FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 30, 2019
National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) or (617) 542-8010

Download the report, including ten charts, at: http://bit.ly/2PFsA9b

National Consumer Law Center attorney John W. Van Alst testimony will be available at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 1: http://bit.ly/2V2Tb6h

Boston – For many in America, a car provides not only physical mobility but also economic mobility. Yet a new report by the National Consumer Law Center documents that the costs of buying, financing, and using a car can vary based on race or ethnicity. National Consumer Law Center attorney John W. Van Alst, who authored the report, will discuss these disparities when testifying at the U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing on the subject on Wednesday, May 1 at 10 a.m. ET.

The disparities make cars more expensive for some races and ethnic groups and keep some families from getting a car at all, as documented in the report Time to Stop Racing Cars: The Role of Race and Ethnicity in Buying and Using a Car. For example, of those at or below the poverty line, 31% of African American households and 20% of Hispanic households lack access to a car compared with just 13% of White households.

“Many racial and ethnic disparities occur because the market for cars is troublingly opaque and inconsistent,” said Van Alst. “A more consistent and transparent marketplace would not only benefit consumers of color but all marketplace participants, including car dealers, finance entities, and insurers that want to compete fairly and openly on price and quality.”

Recommendations

To move toward creating a transparent and level playing field, the report recommends that federal and state policymakers should:

• Ban dealer interest rate markups.  Any compensation paid to the dealer as part of the financing process should not be based on the interest rate or other financing terms, and should be consistently applied to all transactions.
• Amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) regulations (Regulation B) to enable and require the collection and analysis of race and ethnicity data for auto financing transactions.
•  Prohibit discrimination in the pricing of goods and services.
•  Increase enforcement of the ECOA and state fair lending laws.
•  Increase enforcement against general abuses in the sale and financing of cars.  Given the evidence of discrimination in the sale and finance of cars, it is likely that many other abuses, from yo-yo sales to failure to pay off existing liens, are more likely to affect people of color.  Stepped-up enforcement against all abuses in the sale and finance of cars could help address disparities and level the playing field for everyone.
• Take action on insurance rate setting to address disparities based upon race and ethnicity.
• End suspension of driver’s licenses for reasons beyond dangerous driving.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2019
National Consumer Law Center Contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) or (617) 542-8010

U.S. on Track to Hit 60 Billion Robocalls in 2019

Full written testimony of National Consumer Law Center Senior Counsel Margot Saunders is available at: http://bit.ly/2UIVXIM

Washington – On Tuesday, April 30 at 10:00 am ET, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce  subcommittee on Communications and Technology will convene a hearing on “Legislating to Stop the Onslaught of Annoying Robocalls” and H.R. 946: the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and co-sponsored by 37 other members of Congress. “Passage of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act would create a powerful tool that will stop most unwanted robocalls in the United States, giving us once again control over our telephones and saving our telephone system,” said National Consumer Law Center Senior Counsel Margot Saunders, who will testify at the hearing.

In her testimony, Saunders will discuss the surging problem of unwanted robocalls since the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which is overseen by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), was enacted in 1991, and how this pending legislation would significantly dial back the scourge of robocalls.

H.R. 946 would provide new and substantial protections from robocallers by clarifying various terms in the TCPA and requiring the implementation of meaningful call authentication technology (so Caller ID is once again reliable),  The bill would ensure that consumers are protected from unwanted robocalls and robotexts by clarifying the definition of autodialer to ensure robocallers cannot evade the law’s requirement for consumers’ consent for robocalls. The bill also amends the law to reinforce that the TCPA applies to text messages, and to make certain that consent provided for robocalls can always be revoked.

Saunders’ testimony will include examples of dozens of well-known American businesses and debt collectors that are responsible for tens of millions of unwanted and illegal telemarketing and collection robocalls, including student loan servicer Navient, the mortgage servicer Ocwen, Citibank, and Sterling Jewelers.

Robocalls surged after a 2018 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. that set aside a 2015 FCC order on the question of how to interpret the TCPA’s ban on autodialed calls to cell phones without the called party’s consent. This decision raised the specter that the prohibition might be interpreted not to cover the autodialing systems that are currently used to deluge cell phones with unwanted calls.

Saunders will testify on behalf of the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Read more of NCLC’s extensive body of work on illegal robocalls: https://www.nclc.org/issues/robocalls-and-telemarketing.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 24, 2019

National Consumer Law Center contacts: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) or Lauren Saunders (lsaunders@nclc.org)

Court Decision Signals End of Faux Tribal Payday Lending

Washington – The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a decision today against Think Finance and the officers of Plain Green Loans has made crystal clear that online tribal payday lenders must comply with state interest rate limits, licensing laws and other state laws, and can be sued through their officers for injunctive relief if they do not.

“This decision sounds the death knell for tribal payday lending,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center.

“The faux tribal payday lending model has always been based on the mistaken belief that payday lenders could evade state laws by hiding behind Native American tribes. The Supreme Court has long made clear that tribes must obey state law when they operate off reservation, and that is true of online tribal payday lenders as well. This decision follows the path laid out by the Supreme Court in a 2014 decision showing how to enforce state law against purportedly tribal entities,” Saunders added.

The faux tribal payday lending model attempts to exploit tribal sovereign immunity, a legal doctrine that limits when tribes may be sued. But sovereign immunity – an English doctrine that goes back to the idea that the king may do no wrong – is not the same thing as an exemption from the law. Rather, it just limits when and how a sovereign party (i.e. a state or a tribe) can be sued. Under the 1908 Supreme Court decision Ex Parte Young, a sovereign may be sued indirectly through its officers in their official capacity for injunctive relief to require the sovereign to comply with the law.

The Second Circuit’s decision does not address whether the plaintiffs—consumers who were charged illegally high interest rates for small-dollar loans—can recover damages.  Other courts have found that when a tribe has little to do with the lending operation, the lender is not an arm of the tribe and can be sued for damages. The Second Circuit did not find it necessary to decide whether Plain Green was an arm of the tribe, as the lender claimed.

The court also struck down forced arbitration clauses in the loan contracts on the ground that the clauses were unconscionable and “unenforceable because they are designed to avoid federal and state consumer protection laws.” “The decision that payday lenders cannot use tribal arbitration to avoid consumer protection laws is a small victor against forced arbitration clauses that block access to justice, but unfortunately the injustice of forced arbitration was enhanced in a separate decision today by the Supreme Court, making it more difficult for people to band together even in arbitration,” said Saunders.

It is unknown how many online payday lenders use a purported tribal affiliation to avoid state laws, but a 2017 report by Public Justice lists many websites that were still in operation at that time.

