FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 11, 2017 || Contact: Robyn Smith, (213) 640-3906, rsmith@lafla.org.
The recent settlement of a lawsuit brought against the US Department of Education is very good news for thousands of former students who attended a chain of beauty, secretarial and business schools in the early 1990s. The schools defrauded students and lied to the US government by saying students were eligible for federal student loans when they were not eligible.
The 60 schools went by the names of Wilfred Academy of Hair and Beauty Culture, Washington School of Secretaries and American Business Institute. They were located in the Los Angeles metro area, the New York metro area, New Jersey, Houston, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, Tampa, and the District of Columbia.
Former students may be able to get their student loans cancelled and have the payments they have made returned to them if:
1. They attended one of the schools after January 1, 1986.
2. They did not have a high school diploma or G.E.D. when they attended one of the schools.
3. Their school did not give them an “ability to benefit” test or did not do the test properly.
4. They have not already gotten a discharge or refund of their loan.
Former students may receive a letter from the US Department of Education, a guaranty agency (such as ECMC), or other companies (such as Navient and Sallie Mae) that send out student loan bills and collect loan payments. These letters tell borrowers how to apply to have their loans cancelled.
Students who believe they are eligible for relief, even if they did not receive a letter, should submit an application to have their student loans cancelled and to receive refunds as soon as possible. More information and the application are available on the following website: https://nylag.org/salazar-class-action.
In addition, income-eligible students who live in Southern California may seek assistance from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles by calling 800-399-4529.
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