The borrower defense to loan repayment forgiveness rule is a federal regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Education that allows federal direct student loan borrowers who were defrauded by a college, university or career school to seek forgiveness of those loans.<br><br>
The issue has drawn national attention since 2015, when the for-profit Corinthian Colleges closed amid allegations of fraud. In response, then-President Barack Obama’s administration issued a new borrower defense rule, creating a process for borrowers to petition for federal student loan discharge if they feel they were defrauded under state law.
More recently, this rule has been subject to some conflicting opinions about how student loan forgiveness should be handled. <br> <br>In 2019, former President Donald Trump’s administration generally set stricter standards or forgiveness, requiring borrowers to show that their school committed fraud “with knowledge” that the claims were deceptive and prove that they experienced financial harm as a result. In addition, the Education Department issued a formula that it planned to use to determine whether a borrower was eligible for full or partial forgiveness. <br><br>This year, President Joe Biden’s administration announced that it would overturn the changes made by the Trump administration and operate under the original regulation issued during the Obama era. <br><br> In its announcement in March, the Education Department noted that it will likely make further changes to the rule in the future. But for now, all borrowers who were approved for forgiveness under the borrower defense rule to date, including those who got partial forgiveness based on the formula used during the Trump administration, will receive full loan forgiveness.
Full relief includes total discharge of the related federal direct loans; reimbursement of any amounts paid on them where appropriate under the regulations; requests to credit bureaus to remove any related negative credit reporting; and, if applicable, reinstatement of federal student aid eligibility.

Should I Apply for Borrower Defense?

To decide whether you should submit an application for loan forgiveness under borrower defense, first find out if your student loans are eligible.

Only federal direct loans are eligible for forgiveness under borrower defense, and those loans must have been taken out for payment to the school that is the source of your claim.

If your claim relates to federal loans Perking Loans taken out prior to 2011, they may not be eligible or the Federal Family Education Loan Program. However, if you consolidate FFEL or Perkins loans into a direct consolidation loan, you may be eligible for borrower defense loan forgiveness.

You may have a case for borrower defense if you were misled by a school about the education you received. Some examples are if your school made false promises about your employment prospects, the cost of the education or whether the school was accredited.

By contrast, claims that do not relate to your loan or educational services are not eligible for borrower defense. These include personal injury claims or allegations of harassment.
Your school does not need to have closed as a result of fraud. In fact, if your school closed and you are not able to transfer the credits, you should also apply for a closed school loan discharge. You can apply for both at the same time.
If you think you may have a claim for loan forgiveness under borrower defense, there are two key things to consider before you submit your claim.
First, for your claim to be successful, your school must have violated a state law or certain federal standards, depending on when you received your student loan. State laws vary, so check with your state attorney general’s office to see whether you have a case based on the laws in your state.
Second, you should consider that if your application turns out to be unsuccessful and you did not continue making monthly payments while it was under review, your loan balance may have grown.

Because of all the recent changes to the review process, the Department of Education has a backlog of borrower defense applications, so it may take some time to get a determination about your application. The Biden administration has said it will begin to approve applications more quickly under its policy to provide full relief, but it’s unclear how long it will take to get through the backlog..

While your application is evaluated, your student loans are placed into forbearance, which means that you will not need to make payments, but the loans will still accrue interest. That interest would be added to your loan balance if your application is not eligible for loan forgiveness, and you are responsible for paying the full amount.
If you are worried about your student loan balance growing, you can consider making payments even though they are not required, or at least paying the interest that accrues while you wait.
How Do I Submit an Application for Borrower Defense?
If you think you have a strong case and want to seek student debt relief under borrower defense, visit StudentAid.gov/borrower-defense to submit an application. Review the application ahead of time and prepare your documentation before beginning the process.