Welcome to Borrowers Defense Free Help

The Borrower’s Defense Against Repayment Program (“BDAR”) remains the most powerful, most effective way to eliminate student loan without paying for them, but before you get too excited, please take note that BDAR discharges are only available for Federal student loans.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that qualifying for a Borrower’s Defense Discharge is no easy task, as it requires convincing the Department of Education (DOE) that the school you attended purposefully misled you, performed some sort of illegal activity, or committed outright fraud against you, and that you only agreed to borrow money to attend the school because of their bad behavior.

With that said, the BDAR program is an excellent opportunity for discharging your debt, especially for anyone who attended one of the big for-profit schools that have recently been taken to task by the DOE, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over allegations of fraud, ill-intent and illegal misconduct.

This Guide will walk you through the entire BDAR process, covering all the basics about the program, including figuring out whether or not you may be eligible for a discharge, as well as giving you advice on how to set up your application to increase the odds that it’ll be approved. For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670

Our Borrowers Defense Free Help team has years of experience guiding clients through the bankruptcy process. We have helped hundreds of individuals and businesses successfully navigate this challenging time.

Let me offer you one quick word of advice – while I LOVE the Borrower’s Defense Program, and I suggest that everyone submit an application, the Department of Education has received so many of them that it’s taking up to 2 years to get a response, so sending one in and then sitting around waiting for their reply isn’t going to be your best plan of attack.

If you're truly struggling with student debt, then you should also consider paying a Student Loan Debt Relief Agency for help. Why? Because the people working at these companies deal with student loans all day, every day, and they're your best chance at figuring out how to get your loans back under control.

I've interviewed all sorts of debt relief agencies over the past 10 years, talking to all sorts of so-called "experts", and I can tell you that in all honesty I've only found two companies I trust to offer actual financial relief to people struggling with student loans.

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670. They will review your case, evaluate your options for switching repayment plans, consolidating your loans, or pursuing forgiveness benefits, then set you up to get rid of the debt as quickly as possible.

In the past, it’s been widely reported that BDAR could be used directly against Student Loan Servicing Companies themselves, like Navient, but apparently this is not accurate, and discharges are now only being approved for illegal behavior committed by the schools themselves.

On the bright side, many of the massive for-profit schools have found themselves wide open to Borrower’s Defense Discharges thanks to all the huge lawsuits that have been filed against them recently, which have helped to establish a legal precedent for their illegal behavior.

Because these schools have been accused of misleading, fraudulent behavior in court, and in some cases, even admitted to performing that illegal behavior, it makes it much easier to put together a compelling BDAR case against the schools, resulting in a discharge from DOE,

If you attended one of the schools that have recently been sued, or which are currently being sued, then you’ll certainly want to check out how those lawsuits could be impacting BDAR eligibility. Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670.

Student loans are a two-edged sword: although they make higher education accessible to many people, they may also pose a significant financial strain. 

The burden of repaying student loans might eclipse the hope of an improved future via education. When institutions collapse, students are left to deal with both incomplete education and financial responsibilities, which adds to the complexity of this load.. For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670. 

The idea of student debt forgiveness is a bright spot for those caught in this maze. It provides a possible route out of the financial bind so they can continue their lives. Understanding how student debt forgiveness works is essential since it's a genuine possibility rather than an unattainable fantasy.

With confidence, you may pursue your educational goals and achieve financial security by grasping the subtleties of this intricate environment.

You may be asking how these closures and legal difficulties affect you as a former student. For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670.

Per the laws about BDAR eligibility, you’ll only qualify for a discharge if you can prove that the sole reason you thought it was a good idea to take out your student loans in the first place was because the school you chose to attend “misled you, or engaged in other misconduct in violation of certain state laws”.

In other words, you have to convince the person at DOE who reviews your Borrower’s Defense application that you were tricked into borrowing money to attend the school, and that if you had had accurate information about them that you never would have agreed to borrow any money to pay for their education program.

The easiest way to do this is to demonstrate that “the school, through an act or omission, violated state law directly related to your federal student loan or to the educational services for which the loan was provided”, and the most common way that this can be done is to show evidence of false or misleading advertising.

The important thing to keep in mind is that you have to accuse the school of having done this stuff to you personally, and explain that it was the illegal activity which caused you to decide to take out student loans in the first place.

If I were filling out a BDAR application, I would make this point crystal clear, with a closing statement along the lines of:

"Had I not been exposed to these misleading and false statements, I never would have agreed to borrow money to attend their program. I only agreed to take out these student loans because I believe the lies/false promises/misleading statements presented my school to be ." 

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans:  Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670

Remember, the most important requirement of getting a BDAR Discharge is that you have to prove that the school’s act or omission was directly related to your loans, or to the educational services that the loan was intended to pay for, and that the school’s behavior would be considered a violation of state or Federal law.

If you can’t prove this point in your BDAR application, then it’s almost certainly going to be denied, so to increase the chances of getting your application approved, make sure to pay close and careful attention to what I’m about to say:

Getting your debt discharged is going to require PROVING that the school did something illegal to you which convinced you to borrow money for their education program. This means you have to prove not only that they did something against you, personally, but also that it impacted your decision to borrow the money. As in, had they not done that illegal thing, you would not have taken out those loans.

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our BDAR application should not be a long sob story about how the school was mean to you, didn’t return your phone calls or emails in a timely fashion, didn’t have qualified instructors, didn’t help you find a job, etc., etc., because this comes across as a simple list of complaints.

Instead, you should focus your argument on one or two illegal activities that the school committed, clearly laying out the explanation in the following format:

1. My School Did XXX To Me

2. XXX Convinced Me to Borrow Money

3. Had My School Not Done XXX, I Would Not have Borrowed Money

This is a clear, concise, and factual argument which explains what the school did, how it impacted your decision to borrow money, and clearly stating that you would not have borrowed the money had the school not done something illegal to convince you that it was a good idea.