For more information, see the National Consumer Law Center’s Press Release, “Supreme Court Decision Strikes Blow against Tribal Online Payday Lenders” (May 29, 2014), https://www.nclc.org/images/pdf/pr-reports/pr-scotus-bay-millls.pdf.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 24, 2019

National Consumer Law Center contacts: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) or Persis Yu (pyu@nclc.org); (617) 542-8010

Download the full report: http://bit.ly/2vj2uzz

Boston — Today, the National Consumer Law Center released a report which paints a troubling picture of the efforts by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to pursue defaulted student loan borrowers through litigation. “Lamentably, the evidence suggests that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by lawsuits and thus are more likely to suffer the consequences of these judgments,” said Inequitable Judgments: Examining Race and Federal Student Loan Collection Lawsuits co-author Margaret Mattes.

“A federal judgment on a defaulted student loan can be devastating, especially for a low-income borrower,” added co-author Persis Yu, National Consumer Law Center staff attorney and director of NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. “The concentration of lawsuits against defaulted student loan borrowers in areas with large communities of color increases the urgency of the Department of Education to address the systemic disadvantages faced by student loan borrowers of color.”

In addition to the government’s general collection authority (wage garnishment, loss of the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits, and withholding of Social Security benefits), a judgment allows the government to put a lien on a borrower’s home and take funds from a bank account.

The authors’ analysis found that private debt collection attorneys are obtaining most of these judgments. The federal government’s use of private attorneys has allowed suits to be brought against borrowers who would not otherwise be the targets of litigation; while federal authorities only sue borrowers with minimum principal balances of $45,000, this figure drops to an astonishing $600 for private attorneys.

The authors found during the period between January 2016 and June 2018 (the time period analyzed):

• Debt collection lawsuits brought against defaulted student loan borrowers are disproportionately concentrated in areas that are home to communities of color.  Specifically, the zip codes in which defaulted student loan borrowers who were sued live have Hispanic or Latino populations double the national average and triple the average black or African American population.
• Debt collection lawsuits brought against defaulted student loan borrowers are more concentrated in Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, and Florida than other states. This may be because all of the private law firms that pursued suits against more than 50 student loan borrowers between January 2016 and June 2018 are headquartered in four of these five states.
• Approximately 85% of the cases filed against defaulted student loans borrowers were brought by private law firms that contract with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the Department of Education.
• Almost 60% of cases resulted in a default judgment against the borrower.

Key Recommendations

• The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice should track and make publicly available data in order to track racial disparities in student loans.
• The U.S. Department of Education and Congress should take steps to address and prevent racial disparities in student lending.
• The U.S. Department of Justice should review its guidelines for when to refer cases to litigation to avoid punitive lawsuits against borrowers with low balances and no ability to repay their loans.
• Congress should redefine the definition and consequences of student loan default to ensure that falling behind does not threaten the financial security of borrowers and their families.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 18, 2019

National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) or (617) 542-8010

Boston – The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) filed a federal lawsuit late yesterday against the U.S. Department of Education (ED), asking the court to compel the Department to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by NCLC on July 17, 2018. NCLC is seeking the release of ED’s contract with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), also known as FedLoan Servicing.

According to the complaint, “NCLC requested documents that ED itself has identified as evidence that it alone is capable of, and responsible for, ensuring the proper servicing of the loans for millions of student loan borrowers.”

In March 2018, ED announced its view that federal law preempts state efforts to stop unfair and deceptive actions by federal student loan servicers. In its announcement, ED stated that its contract with its servicers was a basis to support its pronouncement that state regulators and law enforcement agencies are prohibited from enforcing state consumer protection statutes against student loan servicers.

“Servicers who mistreat student loan borrowers and steer them into inappropriate payment plans should not be above the law,” said Persis Yu, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center and Director of NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. “The materials sought are of tremendous importance to understanding the $1.5 trillion student loan market, the vast majority of which is held by the Education Department and serviced by its contractors. Understanding what the Department requires from its contractors will improve public understanding of both how servicers are expected to perform and how the Department can better hold servicers accountable.”

Yu added, “Despite the legal significance the Education Department ascribes to these materials, the Department has been unable or unwilling to provide those documents in the nine months since it received NCLC’s request.”

Related NCLC materials

NCLC attorney Joanna K. Darcus testimony to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education re: “Protecting Student Borrowers: Loan Servicing Oversight”, March 6, 2019

Comments to CFPB on Proposal to Collect Student Loan Servicing Data (Federal and Private), April 24, 2017

Report: Pounding Student Loan Borrowers: The Heavy Costs of the Government’s Partnership with Debt Collection Agencies, September 2014

Issue Brief: Making Federal Student Loan Servicing Work for Borrowers, November 2014

Issue Brief: Making Student Loan Servicing Work for Borrowers, June 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 11, 2019
National Consumer Law Center Contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org or (617) 542-8010

NCLC Attorney Margot Saunders to Testify at U.S. Senate Hearing on Stopping Illegal Robocalls on April 11; Will Urge FCC to Strengthen Key Federal Privacy Law

Robocalls increase 370% since Dec. 2015 with 5.2 billion robocalls in March 2019

Full written testimony of National Consumer Law Center Senior Counsel Margot Saunders is available at: http://bit.ly/robo-scourge

Washington – On Thursday, April 11 at 10:00 am ET, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will convene a hearing on Illegal Robocalls: Calling All to Stop the Scourge. “Robocalls have increased 370% percent in less than four years, with over five billion robocalls made just in March 2019,” said National Consumer Law Center Senior Counsel Margot Saunders, who will testify at the hearing. “The surge in consumer complaints reinforces the need for the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s application to autodialed calls and the right of consumers to withhold their consent to receive these and other robocalls.”

In her testimony, Saunders will discuss the skyrocketing problem of unwanted robocalls since the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which is overseen by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), was enacted in 1991.

“The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is the principal federal law to provide protections against unwanted robocalls. Its key principle is to give the person being called control over whether to receive robocalls,” said Saunders. “The problem is not just calls from overt scams such as identity theft schemes: major well-known American corporations and debt collectors are responsible for hundreds of millions of robocalls each month, and many of these businesses break the law by continuing unrelenting calls to consumers even after being told repeatedly to stop. If the rate of telemarketing calls continues at the current pace, in 2019 there will be over 11 billion telemarketing robocalls made in the United States. Business robocallers complain to be the victim of a TCPA crisis but it’s a crisis of their own creation.”

