Good things are happening! A bad-news lender won’t be heading back to school this fall, antimonopoly policy sounds loud and clear, EVs may find a place to rest in the city that never sleeps, and the government’s bank eases up on working people.
School’s Out For A Lending Bully
As students head back to school, regulators are trying to make sure that a bad-news student loan lender won’t be. Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a proposed enforcement order against the student loan servicer Navient, formerly known as Sallie Mae, for years of failing borrowers and breaking consumer protection laws.
The agency’s proposed order would permanently ban the company from servicing most federal student loans and largely remove Navient from the market. Navient is under fire for steering numerous student loan borrowers into costly repayment options, miscounting payments, and illegally depriving student borrowers of opportunities to enroll in more affordable income-driven repayment plans. These tactics cost borrowers potentially more than $50 billion in debt relief and sent 1 million into forbearance. Under the new order, Navient would have to pay a $20 million penalty and provide $100 million in redress for harmed borrowers.
