Ineligibility notice re: borrow defense application

Borrower Defense to Repayment (DTR)
#22

@Ed1979 I agree. My original borrower defense application which I filed October 2016 got denied May 18, 2020. My universal borrower defense application which I submitted May 28, 2020 got denied today June 10, 2020. I don’t think Betsy is even looking. Makes me mad considering my school closed down for fraud because Heald College Honolulu graduates were working at Taco Bell and Macys.

Well good luck to all of us hopefully a huge class action lawsuit fines Betsy and all our student loans are forgiven.

#23

So my question is, because we need to think outside the box, now that they have “falsely” denied BDs, are they closed out of their “system”? So let’s say, a new president wins and they say, ok we need to cancel the debt of BD claims of people who went to for profits, would they be able to go back and re open all of those or would they say, there is no claim to process for cancellation because they have been closed out or “resolved”? I think this is my main question.

1 Like
#24

Same for me I did Jellar graduate school for a certificate in project management… This certifi e does nothing for me and not recognized… Even though the school said they have all the opportunities… Now all I have is more debt

#25

Typo above Kellar Graduate school

#26

What if 98% of applications get denied, what then? Will we have a new lawsuit? It looks like we are headed that way. This is unfair and illegal!

1 Like
#27

@Suzie, my understanding is that the Department of Education as wide latitude for how to deal with this in the future, including the ability to process group wide discharges on their own. In other words, if we have a new president come Jan, they could reexamine all BD claims, or they could just say that everyone who attended these schools during these dates will get a discharge. They don’t need to make it so complicated. But as we saw with Obama, they make it unnecessarily complicated, and with DeVos even more so and even more cruel. Maybe Biden will be different? Or maybe we can get organized and be powerful enough to force them to be different.

@PR90057, I don’t know what the percentages will be but I think it is safe to say that DeVos is going to try to get away with denying as many people as she can, even if that means violating their rights or the law. I feel confident in saying some kind of legal challenges will be mounted against these denials, but it will take time and I’m not sure exactly what form it will take.

#28

I got the same response for my Devry Borrower Defense application and I did submit documents. All of them were denied for “Failure to State a Legal Claim.”

I don’t understand considering that Devry is known to have engaged in these practices.

2 Likes
#29

I received my denial letter today and filed a BD because I attended Devry University. So now what? Will our credit be ruined while this mess continues? What are your thoughts?

1 Like
#30

@Valondran, as posted above here is an FAQ with more info about your options:

In terms of how this affects your credit, it depends on your situation. If you were previously in default before you filed DTR then it might still be affecting your credit. In that case probably the best option for you would be to call your servicer (which might end up being the default resolution group, they are very difficult to work with and hard to get on the phone, so plan to wait on hold for a long time), and go through the steps of getting on whatever income driven repayment plan offers you the lowest monthly payment. Hopefully that plan would lower your monthly payment all the way down to $0 a month. That should get your loans out of default and improve your credit.

For the time being due to COVID-19 most federal student loans & interest are suspended until Oct. 1. They may or may not extend that moratorium, we are waiting to see. I think it is possible they will extend it but of course we don’t know the future and we can count on nothing when it comes to Congress. Maybe call your reps about this.

If your loans were never in default, then this isn’t going to impact your credit very much. This debt will still be screwing up your debt-to-income ratio which can create problems if you are trying to do things like buy a house.

#31

My wife and I just got a similar letter. All clauses with “Failure to State a Legal Claim”

The irony of this is we attended a school (15-18 years or so ago) that was owned by Career Education Corp which a year or two ago was met with cases brought forth by 48 State attorney generals:
https://www.azag.gov/press-release/ag-brnovich-announces-22-million-debt-relief-arizona-students-who-attended-certain

CEC actually settled and forgave their nearly half a billion of student debt they owned (all of it) and the case was on basically most of the allegations in the borrowers defense documentation.