Robocalls surged after a 2018 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. that set aside a 2015 FCC order on the question of how to interpret the TCPA’s ban on autodialed calls to cell phones without the called party’s consent. This decision raised the specter that the prohibition might be interpreted not to cover the autodialing systems that are currently used to deluge cell phones with unwanted calls.  “Many of the offending companies are anticipating a caller-friendly response to the many requests they have submitted to the FCC to loosen restrictions on robocalls,” said Saunders. “Congress should make clear that it intends the TCPA to be interpreted to cover the autodialing systems used today.”

Saunders’ testimony will stress the critical importance of consumer enforcement of the TCPA’s restrictions. Without consumer enforcement, robocallers that flood consumers’ phones with unwanted calls would have little to fear.

The FCC, under Chairman Ajit Pai, has taken some important steps to address unwanted robocalls, but much more needs to be done. The consumer groups recommend that:

• Congress should pass the TRACED Act, so that consumers can identify who the caller is when calls come in to their phones.
• The FCC should ensure that the TCPA covers all calls and texts to cell phones made with automated equipment. If the FCC definition of an automatic telephone dialing system is not sufficiently broad, consumers will have no protection against a host of types of unwanted calls and text messages.
• The FCC should reinforce consumers’ right to consent or withhold consent to receive robocalls, and the right to withdraw any consent that was previously given.
• The FCC should ensure that callers, many of whom are well-known companies, are not allowed to hide behind the third parties they hire to make the calls on their behalf.
• The TCPA rules must remain privately enforceable so consumers may obtain redress for harm and to deter violations of the law.

Saunders will testify on behalf of the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG.

Read more of NCLC’s extensive body of work on illegal robocalls: https://www.nclc.org/issues/robocalls-and-telemarketing.html

Report and Briefs

• Fact Sheet: Top 10 Ways New Rules on Borrower Defense, School Closures, and Arbitration are Worse for Borrowers, September 2019
• Report: Inequitable Judgments Examining Race and Federal Student Loan Collection Lawsuits,  April 2019 Press Release; 2-Page Overview
• Brief: The Dark Side of Payroll Withholding to Repay Student Loans, Feb. 11, 2019 (Press Release)
• Report: Voices of Despair: Student Borrowers Trapped in Poverty When Government Seizes Their Earned Income Tax Credit Report and Press Release (2018)
• Issue Brief: Federal Student Loan Relief after a Disaster: Your Guide to Short-Term and Long-Term Options, January 2018 (1-page Guide to Short-Term Relief with Two Quick Calls)
  • Préstamos Estudiantiles Después de un Desastre Natural: Su Guía Sobre Opciones de Asistencia a Corto y Largo Plazo, Enero 2018
  • Préstamos Federales Estudiantiles Después de un Desastre Natural: Su Guía para Obtener Asistencia Temporal con sólo dos Rápidas Llamadas, Enero 2018
• Report: Pushed into Poverty: How Student Loan Collections Threaten the Financial Security of Older Americans and Press Release (2017)
• Issue Brief: Defend the Department of Education’s Borrower Defense Rule, January 2017
• Report: The Sallie Mae Saga: A Government-Created, Student Debt Fueled Profit Machine(2014)
• Report: Pounding Student Loan Borrowers: The Heavy Costs of the Government’s Partnership with Debt Collection Agencies  (2014)
• Report: Improving college success for poor students (2014)
• Ensuring Educational Integrity: 10 Steps to Improve State Oversight of For-Profit Schools (2014) (also executive summary, charts, toolkit and press release) Update: Step 2: Protecting Online Education Students (2015)
• Going to School on Robo-signing: How to Help Borrowers and Stop the Abuses in Private Student Loan Collection Cases (2014)
• Report: Improving college success for poor students (2014)
• No Lost Causes: Practical Ideas to Help Low-Income Students Succeed in College (2014)
• The Sallie Mae Saga: A Government-Created, Student Debt Fueled Profit Machine (2014)
• Report: Pounding Student Loan Borrowers: The Heavy Costs of the Government’s Partnership with Debt Collection Agencies (2014)
• Searching for Relief: Desperate Borrowers and the Growing Student Loan “Debt Relief” Industry (2013)
• Borrowers on Hold: Student Loan Collection Agency Complaint Systems Need  Massive Improvement  (2012) and Update (2013)
• Report: Searching for Relief: Desperate Borrowers and the Growing Student Loan “Debt Relief” Industry (2013)
• The Student Loan Default Trap: Why Borrowers Default and What Can Be Done (2012)
• Report: The Student Loan Default Trap (2012)
• State Inaction: Gaps in State Oversight of For-Profit Higher Education: Report, Executive Summary, State-by-State Student Relief Chart, Press Release (2011)
• Piling It On: The Growth of Proprietary School Loans And the Consequences for Students (2011)
• Too Small to Help: The Plight of Financially Distressed Private Student Loan Borrowers (2009)
• Income-Based Repayment: Making it Work for Student Loan Borrowers (2008)
• Paying the Price: The High Cost of Private Student Loans and the Dangers for Student Borrowers (2008)
• Finding A Way Out: Improving the Assistance Network for Financially Distressed Student Loan Borrowers (2007)
• No Way Out: Student Loans, Financial Distress, and the Need for Policy Reform (2006)
• Making the Numbers Count: Why Proprietary School Data Doesn’t Add Up and What Can Be Done About It (2005)

