Whenever a person considers filing for personal bankruptcy and student loans make up a good part of their debt, there is a good chance the loans will not be discharged. In 1998, when the governments rules regarding bankruptcy were changed, student loans were ruled to be non-dischargeable as many financial institutions were losing million of dollars.
The reason being that many financial institutions were losing millions of dollars and the government was losing millions as well because the federal government guaranteed many of these student loans.
Today, the person claiming Chapter 7 bankruptcy has to show that an undue financial hardship will result if the loans are not discharged. As in many cases with bankruptcy and student loans make up a large portion of the individuals debt, a portion of the loan may be discharged by the judge, but most of the loan will remain a legal debt.
If the student loans have been sold repeatedly to other lenders with varied interest rates, the exact balance may be hard to determine. In cases such as this, some or all of the entire balance may be discharged.
The provisions of Chapter 13 bankruptcy are different for student loans. An individual filing can have all of their secured and unsecured debt become part of a repayment plan through a court trustee. If student loans are in the mix, then the individual must show they have enough income to make the monthly payments to pay off the student loan debt within five years.
Determining if Debtor Can Pay
Fo example, if a person has a total outstanding debt filed in bankruptcy court of $100,000, the trustee will divide that total by 60 months to come up with a monthly payment of $1,667 a month. If the person can show earning of that amount plus money for daily living expenses, they may be able to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy and student loans will be included in the amount.
However, if their income does allow for expenses plus the payment to the court, Chapter 13 will not be allowed. Their other option may be to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy to eliminate most of their other debts, freeing up money for them to make payments on student loans.
For many filing bankruptcy and student loans payments afterwards will take up a large portion of their income and after a period of time, they may be able to secure a loan with lower interest rates and lower payments to pay off their student loans.
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