Recent estimates by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York place America’s outstanding student loan obligations at over $1.2 trillion, spread amongst 43 million borrowers. Of this debt, approximately 12%, or $140 billion, is considered severely delinquent. Given these ominous statistics, it should come as no surprise that many student loan borrowers are in dire need of counseling and support regarding bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy avenues for dealing with this burden.
In response to this problem, CENTS has developed the “Pro Bono Student Loan Project(the “SLP”), and has partnered with the Northwest Justice Project to implement the program throughout King County.
The SLP is functionally a panel of attorneys who serve as debt-counselors and/or litigators, and the success of the program is entirely dependent upon practitioners who generously volunteer their time to serve on the panel in one or several of those capacities. Clients enter the program through the neighborhood debt clinics operated by the King County Bar Association and the Northwest Justice Project. At that time, the facts of a client’s case are screened for referral, if appropriate, to the program’s litigation or non-litigation volunteers. Depending on the appropriate course of action for a given client’s situation, the case is either taken up by a volunteer litigator who represents the debtor through trial in the Bankruptcy Court, or to an attorney able to advise the client on his/her non-bankruptcy, administrative repayment options afforded under federal law and regulation.
By assisting clients with both bankruptcy litigation and administrative repayment counseling, the SLP seeks to address the vast bulk of student loan default cases that are presented to it through the debt clinics.
To be screened for this program, please attend one of the two free Debt Clinics:
King County Bar Association’s (KCBA) Debt Clinic
King County Bar Association’s (KCBA) Debt Clinic takes place once a week in downtown Seattle and Columbia City.
To make an appointment, please call the KCBA’s Neighborhood Legal Clinics at 206-267-7070 between the hours of 9 a.m. and noon Tuesday – Thursday. You will be provided time, date, and location over the phone.
Northwest Justice Project’s (NJP) Debt Clinic
This clinic occurs Tuesday afternoons from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. in the King County Law Library, located on the 6th floor of the King County Courthouse in Downtown Seattle.
The clinic is intended for low-income individuals and families. It is a drop-in clinic, first-come, first served.
The address is:
King County Courthouse
Law Library
Suite W-621
516 3rd Avenue
Seattle, Wa 98104