Litigation Lawyer in Provo, UT. Sep 02, 2011. I can go on but I think you can understand my frustration from just this short amount of information. Also, it could improve them in a very positive way. If so this could affect those who are applying for the Closed School Discharge due to the exception: The closed schools loss of accreditation; The closed schools discontinuation of the majority of its academic programs; Action by the State to revoke the closed schools license to operate or award academic credentials in the State; or A finding by a State or Federal government agency that the closed school violated State or Federal law while you (or the student) were enrolled at the school. Combined, I attended for 5 years, and at my 5th year, they told me I had two more years left. My son attended the Art Institute of Dallas at a time when it wasnt an academically accredited institution which they lied about. Sounds like something is broken with their site, or maybe you input something strange in a form? Especially under their current circumstances that render them unfit for the Closed program. We strongly encourage you to apply at the earliest and benefit from the loan forgiveness. . Yeah, youll find it here: https://archive.org/web/. Do you have any companies that you recommend that could help me complete the paperwork. 6. Thats on you. In the case of the Art Institute, its proven beyond reasonable doubt and proved in court that Educational Management Corporation had committed several fraudulent acts during the operation of its Art Institutes. Parker March 19, 2022 3 min read. If you are a student at Art Institute, you have the legal right to sue. however, I am amassing around 2k a month in interest and do not feel I will ever get these loans off my back. The class action lawsuit against the Art Institute of Colorado is a step in the right direction to holding these schools accountable and protecting students from being taken advantage of. Hi Tim, Thanks for creating this site. You can qualify for Art Institute student loan forgiveness via the The Borrowers Defense To Repayment program or the Closed School Loan Discharge program. Im working on my application and havent found anyone else who attended the same campus as I did that is working on this. You will need to emphasize that the school did these things to you. Praying we can get relief from the Borrowers Defense to Repayment Discharge form we are filling out now. If borrowers meet the programs specific criteria, they are automatically eligible for loan discharge under the borrowers Defense Against Repayment program. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the Education Department will cancel nearly $6 billion in federal student loan debt for over 200,000 borrowers. There are a lot of scammers out there who will make all sorts of wild promises to you. My last quarter there was July-Sept 2018 with the school closing in December 2018. A large portion of students are getting loans forgiven under the Art Institute loan forgiveness programs. In hindsight, I figured out that it was likely due to the fact that they would have made less money off of me if I went into game programming; they only offered an Associates for that at the time I attended; but if they kept me there for longer to get a Bachelors they would have me up to my arse in debt. If so, you can use this illegal behavior as your reason for filing a Borrowers Defense Claim, stating that it was this illegal activity that convinced you to borrow money to attend the school. Id still try to submit a BDAR Application and just include as much detail as you can. From what I understand this should not be something we have to pay for it should be free. EDMC has agreed to pay 200 million dollars in order to resolve the case without admitting any wrongdoing. What their role or position was? I feel screwed over enough after my experience with this school that Id happily take forgiveness or relief of any kind. Of course, it isnt enough to merely point to the Art Institutes wrongdoing. This time around I got Financial aid, federal loans and grants. I never finished the degree due to several deaths in the immediate family and the loans are now about 10 years old. on Art Institute Lawsuit & Loan Forgiveness Options, FFELP Loan Forgiveness: Everything You Should Know In 2022. The plaintiffs cited these activities as reasons for their Borrowers Defense Claim. Anything other than the things that these schools have been getting taken to task for is pie in the sky. If you are planning to apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, you must do so as soon as possible. Remember, every student loan servicer may have their procedures in place for working on yourClosed School Dischargeapplication. This lawsuit has been successful because the plaintiffs argued that the Art Institute was guilty of deceiving students by offering programs they didnt need and inflating prices to attract students. Like the Art Institute, the closure of these institutes means enrolled students who took student loans are eligible for loan forgiveness. If I were you, I think Id push for a Closed School Student Loan Discharge and see if it works out. While I have those, my main concern is my private loans held with two different providers. The Closed School Loan Discharge program assists Art Institute students in getting rid of their student loans. and the Art Institutes. I was told for my specific branch of the major they were already working on adding several more courses with focus on baking and pastries(there were a hand full to 3 specific classes for baking and pasties and I expressed co even about that and was told this by the head director of culinary department) and added to the curriculum to focus more on that specific branch of culinary (that was never done or mentioned again), I was also told several times it was a well known and trusted school with lots of pull and open doors that would help me tremendously once I graduated it would help me find good work and positions I may otherwise not have an opportunity with(no doors opened what so ever and I