A surprising number of private student loans, including flight schools student loans, can be discharged (erased) when a person files for bankruptcy.

Federal student loans are not included in this automatic discharge.

Unfortunately, some debt collectors, lenders, and borrowers will illegally target flight schools student loans for collection even after bankruptcy.

There are a few factors that help you determine if your student loan is dischargeable due to bankruptcy.

Loans qualified for discharge in bankruptcy are made by a private, for-profit lender, and are not used for “qualified educational expenses.” The phrase “qualified educational expenses” roughly means that the funds were not used to pay for a traditional four-year college. In general, traditional four-year college loans are non-dischargeable, even in the case of bankruptcy.

Some student loans that were given directly through the mail instead of through a school’s financial aid office may also be dischargeable in a bankruptcy.

Besides flight schools student loans, other student loans that may be discharged in bankruptcy include study abroad loans, bar exam loans, paralegal school loans, art school loans, and many more.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of student loan debtors may have been contacted illegally by student loan debt collection efforts after filing for bankruptcy.

Fortunately, there are legal rights granted to these debtors that may save them from paying these loans as well as further harassment from debt collectors.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, was first passed by Congress back in 1977 in order to combat unfair or deceptive debt collection practices increasingly used by creditors and debt collectors across the country.

Debt collection itself is not illegal, but the FDCPA regulates how collectors go about collecting these debts, providing protection to debtors. It is important that debtors know how FDCPA protects them, or debt collectors may still be able to take advantage of them.

If you have suffered from contact from student loan debt collection after filing for bankruptcy with a dischargeable student loan, you may have access to legal recourse. Violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act may give the supposed debtor a right to seek compensation for this illegal action.

Indeed, debt collectors who are found to have violated the FDCPA may owe debtors $1,000 in statutory damages, plus the amount of any actual damages they have suffered. You may even be able to pursue a bankruptcy discharge order violation.

Illegal Debt Collection Practices for Flight School Student Loans

Illegal debt collection practices for debts like flight schools student loans may include harassment, telephone harassment, false statements and deceptive practices, collection of debts not owed, collection of expired debts, making improper reports to credit reporting agencies, failure to cease communication upon request, and improper communication with third parties.

People who have suffered from illegal student loan debt collection attempts after filing for bankruptcy may have a legal claim against the debt collector or lender for actual and punitive damages.

DISCLAIMER: Debt collection itself is not illegal. However, creditors and debt collection firms collecting on consumer debts must adhere to the FDCPA and respect bankruptcy discharge injunctions. Even though consumer debt attorneys are investigating these companies, their debt collection practices may be legal.