This is what you need to present to the Department of Education in your application, otherwise, they’re going to read it, view it like the 1,000,000 other complaints they’ve received from other borrowers, and deny your request for a discharge.

 For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670

To help you create an application that has a better chance of being approved, here’s a list of the types of illegal activities a school could commit that would qualify you for a BDAR discharge:

Activities Eligible for a BDAR Discharge

 
· Promising you a set salary: “You could make $50,000 a year!” or “$20 an hour!”

· Promising you a specific title: “You could get a Management-level role!” or “You could become a Director!”

· Promising inflated job placement rates: “85% of our graduates find a job within their field!”

· Promising inflated graduation rates: “75% of our students graduate from their program!”

· Lying about your program’s accreditation: “Our Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice is regionally accredited” (when it isn’t)

· Lying about credit transfers: “100% of our our credits can be transferred to other schools” (when they can’t prove that)

Remember, if you can’t show some kind of illegal activity on the behalf of your school, but are simply complaining about them, about the quality of the teachers, your ability to pay off the debt, or find a job, then you’re almost guaranteed to have your application denied. 

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans:  Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670

If you experienced any of the promises listed above, or something similar to these promises, then you’ll want to make them the core concept of your BDAR application, focusing on these specific issues, and explaining that these were the lies which made you decide to borrow money to attend the school.

Again, don’t ruin your chances by complaining about things like poor teaches, bad customer service people, lost transcripts, missed phone calls, etc., as none of those things qualify you for a BDAR discharge.

Instead, when writing up your application, talk about the types of issued I’ve listed above, and provide as much evidence as possible for what you were told, shown or promised, including:

Specific Details to Include in Your Application:

· What were you told? Write it down exactly as it was presented, using quotes around the statements you were told and NOT paraphrasing or generalizing anything

· Who told you that? What is the name, rank, title, position, etc., or the person who made the claim or promise to you?

· When did this happen? What is the exact date that the false statement, promise, claim, etc., was made to you? Mention THE date, not a period of time

· Where did this happen? Where were you when you heard the false statement? Were you on Campus, at a Recruiting Event, at home sitting in front of your computer?

· How was it conveyed? Were you told this over the phone, in person, via email, text message or instant message? Did you see it on TV or hear it on the Radio?

· Finally, how did this statement impact your decision to borrow money to attend the school. Would you have taken out those loans if you hadn’t been told this?

If you structure your BDAR application like I’ve presented above, it should read logically and flow easily, providing the reviewer at the Department of Education will a well-constructed argument that clearly explains why you deserve a discharge. 

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670

Even if you’re able to present a clear explanation of illegal behavior, and to tie that behavior to being the reason that you borrowed money to attend the school, that may not be enough to get a discharge approved.

Why? Because you need to present EVIDENCE along with your story, including any of the following materials that you can find:

· Documents proving you attended the school, including something that shows which program you studied and when you were there: Transcripts, Enrollment Agreements or Registration Documents work best

· Promotional materials from the school, especially if you can find some that support the claim you’re making about their illegal promises or claims: Try searching your old recruiting Emails for examples, Googling for things other people have already found, or looking at the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to find old versions of the school’s website, which may contain the promises you’re referencing in your application

· Your school’s manual or course catalog, especially if it contains information about the benefits of specific courses, or again, false advertising claims and promises related to your application’s core argument

The BDAR application allows you to attach these sorts of documents to your official submission, and as I said above, these sorts of things aren’t necessarily required, but will go a long way toward helping your cause of getting your application approved.

These will be especially powerful if you can provide written or photographic evidence of the school’s false promises, claims, etc., as that is basically first-hand evidence of their wrongdoing, and much more powerful than simply explaining what you were told, heard, or saw. 

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-6070

While you’re filling out your BDAR application, you’ll have the chance to check a box on the application that temporarily pauses repayments on your debt while you wait for the Department of Education to review your application.

This can happen in two ways: for loans in active repayment, they’ll be put into Forbearance. For loans that have Defaulted, they’ll be put in “stopped collections status”.

This is a huge benefit to anyone who thinks they’re going to get an approval because most BDAR approvals don’t offer refunds for payments already made, but simply wipe out the remaining debt you still owe.

Basically, by putting your loans into Forbearance, you get to stop paying on them while you wait for DOE to review your case, which could end up saving considerable sums of money since it may take them several years to finish their analysis of your application.

However, keep in mind that your loans will continue to accrue interest during this time period, even if you have subsidized loans, and that if your BDAR application is approved, the interest accumulated will be added to the amount you owe before your loan is discharged.

Finally, even if you do not opt to have your loans placed in forbearance or stopped collection status, DOE will do it for you anyway. They’ll put any ED-held loans into forbearance and they’ll ask for a forbearance and debt collection to stop for any commercially held FFEL loans as well.

In fact, if you have 3 Federal loans, and you’re only applying for BDAR on 1 of them, DOE is going to place all 3 into forbearance or stopped collection status, automatically. 

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670

 If your application gets approved, then the first to consider is that you may get a full or partial discharge.  If you get a partial discharge, you’ll still be responsible for making payments on any amount of money that wasn’t discharged, including interest that accumulated on your debt.

What Should I Do? 

My advice is that anyone who thinks they have a shot at getting a BDAR discharge approved should apply for one.

Take this process seriously, do not lie or even exaggerate any claims, and make sure that you follow my instructions above to present a clear, concise, and compelling argument for why your debt deserves to be discharged. 

For help with FEDERAL Student Loans: Call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 866-281-0670