With 44 million consumers owing about $1.4 trillion in student loans, a new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finds that student loan servicing and debt collection together will boost borrower costs even higher over the next two years.
The Bureau’s recently-released Student Loan Ombudsman Report termed the nation’s current system as “flawed” and further calls for an “overhaul” to improve conditions for an approximate 8 million distressed and defaulted borrowers. Its findings and conclusions are based on 5,500 private student loan complaints and approximately 2,300 debt collection complaints filed between October 1, 2015 and May 31, 2016. Since February 2016, 3,900 student loan complaints made concerned loan servicing.
“This report offers further evidence that industry practices and needless red tape can turn a student loan into an unbearable burden,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Policymakers should work to reform the programs that are failing those borrowers that need help most.”
Complaints filed with CFPB during this reporting period cite:
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