Making the Most of New Bankruptcy Process for Student Loans

For many years, student loan borrowers have struggled with monthly payments and have often felt like their educational debt balance was preventing them from moving forward with their lives. Indeed, for many student loan borrowers in Florida, debts in the tens of thousands of dollars — and often much more — can mean high monthly payments and difficulty paying other bills in order to keep up with student loans. While debtors who file for bankruptcy do have to go through an additional process in order to have a bankruptcy court discharge their student loans, that process became significantly easier with a change made in late 2022. Yet as a recent article in Bloomberg News suggests, it seems as though student loan borrowers have not fully recognized just how important this change to the process could be for them.

To be sure, as the article points out, debtors have been relatively slow to try to take advantage of the new process in attempting to have their student loans discharged. Our St. Petersburg bankruptcy attorneys can say more, and we can speak with you today if you want to learn more about having student loans discharged in a consumer bankruptcy case.

Slow Uptake with New Student Loan Bankruptcy Process 

As the Bloomberg News article highlights, the new process for discharging student loans in bankruptcy was designed to make it easier for debtors to have loans discharged, and consumer advocates were anticipating that we would soon see more bankruptcy cases involving the discharge of student loans. However, the article underscores, “a year later the results are more tepid than those consumer advocates had hoped.”

Both the US Department of Justice and US Department of Education reported that there were 632 bankruptcy filers in 2023 who sought to have student loans discharged, which represented a “significant increase from recent years.” Yet even so, the article suggests, that level of change will not “make a sizable dent in the nation’s $1.7 trillion federal student debt crisis.” It is the “lackluster take-up” that is the problem — not as many debtors are taking advantage of the new process as many consumer advocates expected and hoped.

How to Have Your Student Loans Discharged in Bankruptcy 

How can you make the most of the new process for discharging student loans in bankruptcy? You should discuss your financial circumstances with an experienced bankruptcy attorney who can help you to determine whether you may be eligible to have your student debt discharged.

Under the new process, you will still have to meet the “undue hardship” requirement used in the past, but it is now easier to do. You will fill out an “attestation form” that provides all relevant information about your financial situation and student loan debt, and the form will be reviewed to examine your:

• Present ability to pay;
• Future ability to pay; and
• Good faith effort.

Contact a St. Petersburg Bankruptcy Lawyer 

Are you struggling with student loans? It may be possible to have your loans discharged in a personal bankruptcy case. You should contact an experienced St. Petersburg bankruptcy lawyer at the Law Offices of Stephen Barszcz to discuss your case.

Sources:

news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/student-loan-borrowers-slow-to-rely-on-touted-bankruptcy-tool

justice.gov/d9/pages/attachments/2022/11/17/student_loan_discharge_guidance_-_fact_sheet_0.pdf