Testimony and Comments

• Testimony of NCLC Attorney before U.S. Senate re: Financial Aid Simplification and Transparency, January 17, 2018
• Legal Aid Coalition comments to the Dep’t of Education re: Proposed Deregulatory Rulemaking on Higher Ed Consumer Protections, Sep. 14, 2018
• Group comments to DOE re: Proposed Regulations on Borrower Defenses and Use of Forced Arbitration by Schools in the Direct Loan Program, and Proposed Amendments to Closed School and False Certification Discharge Regulations, Aug. 30, 2018
• Group comments in opposition to the Department of Education’s proposed rewrite of the Borrower Defense Rule, Aug. 30, 2018
• Coalition comments to the Department of Education on Evaluating Undue Hardship Claims in Bankruptcy, May 22, 2018
• NCLC comments on Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, February 23, 2018
• Coalition comments opposing ED’s Interim Final Rule and Notice of Proposed Rule delaying implementation of the 2016 Borrower Defense Rule — a Rule intended to protect student borrowers from school fraud and abuse and abrupt closures, Nov. 19, 2017
• Comments to the DOE re: Intent to Establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; on Borrower Defense and Gainful Employment, July 12, 2017 and Consumer Groups’ Letter to Secretary of Education
• Testimony of NCLC attorney Joanna Darcus before the U.S. Department of Education re: Intent to Establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Public Hearings on Borrower Defense and Gainful Employment, July 10, 2017 and Press Release
• Comments to Proposed Loan Discharge Applications, June 26, 2017
• Group comments on the fees charged on campus debit cards, June 8, 2017
• Testimony of Joanna Darcus before the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure in Support of An Act Establishing a Student Tuition Recovery Fund, June 6, 2017
• Comments from NCLC to the Department of Education on the Proposed Loan Discharge Application for Forgery, March 24, 2017
• Coalition letter to Congress from 50+ organizations supporting rules designed to protect students and taxpayers from fraud and abuse in higher education, Mar. 22, 2017
• Legal Aid Coalition Comments to the Department of Education re: Proposed Borrower Defense Application Form, Oct. 27, 2016
• Comments from NCLC and 10 other legal aid groups to the Dep’t of Educ. re Proposed Regulations Regarding State Authorization of Distance Education Programs, Aug. 24, 2016
• Coalition Comments of 41 student, veteran, civil rights, and consumer groups re: the Department of Education’s Proposals on Forced Arbitration, Class-Action Bans, and Mandatory Internal Dispute Processes , Aug. 1, 2016
• Comments from NCLC and 16 other legal aid groups to the Dept. of Education re: Proposed Regulations on Borrower Defenses and Use of Forced Arbitration by Schools in the Direct Loan Program, and Proposed Amendments to Closed School and False Certification Discharge Regulations, Aug. 1, 2016
• Coalition comments regarding borrower defense from 56 organizations that advocate for students, veterans, service members, civil rights, consumers, and college faculty and staff, Aug. 1, 2016
• Coalition comments to U.S. Dept. of Education: suggestions for creating a system that promotes quality and consistent servicing, July 15, 2016
• Comments to the New York State Education Department and Board of Regents Opposing Proposed SARA Rules, June 16, 2016
• Group comments urging the FTC to retain and strengthen the Holder Rule, Feb. 12, 2016
• NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project comments to the CFPB re: student loan servicing, July 13, 2015
• Comments to the Massachusetts DPL regarding the Revised Proposed Regulations for Private Occupational Schools, Sept. 26, 2014
• Comments on Program Integrity: Gainful Employment Proposed Regulations, May 27, 2014
• Testimony to the Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts Regarding Proposed For-Profit School Regulations, February 21, 2014
• Written Testimony to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Higher Education in Support of An Act to Form a Commission on For-Profit Schools, June 8, 2011
• Comments on Program Integrity: Gainful Employment Proposed Rule, September 8, 2010
• Comments to the Department of Education on Program Integrity Issues Proposed Rules, August 2, 2010
• SLBA Testimony About Program Integrity and Student Loan Reform, June 22, 2009
• Comments to the Federal Trade Commission on Vocational School Guides, October 2009

Letters

• Coalition letter to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee supporting passage of The Stop EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) and CTC (Child Tax Credit) Seizures Act (H.R. 5114) to protect families’ opportunity for economic mobility, and their financial stability, Dec. 10, 2019
• Coalition letter to the Senate strongly urging the immediate passage of S. 1279, the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act, to restore funding to serve students of color and native students, Nov. 22, 2019
• Letter regarding the Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) requesting public records of the U.S. Department of Education regarding  income driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness, July 1, 2019;  Press release. Response from U.S. Department of Education.
• Group letter to Sec. DeVos re: Harm to Defaulted Borrowers as a Result of System Wide Staffing Shortage, April 15, 2019
• Coalition letter to Senators Hassan and Durbin in support of the PROTECT Students Act, April 2, 2019
• NCLC replied to a letter by Senators Jones, Warren, Harris, and Cortez Masto requesting ideas on how to address racial disparities in student debt and the broader challenges faced by students of color in college and career training, Feb. 15, 2019
• 66 Organizations Urge House and Senate Appropriators to Protect Pell in FY19 Spending Bill, June 25, 2018
• Letter opposing the House’s troubling HEA reauthorization bill, Feb. 5, 2018
• Letter of opposition to HB 4508, the PROSPER Act, Dec. 11, 2017
• NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project letter to the CFPB and U.S. Department of Education re: how the removal of the online Data Retrieval Tool might negatively impact student loan borrowers’ ability to renew Income-Driven-Repayment plans, April 14, 2017 || CFPB response letter, May 2, 2017
• Coalition letter to Congressional Leadership re: Importance of CFPB to Protecting Student Loan Borrowers, Feb. 13, 2017
• Coalition letter to President Obama recommending improvements to the new federal student loan complaint system, Oct. 25, 2016
• Coalition Letter to Sec. King Calling for a Halt to Collection Against Former Corinthian Students and Automatic Student Loan Relief, Oct. 19, 2016
• Coalition letter to Education Secretary King on impact of student loans on borrowers of color, Aug. 17, 2016 || Press Release
• Coalition letter to Congress opposing amendments that would block the U.S. Dept. of Education’s gainful employment regulations, June 21, 2016
• Comment letter to the Massachusetts State Senate Opposing Proposed SARA Amendment, May 23, 2016
• Coalition Letter to Secretary King Supporting Department’s Commitment to Prompt and Full Implementation of Gainful Employment Rule, May 4, 2016
• Coalition letter to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (ACICS) and the U.S. Department of Education urging the Department to deny accreditor ACICS’s application for recognition, April 8, 2016
• Coalition letter urging New York State Commissioner of Education not to sign onto the Unified State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement because it does not adequately protect consumers from predatory for-profit colleges, March 14, 2016
• Coalition letter urging Congress not to approve budget bill riders that would restrict the Department of Education’s ability to enforce consumer protection regulations applicable to for-profit colleges, Nov. 24, 2015
• Coalition letter urging Department of Defense not to lift order barring University of Phoenix from any recruitment-type activities on DoD installations and suspending the payment of Tuition Assistance to new or transfer students, Oct. 27, 2015
• Coalition letter opposing any appropriations riders that would block implementation of the Department of Education’s gainful employment regulations, Oct. 21, 2015
• Letter to U.S. Dept. of Education Special Master Joseph Smith urging him to create a fair, transparent, and accessible process to assert defenses to repayment of their federal student loans, July 24, 2015.
• Coalition letter urging the U.S. Department of Education to include information about whether a college is the subject of government investigations or lawsuits on the college comparison website it plans to develop, July 22, 2015.
• Coalition letter urging the U.S. Department of Education to develop a proactive student-centered strategy to better protect students and taxpayers from education companies that may be breaking the law, June 3, 2015
• 78,000 Individuals and 50 Organizations Urge the U.S. Department of Education to Grant Debt Relief to Corinthian Colleges’ Students, May 19, 2015
• Letter to the Secretary of Education regarding Debt Relief for Corinthian Colleges Borrowers, May 5, 2015
• Coalition letter urging the Department of Education to extend time period for closed school discharge eligibility and provide immediate and accurate information to students affected by recent Corinthian campus closures, May 1, 2015
• Coalition letter opposing HR 970/S 559 (Foxx-Kline) which would repeal federal regulations enacted to protect students from for-profit college fraud, including gainful employment regulations, April 23, 2015
• Statement on the Report of the Task Force on Federal Regulation of Higher Education, February 23, 2015
• Group letter to U.S. Dept. of Education re: Corinthian Colleges sale to ECMC and loss of students’ legal rights by requiring students to sign forced arbitration clauses, Jan. 22, 2015.
• Group letter to the CFPB, U.S. Dept. of Education, and U.S. Dept. of Justice re: proposed sale of 56 Corinthian Colleges campuses to ECMC Group, Dec. 17, 2014
• Letter to Secretary Duncan re: Protections for Corinthian College Students, June 30, 2014
• Coalition letter to Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, regarding Department of Education’s proposed gainful employment regulations, May 27, 2014
• Written Statement of Deanne Loonin to the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure Office of Private Occupational School Education Regarding the Proposed Adoption of 230 CMR, March 28, 2014
• Coalition letter to the President calling for a strong and prompt gainful employment regulation, February 4, 2014