was I was told to put myself in job hunting sites to find a job) I was also told they had a program once I graduated to help me find good employment and quickly and given a % of success(I was directed by this program to put myself n job websites and never heard from them again and I found no job and didnt even get any offers for a job) I was told I was going to get a top of the notch education by top chefs in their fields that would teach us all they know and get specialized courses in my degree focus and more were already in works to be added (there were very few classes specific for baking and pastry degree and none were ever added to the program & we learned straight from a book and did recipes from books and were told we went allowed to add ingredients or deviate from the recipie( luckily I had one teacher who allowed us to do so anyway and in my opinion actually cook) I was told the school was well known and renowned and the name alone was going to open many doors to me. Art Institute students still search for debt relief - KGTV It may be worth the investment to pursue a class-action lawsuit in which the defendant has been found not guilty. He stayed hopeful because the school promised job placement and they could not help him. On the other hand, analyzing through what is essential in terms of realizing how far the conditions could get you into trouble. Any other details you can provide to help build a strong case against the school. Thanks again and good luck! They kept doing shady little tricks like telling me to drop classes it would be cheaper but it pushed my Graduation date further and further out. Sounds like a scam to me. Hi Tim, Im trying to help my husband possibly apply for BDAR. When they asked about this, they say she promised as soon as he graduates, hes guaranteed a job, and hell make around $60,000/year. They also promised to help place him in a job upon graduation. After graduation, I had zero assistance from the student aid office at The Art Institute. I never attended the school, they have no records of me attending any classes but the school cashed the check for the private student loan they told me I needed. As of today, the Educational Management Corporation has failed to admit any wrongdoing even after the Art Institutes lawsuit wen against it. The Art Institutes, owned by Education Management Corp., was accused by the U.S. Department of Justice and four states in August 2011 of receiving $11 billion in state and federal aid without providing a satisfactory education. Nice job doing the legwork required to gather good evidence. Is it still relevant? They are a Government-backed group of attorneys who offer free legal advice on student loan-related issues. Thats hard to say. Has this worked with Academy of Art? These are : With these three requirements in mind, you can confidently determine your full eligibility if you happen to qualify for the program. The Art Institute is not the only defendant in this lawsuit. I had to take another student to loan to cover about 5 classes which I needed to graduated. Ive been paying my debt off, but the amount is well beyond the true cost of the degree. Because of this change, which no one at the school could really explain to me in depth, I had to repeat classes that I had already taken. I would still try filing a Borrowers Defense Application, but the odds are pretty low that itll work. I would like to know how to join this for sure.. It was from 2010-2014. They kept telling him to look on craigslist. The law firm also sued Corinthian Colleges for causing this situation. They ruined my life and marriage. EDMC is also named in the class-action lawsuit. I think your Son has a good chance of getting an approval for a Borrowers Defense to Repayment Discharge based on what you said here. Id look into the BDAR program if I were you. The Borrowers Defense Against Repayment is a program introduced by the United States federal government to help student borrowers who obtained loans to complete their education at schools that later acted in any fraudulent or dishonest way. You need to get out of Default first. I attended The Art Institute Online Division from 2008-2013 for Media Arts and Animation as well as Interior Design and Architecture. The explanation I was given was that students from closing school were on hold for enrollment. Deployed high-pressure sales tactics to get students who would have otherwise chosen a different school, Made false claims concerning the accreditations of certain programs. I have been trying to fight the damn loans I was totally tricked into getting (even though I was continuously telling the financial aid admins that I was having a hard time even understanding what they were saying) they still managed to con me into getting them, .or signing me up for them without telling me very much about the consequences. 1st guy told me $800.00, the next guy told $1,200.00-$1,500.00. THANK YOU SO MUCH, HOLY COW! She went with a member of her paternal family and signed up. I just feel cheated. Step 3Submit the filled form to your loan servicer. Thanks for the kind words! They can help you get the loan settled for much less than you currently owe, allowing you to pay it off entirely via a new loan, and qualify for much lower monthly monthly payments than youre currently facing. We both went to the Art Institute in Costa Mesa from 2006-2008. The Art Institutes class-action lawsuit against the EDMC was filed for $11 billion. That promise that youd graduate making over $50,000 a year, is basically a slam-dunk case for a Borrowers Defense Discharge. Any idea why this would be occurring? These are the sorts of things that you can include to create proof for the claim. Keep in mind that different eligibility and requirements will apply to different schools and students. That turned out to be utterly untrue., In fact, I continually emailed and called the career assistance office for years after my graduation attempting to get work and I never did. they told me a Lot of things that were lies to just get me to sign on the dotted line and my life has been a struggle ever since.