Honestly thought our forgiveness would be a shoe in (despite being skeptical with the current running of it of course) since basically 48 States thought it was and the school itself forgave their held debt in response to it.

#32

Good to know. We paid 3 months and hubby said he thought we would not get it back so we stopped

#33

I just got same exact email for Westwood. I replied asking what they meant by Other. I did mine in early 2016. Back when there wasnt an office to call and ask questions. We had to write a letter. So no idea where Other came from.

Now what?

#34

I was just blanket denied on my borrower defense claim… twice. Failure to state legal claim and insufficient evidence (i didnt know what evidence i could provide other than a recorded phone call, but who does that? But I got denied (for insufficient evidence on a claim since 2014) then I resubmitted again after calling them another very detailed borrower defense claim with whatever evidence I could find. (Spent hours digging). Denied again a week later. My claim is against University of Phoenix and I grad with a Masters in 2011. They offered relieve for those that attended in 2012-2014 for an FCC suit but since mine was before that I was denied. The program I attended was a joke. Didn’t learn one thing, just busy work. Anyway I’m really upset. I almost hired legal counsel, but I found this forum hopefully I get get some guidance on what to do next.

2 Likes
#35

I know how you feel… terrible frustrated as well. Both my schools have made “settlements” yet they blanketedly denied most or the defense applications with a generic reason acting like we just made everything up. Then limit it to the 4 year window only… It’s all total BS for sure and the powers that be are banking on the fact we will not or cannot afford legal action. You may not have been able to find a ton of evidence but collectively we all have plenty yet they are going to continue to ignore most of us. Money makes the world go round and “they” aren’t giving it up.

1 Like
#36

I received the same response however, I was able to get my accounting ledger from the Dream Center, who bought the Art Institute, and send it with a much better argument. The Art Institute would not give me my ledger after several requests from me and the School’s Financial Aid Director at the time.

Once I reviewed it, it was proof that AI took our loans and grants in excess of what I was actually charged for tuition. Its been 3 weeks and this step has a faster turnaround so, I will post an update.

2 Likes
#37

My wife and I sent e-mail requesting a reconsideration now with the new admin in there and seemingly being more student minded. Honestly it feels like students of Career Education Corp schools are an obvious choice since 48 state attorney generals found evidence and sued the schools and the schools even settled forgiving their half a billion debt they themselves held! I mean if 48 states and the school itself agreed with forgiveness why would the Department of Education disagree…

#38

Hello!
I’ve gotten the same borrower defense denial letter. I attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (AIP) and I have no clue how I will ever pay these loans.

I became a substitute teacher immediately after graduation and because I subbed for a middle-school art class the AIP considered it job placement and refused to help me apply for jobs in my actual field. Before I enrolled I was told they had 95% job placement rating in my field which was partially why I signed up. I didn’t realize a part time gig in an art-adjacent setting qualified as a job.

I’m absolutely confused by the letter below. I thought my school was shut down for each of the reasons they say “I fail to state a legal claim.”

ED reviewed your borrower defense claims based on any evidence submitted by you in support of your application, your loan data from National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS®), and evidence provided by other borrowers.

Allegation 1: Employment Prospects

You allege that Art Institute of Pittsburgh in misconduct related to Employment Prospects. This allegation fails for the following reason(s): Failure to State a Legal Claim.

Your claim for relief on this basis therefore is denied.

Allegation 2: Program Cost and Nature of Loans

You allege that Art Institute of Pittsburgh in misconduct related to Program Cost and Nature of Loans. This allegation fails for the following reason(s): Failure to State a Legal Claim.

Your claim for relief on this basis therefore is denied.

Allegation 3: Transferring Credits

You allege that Art Institute of Pittsburgh in misconduct related to Transferring Credits. This allegation fails for the following reason(s): Insufficient Evidence.

Your claim for relief on this basis therefore is denied.