Press Releases

• Advocates Applaud Senate Vote to Restore Rule to Protect Borrowers from School Fraud and Closures, March 11, 2020
• Statement Regarding CFPB and U.S. Department of Education MOU on Handling Student Loan Borrower Complaints, Feb. 4, 2020
• Advocates Applaud U.S. House Vote to Restore Rule to Protect Borrowers from School Fraud and Closures, Jan. 16, 2020
• Advocates Condemn U.S. Department of Education Delays on Student Debt Relief for Disabled Veterans, Nov. 22, 2019
• National Consumer Law Center Advocate Statehttps://www.nclc.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=14028&action=editment Opposing Sen. Alexander’s Legislation to Reform Higher Education Act, September 26, 2019
• Education Department Erects New Barriers to Relief for Students Harmed by School Fraud and Closures; Protects For-Profit College Industry at Expense of Students, August 30, 2019
• U.S. General Accountability Office Report Misses the Mark on Income-Driven Repayment Plans, July 25, 2019
• Statement Regarding Support of Bills to Relieve Student Loan Debt, July 23, 2019
• National Consumer Law Center Attorney to Testify on June 11 before U.S. House Oversight Committee on Student Loan Servicing, June 10, 2019
• National Consumer Law Center Sues U.S. Education Department to Obtain Copy of Student Loan Servicing Contract, Apr. 18, 2019
• Press Statement of NCLC’s Persis Yu Regarding Report on Dept. of Education’s Sweetheart Deal for Student Loan Servicers, Feb. 14, 2019
• After Multiple Lawsuits and Court Order, Education Department Finally Agrees to Provide Relief to Students Hurt By School Closures, Dec. 14, 2018
• National Consumer Law Center Files FOIA Lawsuit Against U.S. Department of Education, Nov. 16, 2018
• Press Release: Statement Regarding Resignation of Seth Frotman, Student Loan Ombudsman of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Aug, 27, 2018
• Statement of NCLC attorney Abby Shafroth re: U.S. Department of Education Proposal to Abandon Rule Protecting Students and Taxpayers from Schools that Fail to Deliver Value, Aug. 10, 2018
• Press Release: Education Department Proposes New Rules that Would Make it Much Harder for Students Harmed by For-Profit Schools to Get Loan Relief, July 25, 2018
• Press Release: National Consumer Law Center Advocates Applaud California Attorney General’s Lawsuit Against Navient for Shoddy Practices that Harm Student Loan Borrowers, June 28, 2018
• Press Release: Advocates Condemn Move by Consumer Bureau’s Mulvaney to Shutter Student Loan Division that Uncovered Major Abuses by Predatory Lenders, May 9, 2018
• Civil Rights Principles for the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, April 2018
• Press Release: Lawsuit Challenges Dept. of Education re: Delay of Rule to Protect Borrowers, April 19, 2018
• Press Release: Students Defrauded by Marinello Schools of Beauty Obtain Belated Discharges After Filing Suit Against the Department of Education, April 10, 2018
• Press release: S. Department of Education’s Plan to Protect Servicers and Debt Collectors that Lie to Borrowers, March 9, 2018
• Press Release: Testimony of NCLC Attorney before U.S. Senate re: Financial Aid Simplification and Transparency, January 17, 2018
• Press Release: Education Department Rolls Back Relief to Defrauded Corinthian Colleges Students, Dec. 20, 2017
• NCLC Joins Legal Fight Student Borrower for Protections against Predatory Schools, Sept. 29, 2017
• NCLC Attorney to Testify at U.S. Department of Education In Support of Important Protections against For-Profit School Fraud, July 10, 2017
• NCLC Advocates Condemn U.S. Department of Education Blocking Important Protections against For-Profit School Fraud, July 6, 2017
• Statement: NCLC Advocate Statement re: Education Secretary Withdrawal of Critical Student Loan Borrower Protections. April 11, 2017
• Press Release: Statement re: CFPB Suit Against Navient Student Loan Servicer, January 18, 2017
• Press Release: NCLC Advocates Applaud CFPB for Highlighting Older Student Loan Borrowers, January 5, 2017
• Press Release: GAO Report Shows Draconian Consequences of SSA Offsets for Student Loan Borrowers, Dec. 20, 2016
• Press Release: NCLC Advocates Applaud New Rules Designed to Better Protect Online Students from Predatory Schools, Dec. 16, 2016
• Press Release: CFPB Report Shows Student Loan Rehabilitation Fails Many Borrowers, Oct. 17, 2016
• Policy Brief: Stop Taking the Earned Income Tax Credit from Struggling Student Loan Borrowers, October 2016
• Press Release: Advocates Applaud CFPB Action Against Bridgepoint Education for Predatory Student Lending Practices, Sept. 12, 2016
• Press Release: NCLC Advocates Commend Department of Education’s Actions against ITT to Protect Students and Taxpayers, Aug. 26, 2016
• Press Release: NCLC and NACBA Laud CFPB for Stopping Illegal Practices by Student Loan Servicers and U.S. Dept. of Education Debt Collectors, Mar. 8, 2016
• 47 Groups Call on Department of Education to Halt Federal Funding for Predatory Schools That Deny Students’ Legal Rights, March 4, 2016
• Press Release: New Education Rules Will Protect Students from High Fee Campus Prepaid and Debit Cards, Oct. 27, 2015
• Press Release: 78,000 Individuals and 50 Organizations Urge the U.S. Department of Education to Grant Debt Relief to Corinthian Colleges’ Students, May 19, 2015
• Statement before the Middle Class Prosperity Project: Tackling the Student Debt Crisis, Apr. 2, 2015
• Going to School on Robo-signing: How to Help Borrowers and Stop the Abuses in Private Student Loan Collection Cases, April 2014
• NCLC Advocates Applaud CFPB Lawsuit Against ITT, February 2014
• Advocates Applaud CFPB’s New Report on Private Student Loan Complaints, October 2013
• CFPB Urged to Require Private Student Loan Modifications, Press Release, April 2013
• Borrowers on Hold Report: Update, Press Release (2013)

