NSLDN and HERA Statement on Automatic Closed School Discharge Announcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 14, 2018

MEDIA CONTACT:

press@nsldn.org | 202-734-7495

NSLDN & HERA Statement on Automatic Closed School Discharge Announcement

Washington, D.C. – The National Student Legal Defense Network (NSLDN) issued a statement responding to the Department of Education’s announcement that it would begin discharging the loans of students who attended schools that closed. NSLDN filed a lawsuit in November, on behalf of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA), demanding that the Department of Education immediately fulfill its legal obligations and discharge the loans of tens of thousands of students whose schools or campuses have closed.

“This appears to be a positive development, but we will continue pressing the Department to ensure that every single eligible borrower receives the full and complete relief they deserve,” said NSLDN President Aaron Ament. “This automatic discharge rule was put into place because the impact of a school closure is so devastating on students’ plans and careers, and because many borrowers were not aware of the right to request a discharge. If it weren’t for Secretary DeVos’s unlawful delay of the rule in the first place, students would have gotten this relief in 2017 and public interest organizations like HERA would not have had to divert their limited resources to solve problems caused by this Department.”

“While it is heartening to hear that the Department is planning to do its job by stopping collections against students whose schools clearly failed them, it is important to note that the Department has already proposed rules that would severely limit this same relief in the future,” said HERA Managing Attorney Noah Zinner. “We urge the Department to reconsider these new restrictions on student debt relief.”

The Department of Education’s Borrower Defense Rule, a regulation finalized in 2016, instituted a provision known as Automatic Closed School Discharge – in short, the provision requires the Department to automatically discharge the loans of all eligible borrowers harmed by the abrupt closure of their school. The automatic aspect of the relief is especially important because students are often unaware of their rights – fewer than half of eligible borrowers affirmatively apply for relief.

Under Secretary DeVos, the Department delayed the July 1, 2017 implementation of the Borrower Defense Rule three times, and in September 2018, a federal judge held that the delays were unlawful, arbitrary, and capricious. After the judge’s order, the rule went into effect as if the Department’s illegal delays had never happened. However, until this announcement the Department and its servicers have continued to collect on loans that it is required by law to discharge.

Since November 2013 nearly 3,600 schools have either closed a campus or stopped operations entirely. Borrowers eligible for closed school loan discharge should receive the following benefits:

• Complete loan discharge: Borrowers who get a closed school discharge are no longer obligated to repay any outstanding loan principal, accrued interest, or collection costs.
• Refund of payments already made: Borrowers should be reimbursed for any and all payments made to date on the loan, including through wage garnishment or tax refund offsets
• Federal aid eligibility: Borrowers should be made eligible for new loans and grants, including Pell grants.
• Clear credit history: Any adverse credit history due to the loans should be deleted by the credit reporting agencies.

Housing and Economic Rights Advocates is a California statewide, not-for-profit legal service and advocacy organization dedicated to helping Californians — particularly those most vulnerable — build a safe, sound financial future, free of discrimination and economic abuses, in all aspects of household financial concerns. HERA provides free legal services, consumer workshops, training for professionals and community organizing support, creates innovative solutions and engages in policy work locally, statewide and nationally. Learn more at www.heraca.org

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The National Student Legal Defense Network (NSLDN) is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that works, through litigation and advocacy, to advance students’ rights to educational opportunity and to ensure that higher education provides a launching point for economic mobility.

Federal Student Loan Borrowers KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!  Student loan borrowers who are eligible for automatic Closed School Discharges are not receiving them.  If this sounds like you, you should apply for a discharge immediately.  Read the details below to see if you are eligible.

Students have long been eligible for a total discharge of their federal student loans (and refund of any amounts paid) if they: (1) attended a school at the time it closed (or withdrew less than 120 days before it closed) and (2) did not subsequently transfer any credits to a similar program at another school.  This type of relief is known as a Closed School Discharge.

