Call it wishful thinking... but I was just wondering how to tell if my student loan debt (Great lakes) was discharged. My lawyer did include them in my ch 7 filing... and nothing more was ever said about it... Can I just assume I still owe (which Im sure is most likely the case) but hey a girl can dream...
First, you must read 11 USC 523(A)(8) TO DETERMINE IF THE LOANS ARE IN FACT the types set forth therein
Second, if they are, they are NEVER discharged unless you filed an adversary lawsuit.
Third, and foremost, you need to speak to an attorney who practices and has performed a number of student loan trial. Most bankruptcy attorneys have NEVER done one but there are some out there. I have filed over 42 student loan adversary actions in Washington State and 6 appeals and one of my trial cases is now before the 9th Circuit ORAL ARGUMENT IN SEATTLE 2-3-2015 by the debtor acting pro se (we won at trial level). Secondly, I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT IF YOU ARE NOT EMPLOYED NOT AND DO NOT EXPECT TO BE FOR SOME TIME TO DISCUSS WITH THE ATTORNEY
It is possible, but don't hold your breath yet on the laws changing too. There has been some discussion in the political area and who knows what will happen and the difference between Federal vs Private loans in those changes! Thirdly, there is a lot of cases, divergent in the area, concerning joining a Federal Program such as the WIlliam D Ford program. But if you have all the private loans, the ICP and IBR plans do not care what your private payments are and will not take that into consideration. So, I do discuss and go through that program with all my clients, but to state you should or should not join cannot be known w/o more facts. It takes one hour at my first meeting with clients to quickly go through many facts governing the undue hardship test! Finally, no one can advise you if you should do a ch 13 vs a ch 7 case with respect to the filing of the student loan discharge w/o knowing more. And if you will have no income, you wont qualify to be in a ch 13 anyway also. We dont know any facts upon which to advise you and that is beyond the scope of this answer , but if you can prove good faith, if you cant afford the debt now and not likely in the near future (using very loose easy terms for that test) then you may have a great case. However, other facts may govern the advise on winning a student loan trial Finally, you can always act pro se in your case and obtain and pay an attorney to just guide you along but expect to pay them. Good luck in your case. Sincerely , Richard . PS..Even if you win a trial, the court could impose a duty to pay some amount of payments at an unknown interest rate for an unknown number of years all depending on what the judge believes you can afford or should be able to (The Saxman case in 9th Circuit) Good luck.
andra A Kuhn Esq.Chapter 7 Bankruptcy AttorneyConcord, NH ·
The student loans were not discharged unless you filed an adversary proceeding with the court and proved the loans to be an undue hardship. Unless that happened, you still owe them.
Unless your lawyer filed an Adversary Proceeding to discharge the debt and won, you should presume that you still owe the debt. I would recommend contacting Great Lakes to see what you can work out with them.
Unless you filed an adversary proceeding, and you would know if you did as that is a lawsuit in bankruptcy court, the student loans are NOT discharged. Sorry. If you have to ask this question, then the student loans were NOT discharged. You would DEFINITELY know and be shouting at the roof tops if your student loans were discharged.
This is an easy one--student loans are never discharged in bankruptcy unless you filed an a new adversary lawsuit (separate from your bankruptcy) in federal court and won. Talk to your bankruptcy lawyer about doing this, but be forewarned that it is a major project likely to cost thousands, and that the chances of success may not be the best. The current test here in the 7th Federal Appellate Court Circuit is that you must prove that you are both unemployed and unemployable, with only a few limited exceptions involving severe disability or illness. This process s is known in legaleze as proving an "undue hardship," the prerequisite for discharging student loans, tuition debts, and many other higher education related expenses. There is currently a movement afoot to change all of this for students who were duped into worthless curricula at various "universities" which turned out to be more or less scams, but that line litigation is not yet ready for prime time here as far as I know.
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