student loans and bankruptcy

Last week, an editor at the Atlanta Journal Constitution contacted me to ask if I would write a guest editorial about student loans and bankruptcy.  Here is a slightly enhanc

Why Not Student Loans? In the famous decision, Local Loan Co. vs. Hunt, the Supreme Court summed up the relatively simple policy behind our bankruptcy laws: the ”honest but unfortunate” debtor is given the opportunity to start over, “unhampered by the pressure and discouragement of preexisting debt.” The idea of periodic debt forgiveness is ancient, appearing numerous [...]

When you receive a “discharge” under bankruptcy it means that you are no longer liable for your debts. This means you don’t have to pay them and a creditor cannot come after you anymore. However, there are some debts which are considered “nondischargeable” under bankruptcy law, meaning that you cannot discharge your liability on these [...]