Unfortunately, many students do not know what a Closed School Discharge is.  In fact, less than half of students who qualify ever apply to receive this type of relief.  For that reason, the Department of Education established a rule in 2016 that would grant automatic Closed School Discharges to eligible students.

Under the leadership of Secretary DeVos, the Department of Education has refused to grant automatic Closed School Discharges.  Then, in September 2018, a federal court ruled that the Department’s attempts to delay implementing automatic relief were illegal.

Unfortunately, even though automatic Closed School Discharge is now the law, HERA continues to hear from students who are eligible for relief, but are still paying back their loans.  These students are not receiving the automatic discharges to which they are entitled.

If you meet the criteria described above, it is important that you apply for a closed school discharge as soon as possible. Here is the Loan Discharge Application: School Closure.

If you have questions about this post, you can reach HERA at inquiries@heraca.org.

Senate Approves SB 818, victory for HBOR but now on to the assembly

Oakland, California, May 10, 2018- SB 818 a bill that helps ensure Californians are treated fairly mortgage by loan servicers was approved by the senate. SB 818 restores original language from the Homeowners Bill of Rights (HBOR) that sunset at the end of 2017. HERA is a proud co-sponsor of this bill.

HBOR is widely described as the groundbreaking law that evens the playing field between homeowners and mortgage servicers. The foreclosure crisis may be over but that in no way means that these protections are not important. Homeowners, including surviving spouses and children are still at risk, and these protections ensure they will be treated fairly.

SB 818 requires mortgage servicers to stop foreclosure if a homeowner submits a complete application for a loan modification. It sets up the requirement of the servicer notifying the homeowner of having received the application, informing homeowners if they’ve submitted an incomplete application and providing a reasonable amount of time to appeal a denial.

SB 818 was approved by the Senate 23-12 and will now go before the Assembly.

(HERA in the News) From the California Dept. of Justice: Attorney General Becerra Calls on Education Secretary DeVos to Reject Toothless Student Borrower Defense Proposal

Monday, March 5, 2018 PRESS RELEASE

[CONTENT AND IMAGE IS FROM THE CA DEPT OF JUSTICE WEBSITE, PLEASE CONTACT THEM FOR MORE INFORMATION]

SACRAMENTO — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading a coalition of 20 attorneys general, today submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Education (Department) criticizing proposals that the Department offered during its recent rulemaking sessions to redraft regulations on borrower defense and financial responsibility. Borrower defense is the process by which students who have been defrauded by their schools can have their federal student loans discharged. For example, after the collapse of Corinthian Colleges in 2015, the California Attorney General assisted the Department in developing streamlined procedures to provide critical loan relief to tens of thousands of defrauded students around the country.

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“We’re calling on the Secretary of Education to do her job and protect students, not fraudulent for-profit colleges,” said Attorney General Becerra. “So far, the Department has drafted borrower defense rules that do little to protect student borrowers. Instead, these rules would allow unscrupulous, for-profit sham colleges to rip off students and often the U.S. taxpayer with little worry about paying a legal penalty. As a Member of Congress, I supported reforms to the student lending system and defended regulations that protect student loan borrowers. As Attorney General, I will do everything in my power to ensure that all who seek a higher education can do so without having to worry about the motives of for-profit schools.”

Please visit State of CA DOJ Office of The AG for the full press release. Contact: (415) 703-5837, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

Beware of Solar Panel Door-to-Door Salespersons

Many homeowners across California are being unlawfully tricked into leasing or financing solar panels for their homes by door-to-door salespersons and phone solicitors who misrepresent the terms of the contract.

Recently, HERA assisted the Gonzalezes of Orange Cove, California, who were misled into entering into an expensive lease of solar panels on their roof by a salesman who knocked on their door. The Gonzalezes are monolingual Spanish-speakers and the salesperson told them in Spanish that his company could install solar panels on their roof that would save them hundreds of dollars on their energy bills. The salesman said they would pay $96 per month for 30 years and that they would own the solar panels afterward.

