off the student debt would cause them “undue hardship.” Removing that legal requirement would require an act of Congress. But the federal guidance put in place in November 2022 simplified the burdensome process of showing undue hardship and made it easier for government lawyers to recommend to courts that the debt be discharged.
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