As the economy begins to reopen and state courts start to resume operations, more debt collectors are filing private student loan lawsuits against borrowers in default this year. If you’re facing a private student loan lawsuit, don’t panic. Here are some key tips. Student Loan Lawsuit: Who Is Suing You? Your first task is to figure out who sued you, and whether you recognize the student loan that is the subject of the suit. It is common for borrowers to have many different student loans. Some may be federal student loans, and others may be private student loans. But federal student loan lender ..read more

On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order extending pandemic-related student loan relief to September 30, 2021. That relief was originally set to expire on January 31, 2021. Here’s what you need to know: All payments, interest, and collections on government-held federal student loans will continue to be suspended through September 30, 2021. The relief only applies to government-held student loans — not commercially-held FFEL loans, Perkins loans, or private student loans. The U.S. Department of Education confirmed that the months of suspended student loan paymen ..read more

Earlier in August, President Trump signed an executive memorandum to extend pandemic-related student loan relief, which was previously scheduled to expire on September 30, 2020. The President’s executive action extends this student loan relief to December 31, 2020. Here’s what you need to know: All payments, interest, and collections on government-held federal student loans will continue to be suspended through December 31, 2020. The relief only applies to government-held student loans — not commercially-held FFEL loans, Perkins loans, or private loans. The Department of Education r ..read more

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has enacted sweeping student loan legal protections. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has issued emergency state regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These regulations provide student loan borrowers and other consumers with some of the strongest legal rights and protections in the country against debt collectors. Here’s an overview of what these new regulations do: Lenders and debt collectors are prohibited from initiating a new collections lawsuit, or threatening to do so. Lenders and debt collectors are prohibited from init ..read more

We are committed to the health and safety of our clients as the Coronavirus crisis continues to unfold. Here are some updates to our policies and procedures: All client meetings will be held by phone or video conference. Attorney Minsky and staff will be primarily working remotely. For new and prospective clients, the best way to reach the office during this time would be via email or the contact form on our website. Options for student loan borrowers at this time are fairly limited, although the situation is rapidly evolving. President Trump recently ordered a freeze on interest acc ..read more

Congress recently created the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a program that can allow federal student loan borrowers to get their federal loans forgiven after 120 “qualifying payments.” A qualifying payment is a payment made on a Direct federal student loan under an income-driven repayment plan (or the 10-year Standard repayment plan) while working as a full-time employee for a domestic public or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Because of the complexity of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and the fact that ..read more

There is currently $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. That figure has nearly doubled over the course of the past 10 years. 44 million Americans carry student loan debt, and one in four of those borrowers are struggling with their payments. Millions of student loan borrowers are putting off critical life decisions such as home purchases, marriage, having children, and saving for retirement. The scope of the problem is only aggravated further by a sprawling and dysfunctional student loan system, skyrocketing higher education costs, uniquely restrictive rights and options for bor ..read more

Student loan lawyer Adam S. Minsky has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer “Rising Star” for the fifth year in a row. The designation is awarded only to the top 2.5% of attorneys in Massachusetts, and it reflects Attorney Minsky’s ongoing work helping student loan borrowers and their families. Attorney Minsky started his practice nearly nine years ago with a mission to defend, protect, and advocate for people saddled with student loan debt. Since then, he has battled student loan servicers, debt collection agencies, and government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education ..read more

There has been a surge in new collections lawsuits in Massachusetts against student loan borrowers during the past year. Based on what I’m seeing on the ground, the majority of these suits are being initiated by one entity: an organization called the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, also known as MEFA. MEFA loans are often confused with federal or public loans, because MEFA is a state lending authority. However, MEFA is effectively a private lender. Organizationally, MEFA is a quasi-public state nonprofit organization established under state law, but it operates largely in ..read more

The 2020 presidential primary elections are ramping up, and student loan debt has become one of the most important issues on the campaign trail. But the candidates for the Democratic nomination have dramatically different views on how to solve the student loan crisis. Some are calling for widespread student loan cancellation, while others want to streamline and fix some of the current, broken student loan programs. Others want to create new, targeted paths to student loan forgiveness and cancellation. Here’s where some of the major candidates stand. Former Vice President Joe Biden h ..read more