2021 Federal Priorities for the Student Debt Crisis

Policy Analysis

Reports & Briefs

• Report: How States Can Help Students Harmed by Higher Education Fraud, January 2021; press release
• NCLC/CRL report: Road to Relief: Supporting Federal Student Loan Borrowers During the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond, Nov. 2020; press release
• Report: Voices of Despair – How Seizing the EITC is Leaving Student Loan Borrowers Homeless and Hopeless During a Pandemic, July 2020; press release
• Fact Sheet: What States Can Do to Protect Consumers: Student Loans, January 2020
• Report: Gainful Employment: A Civil Rights Perspective, October 2019
• Fact Sheet: Top 10 Ways New Rules on Borrower Defense, School Closures, and Arbitration are Worse for Borrowers, September 2019
• Issue Paper: Defend the Department of Education’s Borrower Defense Rule (2017)
• Updated Report: Ensuring Educational Integrity: 10 Steps to Improve State Oversight of For-Profit Schools (2014) Update to Step 2: Protecting Online Education Students (2015)
• Improving college success for poor students (2014)
• The Sallie Mae Saga: A Government-Created, Student Debt Fueled Profit Machine (2014)
• Searching for Relief: Desperate Borrowers and the Growing Student Loan “Debt Relief” Industry (2013)
• The Student Loan Default Trap (2012)
• State Inaction: Gaps in State Oversight of For-Profit Higher Education (2011)
• Piling It On: The Growth of Proprietary School Loans and the Consequences for Students (2011)

 Archive+

Comments

• Coalition comments to the Department of Education Sharing its Negotiated Rulemaking Priorities and Concerns About Title IV Funds, July 1, 2021
• Supplemental Group comments to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements re: Proposed NC-SARA Manual Modification Comments, Apr. 26, 2021
• Group comments to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements re: Proposed NC-SARA Manual Modification Comments, Apr. 16, 2021
• Group comments to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements urging policy revisions for Spring 2021, Nov. 30, 2020
• ACICS Coalition Comment for Feb 2021 Meeting to U.S. Dept. of Education re: Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), Nov. 20, 2020
• Group comments to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements re: NC-SARA Manual Modifications, Sept. 11, 2020
• Legal Aid Coalition comments to the U.S. Dept. of Education re: Proposed 2020 Universal Borrower Defense to Loan Repayment Form Listing of Elements, May 4, 2020
• NCLC and Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles comments to the U.S. Dept. of Education supporting the Department’s proposed distance education regulations, May 4, 2020
• Group comments to National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements urging strengthening of its proposed manual changes for out-of-state online education, April 28, 2020
• Comments to the Dep’t of Education re: Proposed Regulations on Recognition of Accrediting Agencies and Recognition Procedures for State Agencies, July 11, 2019
• Coalition comments regarding the U.S. Dep’t of Education’s proposed changes to IPEDS data collection, May 20, 2019
• Legal Aid Coalition Comments to the Dep’t of Education re: Proposed Deregulatory Rulemaking on Higher Ed Consumer Protections, Sep. 14, 2018
• Legal Aid Coalition Comments to the Dep’t of Education re: Proposed Regulations on Gainful Employment, Sep. 13, 2018
• Legal Aid Coalition Comments to DOE re: Proposed Regulations on Borrower Defenses and Use of Forced Arbitration by Schools in the Direct Loan Program, and Proposed Amendments to Closed School and False Certification Discharge Regulations, Aug. 30, 2018
• Civil Rights Coalition Comments in opposition to the Department of Education’s proposed rewrite of the Borrower Defense Rule, Aug. 30, 2018
• Comments from 80 Groups Urging Department to Adopt Stronger Borrower Defense Rule and Opposing Proposed Rule, Aug. 30, 2018
• NCLC Comments Re: Proposed Delay of Program Integrity and Improvement, State Authorization of Distance Education Regulations, June 11, 2018
• NCLC Comments on Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, February 23, 2018

Archive+

Testimony

• NCLC attorney Persis Yu testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on A $1.5 Trillion Crisis: Protecting Student Borrowers and Holding Student Loan Servicers Accountable, Sept. 10, 2019; Press Release
• NCLC attorney Joanna K. Darcus testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations re: “An Examination of State Efforts to oversee the $1.5 Trillion Student Loan Servicing Market,” June 11, 2019; Press Release

Archive+

Letters

• Group Letter to Secretary of Education Cardona Requesting Relief for the Borrower Defense Fund, Apr. 13, 2021
• Group Letter to Senate Majority Leaders Schumer and McConnell in Support of Closing the 90/10 Loophole in the American Rescue Plan of 2021, Mar. 4, 2021
• Group Letter to 117th Congress Urging Strengthening of Safeguards for Taxpayers and Students, Feb. 2, 2021
• NCLC letter and attachments to the Biden Transition Team re: Recommended Revisions to False Certification (Ability-to-Benefit) Discharge Policies and Regulations, Dec. 9, 2020
• Coalition letter to U.S. Department of Education and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity re: Compliance Report for ACICS, April 1, 2020
• Coalition letter to Sen. Durbin and Rep. Lee in support of repealing the 2019 Borrower Defense Congressional Review Act, Dec. 9 2019
• Coalition letter to Sens. Hassan & Durbin in Support of PROTECT Students Act, April 2, 2019
• NCLC replied to a letter by Senators Jones, Warren, Harris, and Cortez Masto requesting ideas on how to address racial disparities in student debt and the broader challenges faced by students of color in college and career training, Feb. 15, 2019
• Coalition letter to the U.S. Department of Education on the Department’s failure to protect Education Corporation of America students (disproportionately students of color) leading up to the for-profit school’s closure, Jan. 17, 2019
• Coalition Letter to Department of Education Calling for Actions to Assist Students Impacted by Abrupt Closures of ECA and Vatterott College, Jan. 8, 2019
• Coalition Letter to Department of Education on the Gainful Employment Disclosure Template, Jan. 7, 2019
• Letter to Sec. DeVos Requesting Guidance and Implementation of State Authorization of Distance Education Rule, March 26, 2018
• Civil Rights and Education Groups: Students of Color Must Be Protected from For-Profit College Exploitation: Civil Rights Community Opposes Repeal of Gainful Employment Rule, Sept. 13, 2018
• Coalition Letter to Dep’t of Education: Deregulatory Agenda Will Weaken Critical Protections for Students, Sep. 13, 2018

