She Accused Her Ex-Husband of Abuse. She’s Still Stuck With His Student Loans – By Emma Rindlisbacher (Mother Jones) / April 29, 2022
Hundreds of Americans are trapped in a disastrous government program.
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When Michelle and her husband divorced, a judge separated their assets. She got the televisions. He got the gas grill and the freezer. Most of their debts were divided and, in many cases, split equally between the two.
But one debt proved more difficult to separate: their student loans. When they were married, they had combined their existing student debt in what is called a spousal consolidation loan. This obscure financial product, which was first made available in 1993 through an act of Congress and was taken off the market in 2006, allowed married couples to turn their separate educational loans into a single, shared liability.
“The pitch was very much, you know, ‘It’ll lower your payments,’” recalls Michelle.
But spousal consolidation loans came with a catch: There is no mechanism to separate the two borrowers’ loans, even after a marriage falls apart. That’s what happened to Michelle, who, according to a complaint she filed in court, had been repeatedly beaten by her then-husband. After he allegedly verbally abused her and threatened to hit her again, Michelle obtained an order of protection against him and filed for divorce. In a legal filing, Michelle’s then-husband denied the abuse allegations.
CONTINUE > https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/spousal-consolidation-student-loans/
