1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to protect borrowers seeking relief through the federal Borrower Defense to Repayment program and to demand meaningful oversight of the Department of Education’s handling of the massive backlog of pending claims. Borrower Defense exists to protect students who were misled, defrauded, or harmed by institutions participating in the federal student aid system. Yet many borrowers have waited years for their claims to be resolved while continuing to suffer serious financial and personal consequences. These delays affect borrowers’ ability to buy homes, save for retirement, support their families, and achieve financial stability. Borrowers who may already have been harmed by predatory institutions should not suffer additional years of uncertainty because the government has failed to timely adjudicate their claims. I am particularly concerned about a return to the philosophy of the 2019 DeVos-era Borrower Defense rules, which erected substantial barriers to relief and shifted protections away from students and toward institutions, including schools and programs previously identified as predatory. I am also deeply concerned that borrowers who consolidated their loans at the direction, requirement, or urging of the Department of Education are now seeing that consolidation used as a reason to deny Borrower Defense relief. The government should not be allowed to tell borrowers to consolidate and then later use their compliance as a technical basis for denying them protection. A borrower should not lose substantive rights simply because they followed the Department’s instructions. Most importantly, the Department must not be permitted to solve its Borrower Defense backlog through mass, categorical, predetermined, or technical denials. Clearing a backlog is not the same as fairly adjudicating it. I urge you to use your legislative and oversight authority to ensure that: Pending Borrower Defense claims receive fair, timely, and meaningful review; Eligible borrowers receive the relief to which they are entitled; Department-directed or required consolidation is not used to defeat otherwise valid Borrower Defense claims; The Department explains how many claims have been denied or affected because of consolidation; and The existing backlog is fairly adjudicated rather than unilaterally denied. Borrowers should not bear the combined consequences of institutional misconduct, years of government delay, and administrative rules that make legitimate relief increasingly difficult to obtain. Please stand with borrowers and demand accountability from the Department of Education. I would appreciate a substantive response explaining what actions you are taking to protect Borrower Defense applicants and ensure that these cases are decided fairly and on their merits