Consumer Bankruptcy Committee Issues Observations And Recommendations Regarding Student Loan Debts

As summarized in the March 2018 issue of the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, ABI's Consumer Bankruptcy Committee has recently issued several recommendations and made several observations regarding the treatment of student loans under the Bankruptcy Code, codified in Title 11 of the United States Code.

First, the Committee intends to fashion a program that would address possible ways of securing greater access for consumers owing student loans to the bankruptcy process and competent legal counsel. The Committee praised what they called consumer attorneys' "very creative litigation to obtain relief for student loan debtors." However, it noted that "[m]any debtors . . . cannot afford or have no access to attorneys who are willing and able to bring dischargeability [(i.e., elimination)] actions for student loan debt."