Archive+

Press Releases

• National Consumer Law Center Advocates Support Education Department Giving  Loan Relief for 18,000 Former ITT Students but Urge More Action, June 16, 2021
• Joint Statement: Advocates Urge President-Elect Biden to Provide More Student Debt Relief, January 8, 2020
• NCLC Advocates Applaud Schumer/Warren Senate Resolution Calling for $50,000 in Debt Cancellation for 43 Million Student Loan Borrowers, Sept. 17, 2020
• Advocates Decry Congress’s Failure  to  Protect Student  Loan  Borrowers  and  Taxpayers  from  School  Fraud  and  Closures,  June  26,  2020
• Advocates Urge President Trump to Join Congress in Restoring Rule to Protect Student Loan Borrowers from School Fraud and Closures, May 20, 2020
• Advocates Applaud Senate Vote to Restore Rule to Protect Borrowers from School Fraud and Closures, March 11, 2020
• Statement Regarding CFPB and U.S. Department of Education MOU on Handling Student Loan Borrower Complaints, Feb. 4, 2020
• Advocates Applaud U.S. House Vote to Restore Rule to Protect Borrowers from School Fraud and Closures, Jan. 16, 2020
• Advocates Condemn U.S. Department of Education Delays on Student Debt Relief for Disabled Veterans, Nov. 22, 2019
• Statement of National Consumer Law Center Attorney and Negotiator Robyn Smith on U.S. Department of Education’s Harmful Departure from Consensus on State Authorization Distance Education Regulations, Nov. 1, 2019
• Education Department Erects New Barriers to Relief for Students Harmed by School Fraud and Closures; Protects For-Profit College Industry at Expense of Students, August 30, 2019
• Statement Regarding Support of Bills to Relieve Student Loan Debt, July 23, 2019
• National Consumer Law Center Attorney to Testify on June 11 before U.S. House Oversight Committee on Student Loan Servicing, June 10, 2019
• Press Release: Advocates: Dept. of Education Plan to Redo Rule that Protects Students Harmed by Illegal School Conduct Falls Short, Jan. 18, 2019
• Press Release: After Multiple Lawsuits and Court Order, Education Department Finally Agrees to Provide Relief to Students Hurt By School Closures, Dec. 14, 2018
• Statement of NCLC attorney Abby Shafroth re: U.S. Department of Education Proposal to Abandon Rule Protecting Students and Taxpayers from Schools that Fail to Deliver Value, Aug. 10, 2018

Archive+

Litigation

• New York Legal Assistance Group v. Devos and U.S. Department of Education, July 20, 2020. Amicus Brief.
• Bodor v Maximus Federal Services, Inc. Case No. 5:19-cv-05787-EGS in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania, December 19, 2019. Complaint and press release.
• National Consumer Law Center v. U.S. Department of Education, April 19, 2018, Complaint
  The National Consumer Law Center filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts against the U.S. Department of Education for records related to its purported justification for delaying implementation of a rule to protect student loan borrowers from school fraud and abuse, including records of communications between agency officials and representatives of the for-profit college industry. NCLC filed a FOIA request for these records last summer and received limited, heavily redacted materials in response. NCLC asks the court to declare that the Department’s search was inadequate and its withholding of the records is unlawful, and to order the agency to make the requested records available without delay. Public Citizen is serving as co-counsel on the case.
• Amicus Curiae Brief of Public Law Center, NCLC, Public Counsel in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Case Challenging Dep’t of Education’s Abandonment of Full Loan Relief for Defrauded Corinthian Students (Manriquez v. DeVos, April 16, 2018)
• Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 17 organizations in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in Case Challenging Department of Education’s Delay of Borrower Defense Rule (Commonwealth of Mass. et al v. Department of Education, September 28, 2017)
• Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 17 organizations in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in Case Challenging Department of Education’s Delay of Borrower Defense Rule (Bauer v. DeVos, September 28, 2017)

Student Loans Policy Analysis Archive

2021 Federal Priorities for the Student Debt Crisis

National Consumer Law Center and Student Borrower Protection Center Complaint to Federal Trade Commission re: Vemo Education, Inc. alleging deceptive marketing practices of Income-Shared Agreements, May 31, 2020; press release.

Policy Analysis

Student Loans Policy Analysis Archive

2021 Federal Priorities for the Student Debt Crisis

Policy Analysis

Reports, Briefs & Videos

• Policy Brief: Education Department’s Decades-Old Debt Trap: How the Mismanagement of Income-Driven Repayment Locked Millions in Debt, March 2021; press release
• Report: How States Can Help Students Harmed by Higher Education Fraud, January 2021; press release
• NCLC/CRL report: Road to Relief: Supporting Federal Student Loan Borrowers During the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond, Nov. 2020; press release
• Brief: Borrowing From Our Future: The Case for Cancelling Student Debt, Aug. 10, 2020
• Report: Voices of Despair – How Seizing the EITC is Leaving Student Loan Borrowers Homeless and Hopeless During a Pandemic, July 2020; press release
• Video Explainer: What the CARES Act Means for Repayment of Federal Student Loans, April 21, 2020
• Brief: Congress Must Provide Relief to Defaulted Student Loan Borrowers; Recommendations for Higher Education Act Reauthorization, March 2020
• Brief: Three Tax Fixes to Improve the Federal Student Aid Program (NCLC and TICAS), March 2020
• Fact Sheet: What States Can Do to Protect Consumers: Student Loans, January 2020

More reports, briefs, & videos

Comments

• Joint NCLC and LAFLA comments to the Department of Education on HEA Negotiated Rulemaking, July 1, 2021
• Coalition comments to the Department of Education Sharing its Negotiated Rulemaking Priorities and Concerns About Title IV Funds, July 1, 2021
• Comments from NCLC and 37 legal services organizations to the Department of Education on HEA Negotiated Rulemaking, July 1, 2021
• Joint comments to the Department of Education re facilitating automatic student loan discharged for certain military veterans, Jan. 27, 2020
• Joint comments to the CFPB re: student loan borrower concerns re: proposed debt collection rule, Sept. 18, 2019
• Comments to the Department of Education re: Proposed Regulations on Recognition of Accrediting Agencies and Recognition Procedures for State Agencies, July 11, 2019

