‘Even gambling addicts have more protections’ than student-loan borrowers
Borrowers who default on their student loans are pursued aggressively by the Department of Education and private debt collectors, facing garnished wages, withheld IRS tax returns, and decreased Social Security payments, Reuters reported.
“We treat struggling student-loan borrowers the same as deadbeat parents and tax cheats,” Seth Frotman, a senior member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), told Reuters. “Even gambling addicts have more protections.”
Since 2015, $3 billion in garnished wages and $4.8 billion in seized tax refunds and Social Security benefits have been collected from defaulted borrowers, according to Reuters.
Many of the 8 million borrowers currently in default on their loans are among the most financially vulnerable in society…