Mark Warner on Exes' Student Loans

From U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA):

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Hey folks,

I wanted to reach out and let you know of an exciting win we just secured. Yesterday, President Biden officially signed a bill I’ve been working on for many years into law. This is a critical fix for survivors of domestic violence and economic abuse as well as thousands of other borrowers trapped in joint student loans with a former partner or spouse.

Here’s what happened: 

Several years ago, a constituent named Sara, a single mom and teacher from Northern Virginia, approached my team about an issue she’d been having. Though she’d moved several states away to escape her ex-husband, she was still legally bound to his student loans because they’d consolidated them under a now-defunct program.

For many years, married couples could choose to consolidate their student loan debt through the Department of Education, but when Congress eliminated this program in 2006, it didn’t create a way to split the debt in the case of divorce or separation. This left many people – including Sara, survivors of domestic violence, those with unresponsive partners, and those suffering from economic abuse – liable for their partners’ debt.

Since hearing from Sara, I’ve worked to write and introduce a law to address this policy and build a bipartisan coalition to get it through Congress. This week, we got it done.

This isn’t debt forgiveness – it’s about ensuring that people aren’t liable for debt they didn’t accrue. This law will create a process for folks all across the country to sever debt with a former spouse – freeing them from this economic burden. It will also enable borrowers to access student loan relief programs, such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which they were previously ineligible for due to the specific conditions of joint consolidation loans. This is a commonsense, bipartisan fix that will finally get justice for the thousands of borrowers still liable for these loans. Finally, after years of frustration, they will have financial autonomy.

If you’re interested in reading or watching more about those that have been affected by these loans, you can do so here. If you ever want to share your thoughts about an issue that’s important to you, you can send me an email any time using the form on my Senate website. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you.

 Sincerely, 

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[signature graphic: Mark Warner]