How Risky Student Loans Destroy Lives

Last year, for-profit college ITT closed its doors and entered bankruptcy proceedings. This was a stunning fall for a massive, nation-wide college that seemed too big to fail. Earlier this year, a group of former students intervened in ITT’s federal bankruptcy proceedings in an attempt to give a face to the “hundreds of thousands” of students that ITT “defrauded” over the years. In their intervention, they provided the stunning testimonials of former students and employees who had endured and witnessed years of misconduct.

Among the misconduct was ITT’s cavalier and sometimes predatory efforts to induce prospective students into taking out massive student loans to attend ITT. Here are some of their statements:

• A student (number 8011) who attended ITT in Alabama wrote: “When I started I was told that my payments would be $50 a month for my private and federal loans, My private loans were closer to $500 and my federal $200 a month. The school told us the true amount when we passed the halfway mark in the program to where if we quit we would have no diploma and still owe the money.”
• A student from Orange County California (number 6592) said: “With the talk about getting a job in the field of study and particular salary range the loan repayment did not seem like it would be an issue. After going through the program and seeing the bill at the end it was certainly a shock. With no job in the field, it certainly seemed like a waste of time and money that I will be paying back for the remainder of my years.”
• A student from Colorado (8066) stated that: “I was told with the great job I would land upon graduation that repayment would be easy. I WAS NEVER TOLD THEY WERE MOST EXPENSIVE COLLEGE AROUND. I was rushed through the process, lied to the entire time.”
• Student 7012 from Michigan related that: “I lost my home I had lived in for 8 years with my wife. We had to declare bankruptcy and move into a small rental. This has made my credit score a mess which in turn has raised all my auto insurance rates and made getting any type of credit nearly impossible.”
• Student 3727 from California revealed the impact of being hounded by debt collectors: “It has caused my health to crumble my stress levels are to the roof. I had big dreams for myself my family and now I cannot even provide for my family. I am constantly getting calls from collectors. I can’t pay them when I have no income. I wish I could pay off my loans and have a better situation but that is not the case. I had to go to the hospital because I was having a panic attack due to the stress of debt collectors calling and not being able to pay off debt. I have thought of suicide many times that would make this all go away and my family will not have to stress or worry either. It’s horrible please help!!”

The attorneys at Moss Bollinger have spent years fighting on behalf of consumers against businesses. If you have live in California and have been induced into taking on a huge student loan from a for-profit college like DeVry, call us. We may be able to help you. Moss Bollinger will charge you no fees up front and only gets paid if you do. Call our office at (310) 982-2291 or schedule a consultation online.