 

He had Mr. Gonzalez sign a contract written entirely in English, which the Gonzalezes could not read or understand. The contract had dramatically different terms than were explained by the salesman, including that the solar company would retain ownership of the solar panels after a 25-year lease and that increased every year to $186 per month in year 25 for a total of over $40,000 in lease payments.  The salesman never explained these crucial terms to the Gonzalezes before they signed the contract, and the company never provided them with a Spanish translation of the contract.

 

The solar panels were later installed, but they did not produce the energy savings that the salesman promised.  In fact, the combined electricity bill and lease payments were about triple of what the Gonzalezes previously paid for electricity without the solar panels.  In addition, the panels created holes in the roof that caused water to leak into the house when it rained.

 

HERA sent the solar panel company a letter rescinding the loan based on the salesperson’s fraudulent misrepresentation and the failure to provide the Gonzalezes with a copy of the contract in the language in which it was negotiated, as required by Civil Code section 1632. Within one month, the solar company agreed to cancel the lease, refund the lease payments and repair damage to the Gonzalezes’ roof in exchange for return of the solar panels.

 

HERA has assisted other clients rescind solar panel contracts that were obtained based in misrepresentations about the terms and without providing a copy of the contract in Spanish after Spanish-language negotiations about the terms.  If you are facing such a problem, you should contact us for assistance.

(HERA in the News) Attorney General Becerra Issues Statement on Department of Education’s Illegal Decision to Provide Only Partial Loan Debt Relief to Corinthian Students

December 21, 2017 from Highland Community News:

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued the following statement on the news that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has decided to provide only partial relief on federal student loans to defrauded Corinthian students:

“Under federal law, Secretary DeVos is required to provide full – not partial – relief to Corinthian students. The California Department of Justice will continue to hold her accountable through our ongoing lawsuit. Corinthian students had their American Dream stolen by a so-called higher education institution. This Department of Education needs to carry out its legal duty and help them rebuild their lives.”

Background: In 2013, the California Attorney General’s Office led the charge against for-profit Corinthian Colleges and its subsidiaries, seeking to put an end to abusive practices that left students under a mountain of debt and far too often without the jobs Corinthian had falsely promised its degrees would provide. Corinthian specifically targeted low-income, vulnerable students through false advertisements that misrepresented job placement rates and the value of its educational programs. Corinthian illegally used the seals of the armed forces in its advertisements to recruit veterans. It also engaged in illegal debt collection practices. The California Attorney General’s Office ultimately obtained a $1.1 billion judgment against Corinthian for its misconduct and the permanent closure of all Corinthian schools in California.

The California Attorney General’s Office was instrumental in moving the Department of Education to implement a borrower-defense process to grant widespread, expedited loan relief to defrauded Corinthian borrowers. Based on a joint investigation with the California Department of Justice, the Department of Education under President Obama announced that tens of thousands of former Corinthian students were entitled to federal student loan relief. The Department announced a streamlined process by which former Corinthian students could apply for that relief.

On December 14, Attorney General Becerra took Secretary DeVos to court for withholding student loan debt relief for Corinthian students. The federal Higher Education Act entitles student loan borrowers to relief if they are defrauded by their schools. More than 50,000 such claims submitted by Corinthian students are pending before the Department of Education, 13,000 from Californians. Today, the Harvard Law School Legal Services Center Predatory Lending Clinic and Housing and Economic Rights Advocates joined Attorney General Becerra’s lawsuit.

 Also see Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s press release on the State of California Department of Justice website here.

You can find out complaint on our last blog post, HERA and LEGAL SERVICES CENTER OF HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FILE CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.

HERA and LEGAL SERVICES CENTER OF HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FILE CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

December 20, 2017, Oakland, California:

This morning, borrowers represented by HERA and the Project on Predatory Student Lending at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School filed a nation-wide class action against the Department of Education for illegally and unfairly denying relief to tens of thousands of former Corinthian students who the Department already decided are entitled to have their loans discharged and their payments refunded.  Not only were they lied to by Corinthian, they have now been lied to by the federal government.