More comments

Testimony

• NCLC attorney Persis Yu testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on A $1.5 Trillion Crisis: Protecting Student Borrowers and Holding Student Loan Servicers Accountable, Sept. 10, 2019; Press Release
• Testimony of NCLC attorney John Rao at the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on “Oversight of Bankruptcy Law and Legislative Proposals,” held on June 25, 2019, and focusing on the discharge of student loans in bankruptcy
• NCLC attorney Joanna K. Darcus’ testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations re: “An Examination of State Efforts to oversee the $1.5 Trillion Student Loan Servicing Market,” June 11, 2019; Press Release
• NCLC attorney Joanna K. Darcus testimony to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education re:“Protecting Student Borrowers: Loan Servicing Oversight”, March 6, 2019

More testimony

Letters

• Group Letter to President Biden urging immediate action to extend the current pause on student loan payments, June 24, 2021
• Group Letter to Secretary of Education Cardona in Support of Petition to Provide Relief for Borrowers with Disabilities, June 11, 2021
• Group Letter to Secretary of Education Cardona Requesting Relief for the Borrower Defense Fund, April 13, 2021
• NCLC and SBPC letter to Acting Secretary of Education Rosenfelt Calling for Immediate Covid-19 Relief for Commercial Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) Borrowers, February 16, 2021
• NCLC and 237 other organizations call on Biden Administration to Cancel Student Loan Debt on Day 1, Nov. 18, 2020
• Group letter to U.S. Senate opposing the Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act, July 28, 2020
• Consumer and industry groups’ letter urging Congress to extend CARES Act relief to all federal student loan borrowers,  April 13, 2020

More letters

Press Releases

• National Consumer Law Center Advocates Support Education Department Giving  Loan Relief for 18,000 Former ITT Students but Urge More Action, June 16, 2021
• Statement on Education Department’s Appointment of Richard Cordray to Oversee Trillion Dollar Federal Student Aid, May 4, 2021
• NCLC and SPBC Statements on Partial Administrative Action to Protect Student Loan Borrowers During the Pandemic, March 30, 2021
• U.S. Department of Education’s Action on Discharges for Borrowers with Total and Permanent Disabilities Falls Short, Mar. 29, 2021
• Joint Statement: Advocates Urge President-Elect Biden to Provide More Student Debt Relief, January 8, 2020
• Joint Statement: We Applaud Pressley/Omar/Adams/Waters Resolution to Cancel Student, December 22, 2020
• NCLC Advocates Applaud Schumer/Warren Senate Resolution Calling for $50,000 in Debt Cancellation for 43 Million Student Loan Borrowers, Sept. 17, 2020
• Student Loan Borrowers Need Real Relief, Not a COVID Stimulus Plan that Will Bury Them Deeper in Debt, July 27, 2020
• Advocates Praise Senators for Bold Student Loan Principles, March 19, 2020
• Covid 19: What the U.S. Dept. of Education, Lenders and Student Loan Borrowers Should Do Now, March 13, 2020

More press releases

Litigation

• New York Legal Assistance Group v. Devos and U.S. Department of Education, Amicus Brief and Exhibits 1-3, July 24, 2020
• Barber, Jenkins  et al vs Devos and U.S. Department of Education, Case 1:20-cv-01137, May 7, 2020. Amended Complaint and Press Release.
  Share your story if you have had wages garnished in 2020 for a student loan. NCLC and Student Defense, with support of the Student Borrower Protection Center, filed an emergency APA lawsuit in the D.C. District Court against the U.S. Department of Education seeking to stop its garnishment of wages from defaulted student loan borrowers and to force the agency to immediately comply with Sec. 3513 (e) of the CARES Act that mandates that all such collections be ceased until at least next September. As reported by the Washington Post, the Education Dept. estimates that 285,000 borrowers are still having their wages garnished.  A motion for injunctive relief class certification has also been filed.
• Bodor v Maximus Federal Services, Inc. Case No. 5:19-cv-05787-EGS in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania, December 19, 2019. Complaint and press release.
• Robinson v National Student Clearinghouse, April 18, 2019 Complaint
  The Francis & Mailman firm, along with the National Consumer Law Center and Justice Catalyst Law filed a class action lawsuit against the National Student Clearinghouse (“NSC”) in the United States Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts.  The suit alleges that NSC maintains vast databases housing detailed information about college students and their college enrollment history from which it sells reports to potential creditors, insurers and employers among others.  As such, the complaint asserts that NSC is a credit reporting agency under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Massachusetts Credit Reporting Act and that it has violated those statutes by requiring unlawful and excessive charges for consumers to access their files.  The complaint also asserts that the disclosure overcharges constitute unfair conduct in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. The plaintiff seeks to have the overcharging practices enjoined, the unlawful and excessive charges returned, applicable statutory damages and punitive awards for the willful and knowing violations of the consumer statutes.
• National Consumer Law Center v. United States Department of Education, Nov. 16, 2018, Complaint
  The National Consumer Law Center filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the U.S. Department of Education to compel compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). NCLC submitted a FOIA request in October 2017 to ED seeking the release of records associated with ED’s arrangements with Maximus Federal Services, Inc., or any other party operating in whole or in part under the name Default Resolution Group. FOIA requires that agencies have 20 working days to make a determination on the request. To date, thirteen months after receipt of NCLC’s Request, ED has not communicated to NCLC its determination as to NCLC’s Request, nor provided NCLC with any responsive documents.
• Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 14 organizations in Support of Plaintiff-Appellant and Reversal in state preemption of consumer protection laws re: student loan servicing (Nelson v. Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., et al, July 2, 2018)
• Amicus Curiae Brief of Public Law Center, NCLC, Public Counsel in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Case Challenging Dep’t of Education’s Abandonment of Full Loan Relief for Defrauded Corinthian Students (Manriquez v. DeVos, April 16, 2018)
• Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 17 organizations in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in Case Challenging Department of Education’s Delay of Borrower Defense Rule (Bauer v. DeVos, September 28, 2017)
• Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 17 organizations in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in Case Challenging Department of Education’s Delay of Borrower Defense Rule (Commonwealth of Mass. et al v. Department of Education, September 28, 2017)
• Case against the United States Department of Education: The National Consumer Law Center is co-counsel in a Freedom of Information Act suit requesting public records of the U.S. Department of Education regarding race and debt collection practices of third-party debt collectors hired by the Department: Complaint, Exhibit 1 (FOIA request, May 7, 2015), Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3, and Exhibit 4, and press release

Student Loans Policy Analysis Archive