Allegation 4: Career Services

You allege that Art Institute of Pittsburgh in misconduct related to Career Services. This allegation fails for the following reason(s): Failure to State a Legal Claim.

Your claim for relief on this basis therefore is denied.

Allegation 5: Educational Services

You allege that Art Institute of Pittsburgh in misconduct related to Educational Services. This allegation fails for the following reason(s): Insufficient Evidence.

Your claim for relief on this basis therefore is denied.

Allegation 6: Admissions and Urgency to Enroll

You allege that Art Institute of Pittsburgh in misconduct related to Admissions and Urgency to Enroll. This allegation fails for the following reason(s): Failure to State a Legal Claim.

Your claim for relief on this basis therefore is denied.

Allegation 7: Other

You allege that Art Institute of Pittsburgh in misconduct related to Other. This allegation fails for the following reason(s): Failure to State a Legal Claim.

Your claim for relief on this basis therefore is denied.

What evidence was considered in determining my application’s ineligibility?

We reviewed evidence provided by you and other borrowers who attended your school. Additionally, we considered evidence gathered from the following sources:

IA Attorney General’s Office
IL Attorney General’s Office
CO Attorney General’s Office
Evidence obtained by the Department in conjunction with its regular oversight activities
Senate Hearing Testimony of EDMC career services adviser before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (September 30, 2010)
Materials, including publicly available securities filings, prepared by Education Management Corporation

What if I do not agree with this decision?

If you disagree with this decision, you may ask ED to reconsider your application. To submit a request for reconsideration, please send an email with the subject line “Request for Reconsideration [ ref:_00Dt0Gyiq._500t0DPE8y:ref ]” to BorrowerDefense@ed.gov or mail your request to U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 1854, Monticello, KY 42633. In your Request for Reconsideration, please provide the following information:

Which allegation(s) you believe that ED incorrectly decided;
Why you believe that ED incorrectly decided your borrower defense to repayment application; and Identify and provide any evidence that demonstrates why ED should approve your borrower defense to repayment claim under the applicable law set forth above.
ED will not accept any Request for Reconsideration that includes new allegations. If you wish to assert allegations that were not included in your application, please see the following section. Additionally, your loans will not be placed into forbearance unless your request for reconsideration is accepted and your case is reopened. Failure to begin or resume repayment will result in collection activity, including administrative wage garnishment, offset of state and federal payments you may be owed, and litigation. For more information about the reconsideration process, please contact our borrower defense hotline at 1-855-279-6207 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time (ET) on Monday through Friday.

Can I apply for borrower defense if I have additional claims?

If you wish to file a new application regarding acts or omissions by the school other than those described in borrower defense application [Case Number], please submit an application at StudentAid.gov/borrower-defense. In the new application, you should explain in the relevant section(s) the basis for any new borrower defense claim(s) and submit all supporting evidence.

#39

We are still in wait-and-see mode on these improper denials.

There is a lawsuit that is progressing about this, and there is nothing preventing the Biden Department of Education from reversing DeVos’s decision and cancelling these loans.

So for right now it seems best to just wait. Loans are paused due to the COVID moratorium (if you are put back into repayment get in touch ASAP and we will troubleshoot and explore options).

At some point in the future there might be actions that people can take, but it is also possible that nothing will be needed because these debts will be discharged, either by the Department of Education or by the courts.

#40

Thank you!

I saw an article talking about $1 billion in student loan forgiveness and I’m worried that because of this stupid letter I won’t qualify. I wanted to start taking action incase I need to do something to be a part of it.

I was tempted reply to the letter for reconsideration, but I feel like unless I get a lawyer to throw some legalese in my response nothing will happen.

#41

Just found y’all. I received the same almost exact letter. Told I could appeal or re-apply. Wondering what to do next? I have not done anything but apply for a borrow defence claim. Do I need to contact someone else ? Please help…these loans have prevented me from qualifying for a mortgage and a decent car loan!!!