The case was brought by three named plaintiffs:

• Martin Calvillo Manriquez was talked into WyoTech’s automotive technology program over community college. He didn’t really have an opportunity to even touch cars or car parts while he was enrolled. The school didn’t have tools or certified instructors. While he was in school, he worked at an oil change shop earning $8 an hour. He kept seeing classmates who had graduated from his program applying for the same low-paying, non-technical job he already had. Most of them didn’t even get jobs changing oil. Martin has never had a job related to auto repair. Even though the Department determined that Martin was misled and cheated, and even though he applied to have his loans discharged, the Department has taken two years of tax refunds and garnished his wages to pay back his loans.
• Rthwan Dobashi owes more than $20,000 for the same program. He has also never worked in the field.  He is married, has two kids, and is expecting a third. In early 2016, he found out from the attorney general that he was eligible to have his debts from WyoTech cancelled, and he applied. He also told one of his friends from school, and his friend applied, too. His friend’s loans were discharged almost a year ago, while Rick still hasn’t heard anything from the Department.
• Jamal Cornelius’s attended the Information Technology-Emphasis in Network Security program at Heald College, and borrowed more than $25,000. His debt from Corinthian is the only line on his credit report. He has been waiting more than fourteen months for any response to his application for relief.

All three borrowers, and all class members, are entitled to relief pursuant to the Department’s Corinthian Job Placement Rate Rule, which it has established through countless public statements, previous discharges, and direct notice to tens of thousands of covered individuals. The Department may not now change this rule and apply changes retroactively. In other words, it is unlawful for the Department to go back on its word.

See the full complaint here.

Please contact us at inquiries@heraca.org or (510) 271-8443 ext. 300.

(HERA in the News) KBLX Cares Interview with Sterling James: Housing and Economic Rights Advocacy

Find out what we’re all about as Sterling James from 102.9 KBLX talks to our executive director Maeve Elise Brown, listen here.

See more here: www.heraca.org & www.money-happy.org

Over 130 Organizations Call on FHFA to Review Policies that Fuel Displacement

FHFA NEEDS TO “REFOCUS” ITS STRATEGIC PLAN

San Francisco, CA—Nov.15, 2017— Earlier today, 136 organizations sent a letter to Mel Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), urging him to review and possibly end policies that are enabling the widespread displacement of low income people and people of color. FHFA is currently revising its strategic plan and had asked for input, which is why advocates are weighing in with the agency. The letter is signed by nonprofit organizations serving communities in more than 20 states.

“It’s no secret that working families throughout the country are facing high housing costs,” explains Kevin Stein, deputy director of the California Reinvestment Coalition. “What we’re calling attention to with this letter is that FHFA policies are exacerbating this problem. As FHFA updates its strategic plan, it has a key opportunity to change policies and to mitigate this problem of working families and households of color being displaced from their homes and their communities.”

“We know that some of the investments by the GSEs are actually increasing housing costs and the displacement of low income people and people of color.  In light of this, FHFA should re-focus its strategic plan to better support homeowners and communities, not Wall Street executives that are buying up our neighborhoods,” adds Maeve Elise Brown, executive director of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates.

“The REO to Rental phenomenon has been a clear disaster for working families,” adds Merika

Regan, a community leader with ACCE in East Oakland. “Renters are experiencing slum-lord conditions, unaffordable rent increases, and are being displaced as a result. There is no compelling reason for Fannie or Freddie to provide financing to companies who are exacerbating the housing crisis in communities across the country.”

In their letter, advocates are outlining how the FHFA, in its role overseeing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (the GSEs), and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, is failing low and moderate income households and people of color in 3 important ways:

1) GSEs are Financing Displacement via Investments in REO to Rental  REO to Rental, a business model created by some of the same Wall Street actors who caused the housing meltdown, has wreaked havoc on local communities. Potential first time homeowners can’t compete against all-cash investors, meanwhile, long-term tenants are experiencing slum-lord conditions and rapidly rising rents, and/or being displaced. Yet, Fannie Mae recently invested in this harmful practice by guaranteeing a $1 billion loan by Wells Fargo Bank to Blackstone/Invitation Homes. Beyond the harm caused to consumers, the California Reinvestment Coalition also highlighted in a 2014 report how the financing structure for most REO to Rental deals is eerily similar to the financing mechanism that ultimately led to the housing meltdown.

