Maryland SmartBuy Program Will Pay Off Up to $40,000 in Student Loans If You Buy a House There.

The Maryland SmartBuy Program Looking to buy a home with student loan debt? Consider moving to Maryland. A government initiative there will pay off and eventually forgive up to $40,000 in student loan debt. The catch: You have to buy a home in Maryland. And you have to live in it for at least five […]

It’s 2019. Have you checked on your PSLF eligibility status?

Make sure your PSLF eligibility is on track at least every year. Don’t rely on people you’ve never met to win a lawsuit in order to qualify for public service loan forgiveness. You can’t control what happens in a courtroom, and you can’t control what a judge says. If you want to ensure you receive […]

Feds May Crack Down on Student Loan Fraud

This here is why we can’t have nice things. At least two of ‘y’all tried to reduce your monthly student loan payments by reporting a household size of 93. And the federal General Accounting Office is calling BS. That’s one of the more egregious findings from a recent GAO report. The gist: Thousands of student […]

Disabled Veterans May Receive Automatic Student Loan Forgiveness Under New Bill

‘FREED Vets Act’ Would Provide Average Benefit of $24,000 in Loan Forgiveness Per Eligible Disabled Veteran Nearly 34,000 disabled veterans may receive automatic and total forgiveness for federally-guaranteed student loans. That’s the object of new legislation introduced in the House. The bill, entitled the Federally Requiring Education Debt Discharges for Veterans Act, or FREED Vets […]

Teachers Union Sues Dept. of Education Over Denied Public Service Loan Forgiveness Claims

Imagine being a schoolteacher, cop, firefighter, social worker or some other public service worker with a big student loan debt. You went into the field a decade ago knowing the pay wasn’t the greatest. But you expected you’d be able to discharge your remaining student loan debt after ten years in public service. That was […]

Kamala Harris on Student Loan Debt

Kamala Harris on Student Loan Debt By most polls, California Senator and former state attorney general Kamala Harris is currently running third in the Democratic primary. She’s behind former Vice President Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. She’s ahead of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in some polls and behind in others.  We tackled Biden’s track long […]

Senator Bernie Sanders’ Student Loan Plan

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has rolled out his plan to address student loan debt, and it’s a doozy. First, Sanders proposes we cancel all $1.6 trillion of outstanding student loan debt outright – including both federal and private loans. This would directly affect about 45 million Americans. The direct savings for the average student loan […]

Student Loan Tax Elimination Act Introduced in Senate

A new bill in the Senate, the Student Loan Tax Elimination Act, would eliminate student loan origination fees on federal loans. If approved, the measure could save borrowers billions over the next five years. Supporters say that origination fees on student loans amount to a “hidden tax” on student loan borrowers. And since the Department […]

Joe Biden and His Controversial History With Student Loans

Under current law, federal student loans are generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Borrowers have Joe Biden to thank for that. In contrast, most other forms of consumer debt can be discharged through the bankruptcy process.  Only a limited number of debts, such as child support payments, alimony, overdue taxes, and criminal fines, are non-dischargeable. But […]

Renting an Apartment With Student Loan Debt Problems

You want to rent an apartment, but you’ve got oodles of student loan debt. Maybe you’ve been late on some payments. Maybe you’re even in default. Can you still rent an apartment with student loan debt headaches? Probably. But it might not be easy. Here’s the scoop: What landlords want Landlords have two basic priorities: […]

How To Improve Your Credit Score

Good news for the country: The average credit score is at a record high of 704. That’s according to the Fair, Isaac Corporation, the company that produces the most commonly used credit scoring product in the U.S. today, the FICO Score. If you’ve had credit issues in the past, or if you are simply new […]

Consolidation Loan Separation Act May Provide Relief to Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse

Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act Aims to Help Divorced Joint Borrowers Get Back on Their Feet. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Shannon DeBlieck and her then-husband used a now-defunct federal program to consolidate their separate loan amounts together into a single payment. She owed $4,000, and he owed $19,000. The balance […]