Tag Archives: student loan discharge

Woman Obtains Student Loan Discharge of over $250,000

She Had Owed More than $400,000 By Nancy Hull Rigdon, Special to Missouri Lawyers Weekly A 50-year-old woman who owed more than $400,000 in student loans settled the debt for $150,000, with the possibility of getting out for less with consistent monthly payments. This debt was destroying her life and her ability to function, and that is what bankruptcy is for, said attorney Neil Sader, who represented the woman in her suit against Suntrust Bank and Educational Credit Management Corp. The parties agreed to discharge the debt for either $150,000 or $78,607 if she pays $750 per month for up to 10 years, according to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri order of judgment from Judge Cynthia Norton. Larry Bork, of Goodell Stratton Edmonds & Palmer, in Topeka, Kan., represented Suntrust Bank and Educational Credit Management Corp. and declined to comment. On July 30, 2012, the…
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Student Loans May Now Be Discharged Easier

On May 22, 2013, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals released its opinion in Hedlund v. The Educational Resources Institute, Inc., and Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, Case 12-35258 (D.C. 6:11-cv-6281AA). That opinion (and other pending decisions) may have made it a little easier on student loan debtors to have their student loans discharged in bankruptcy. While this case was decided in the 9th Circuit, Kansas, part of the 10th Circuit, also uses the Brunner test in determining the dischargeability of student loans. This case could be cited to strengthen a debtor’s position that their student loans should be discharged. Missouri is part of the 8th Circuit, which uses the “Totality of the Circumstances” test, which is must less strict than the Brunner test, so again, this case could be used to strengthen a debtor’s dischargeability argument.

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