2) Federal Home Loan Bank Funds Used for Questionable Mortgage Purchases: FHLB members are supposed to use their access to FHLB credit in order to finance affordable housing and community development. But, according to media reports, Starwood Property Trust, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), is using relatively cheap funding from the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank in order to buy non-Qualified Mortgage (QM) loans. These loans do not meet federal ability to repay standards and are therefore riskier for the borrower and the lender. Beyond safety and soundness concerns, advocates are deeply concerned Starwood and similar companies may have a perverse incentive to engage in poor mortgage servicing of these loans in order to foreclose and add more homes to its REO to Rental empire.

3) GSE Affordable Housing Goals Should Consider Gentrification Pressures: FHFA sets important annual affordable housing goals for both Fannie and Freddie that dictate the percentages of loans the GSEs should buy that are made either to low-income consumers or made in low or middle income areas. The Affordable Housing goals are hugely important to efforts to create homeownership for all Americans. But, as gentrification pressures increase, advocates are concerned about the GSEs buying mortgages that were originated to higher-income homeowners in lower income areas or in high-minority census tracts, which could be contributing to gentrification. This is a problem that even FHFA acknowledged, stating that the GSE’s share of loans to wealthier borrowers in low-income census tracts and high-minority census tracts has been increasing.  Advocates suggest FHFA consider lowering the “cap” of loans to higher-income people that count for the GSEs (currently at 14%) in order to meet their affordable housing goals. In this way, FHFA would signal to the mortgage and banking industry the need to increase their efforts to serve low-income homebuyers, not just homebuyers who are purchasing in low-income communities.

Recommendations to FHFA

Advocates are urging Director Watt to review all GSE and FHLB policies with an anti-displacement lens to mitigate the displacement currently happening in low-income communities and communities of color in California and across the US.

Specifically, FHFA should:

1) Prohibit Fannie and Freddie from financing REO to Rental transactions. If FHFA will not do so, it must at the least implement significant protections. If the GSEs intend to continue with these investments, they must include safeguards against first time homebuyers being elbowed out as well as protections for tenants against shoddy maintenance, unnecessary evictions, and unaffordable rent increases.

2) Immediately prohibit REITs from using Federal Home Loan Bank advances for purchasing non-QM loans, distressed loans, or for any investments in REO to Rental that have the effect of destabilizing low and moderate income and of color households and communities.

3) Minimize incentives for lenders to extend mortgages to wealthier homebuyers in low income zip codes.  Currently, the GSEs are allowed to “count” as part of its affordable housing goals up to 14% of their mortgage purchases that are to wealthier homebuyers in lower income or high minority census tracts, and FHFA is proposing to increase this to 15%.  However, advocates suggest that if FHFA were to lower this “cap,” it would incentivize the GSEs, and the lenders they buy mortgages from, to refocus their efforts on serving low and middle income homebuyers. GSE affordable housing goals are critical and must be strengthened and refocused on low and moderate income and of color borrowers to ensure that all Americans are able to achieve the dream of homeownership and wealth accumulation, especially in communities vulnerable to gentrification pressures.

4) Increase oversight and transparency in regards to GSE foreclosures and note sales to guard against unnecessary foreclosures, especially as it relates to Wall Street and private equity companies buying and servicing mortgages as a result of financing from the GSEs.

Additional Context:

In a 2014 report, the California Reinvestment Coalition detailed how REO to Rental companies are depleting affordable housing stock, elbowing out potential first-time homebuyers, and displacing long-term tenants. 

See the original press release on CRC’s website here.