From the time she was a teenager, a woman suffered from depression, anxiety and eating disorders like many Florida residents. Even with her mental issues, the woman attempted to make a life for herself, and in the process, took out thousands of dollars in student loans. She reached a point where she sought debt relief through filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
During the proceedings, she filed a complaint seeking a discharge of her student loans, which had a combined total of approximately $204,525. She owed Iowa Student Loan approximately $99,136.00, approximately $47,900.00 to Educational Credit Management Corporation, and approximately $57,489.11 to the United States Department of Education. Despite her best efforts, she has been unable to keep a job that allows her to make payments on these loans.
The court determined that if the Iowa woman’s loans were not discharged, it would cause her undue hardship. Her loans were discharged on Dec. 1, 2011. Iowa Student Loan filed an appeal within the time frame allowed by law on Feb. 1, 2012. The outcome of that appeal was not reported.
The lesson for the many Florida residents who owe student loans is that it is possible to have them discharged through bankruptcy. Most people are advised that they are simply not eligible for discharge, and that might be true in many cases. However, to say that they are never discharged would be incorrect.
If the circumstances warrant it, student loan debt relief through bankruptcy can happen. The main reason that so many do not get their loans discharged is because so few even try. Therefore, it might be better for a person to try to get his or her educational loans discharged even if doing so is against the odds.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Another Consumer Wins in Bankruptcy Court and Discharges Student Loans“, Steve Rhode, Dec. 29, 2015