Student Borrowers File Opposition to Motion to Delay Relief in $6 Billion Borrower Defense Settlement
Borrowers detail financial and emotional harm caused by ongoing delays, as schools seek to deny approved settlement relief for over 200,000 borrowers
SAN FRANCISCO – Student borrowers in the class action lawsuit Sweet v. Cardona today filed an opposition to the motion to stay settlement relief filed by schools attempting to block the landmark borrower defense settlement with the US Department of Education. The settlement, which won final approval on November 16, 2022, would cancel at least $6 billion in student loans for approximately 200,000 individuals with pending borrower defense applications.
At a status conference on Thursday, Judge Alsup set a hearing date for February 15, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time, to hear the motion to stay settlement relief pending the outcome of the appeals. In today’s filing, borrowers argue that the intervenor schools are unable to demonstrate irreparable harm if the settlement takes effect, and therefore there is no justification for a stay. In contrast, class members provide first-person evidence of the significant harm further delay would cause them.
“Each day that justice is delayed means additional harm for borrowers and their families who have already been forced to wait years for a resolution. These baseless appeals show just how hard students must fight to protect their rights and get relief they are owed under the law,” said Eileen Connor, President and Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending. “The court’s decision granting approval of this settlement is clear and unequivocal, and as our filing details, further delay would only compound the significant harm and trauma borrowers have suffered throughout this process. As ever, we will continue to fight alongside our clients to secure the relief they are owed.”
144 borrowers detailed in the filing how further delays in settlement implementation would impact their lives.
Karlene Liranzo, a class member from Syracuse, NY, writes: “The delay would bring more dread into my existence. I have been saddled with this debt, doing the best I can to come to terms with the harm that was done by this fraudulent school. It has affected my life in trying to get a car, a home, trying to live. Trying to keep my head above water and juggle payments. The overwhelming debt has made me anxious and overwhelmed to take out loans and I try my best to pay off anything with fear. My peace of mind is at stake, my financial freedom is at stake. My heart dropped when the appeals were first discussed. The anxiety returns. I want to have a family and have children without the fear of this debt hanging over them. I won’t even marry my boyfriend because of my student debt in fear that they will burden him if something happened to me. Please, do not let this continue. Not for just my sake, for the countless of others that are also in worse situations. The ones that want to die, the ones who can barely make it.”
Christopher Malizia, a class member from Brewster, NY, writes: “A stay would greatly affect myself and many others who have had our lives put on hold for years now regarding these borrower defense claims. These loans have halted my progress in life as I can’t afford a house with them and they make getting a mortgage close to impossible. I’ve been making payments for 10 years and I owe 30% more than what I originally took the loan out for, which is ridiculous. These schools are intervening in a decision that has nothing to do with them. We have waited years for the DoE to even look at our claims and now we finally have an agreement both sides feel is fair and at the last minute these schools are trying to cause even more pain to all of these students. The students really only made one mistake in this and that was trusting these schools were legitimate institutions. Please don’t let these schools’ greed continue to handicap so many people.”
Katelin Mundy, a class member from Oklahoma City, OK, writes that if a stay were granted, “I would lose the financing on my house and would be subject to a debt repayment that would prevent me from giving my husband and children the life that they deserve. As a veteran, a mother, and a wife all I wanted was to go to school to obtain an education to secure a higher paying job to support my family without a worry of where we will get our next meal. . . . If this settlement doesn’t go through and my loans don’t discharge soon, I will lose everything I’m fighting for. I’m begging and pleading to please please please push this settlement through and provide relief very soon. All I want is to provide for my family while still being able to be a present mother for my children. Please help.”
Alyssia Gonzalez, a class member from Scottsdale, AZ, writes: “I was lied to and was given promises of a well paying job in my field of study. I was taken advantage of and this has followed me every single day I wake up and keeps me up at night. How can I pay for groceries? How can I pay rent? How can I buy a home? How can I start a family with this good for nothing loan hanging over my head like a noose waiting for me to just give up? I’ve waited years for my application to be reviewed with no decision. I want to go back to school and build a future but I’m filled with doubt, distrust, and disgust as I recall my very first college experience. It’s been years and I cannot move on in life because this has affected everything from my mental health to my credit score. We deserve to move on. I deserve to live my life.”
Sweet v. Cardona (previously Sweet v. DeVos) was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in 2019 by seven named plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all federal student loan borrowers whose borrower defense claims for loan cancellation were being ignored by the Department of Education. The plaintiff class includes approximately 264,000 class members who make up the current borrower defense backlog.
The borrowers are represented by the Project on Predatory Student Lending (PPSL) and Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA).
For more details on the settlement, visit the FAQ on our website.
About the Project on Predatory Student Lending
Established in 2012, the Project on Predatory Student Lending represents over a million former students of predatory for-profit colleges. Its mission is to use litigation to eliminate predatory practices in higher education, and to relieve current and future borrowers from fraudulent student loan debt. PPSL has won landmark cases to protect borrower rights, recover money owed, and cancel more than $10 billion in fraudulent debt. Its ongoing cases hold predatory colleges accountable and force the U.S. Department of Education to act on behalf of students and stop protecting this insidious industry.
About HERA
Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) is a California statewide, not-for-profit legal service and advocacy organization dedicated to helping Californians — particularly those most vulnerable — build a safe, sound financial future, free of discrimination and economic abuses, in all aspects of household financial concerns. It provides free legal services, consumer workshops, training for professionals and community organizing support, creates innovative solutions and engages in policy work locally, statewide and nationally.
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