To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Allow People to Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy
We need to be able to discharge student loans in bankruptcy - no exceptions, no fine print, no ifs, ands, or buts. Income-based repayment plans are touted as a panacea, but hardly anyone qualifies for them (your loans are too old, you consolidated your loans, name an excuse, any excuse). Loan forgiveness options are so limited that, again, hardly anyone qualifies for them.
Elizabeth Warren's proposal will only help people who are just starting college now. Those of us who need help the most - the ones who have been unemployed for 10 years and can only watch helplessly as interest accrues - don't qualify for the lower rate.
Is bankruptcy a radical option? Sure. But it's one a lot of us need.
Why is this important?
I was out of work and diagnosed with cancer. My student loan interest piled up and up. My spouse has been out of work for more than 10 years. The interest just piles up and up. Now we can't even make a dent in the principal or the interest. The so-called "pay as you earn" programs don't work because we are told we don't qualify for them. We can't get the lower interest rates Sen. Warren proposes because the loans are too old. We're trapped, and we're not alone.