As fears of higher student loan payments and wage garnishment increase among borrowers, so does the opportunity for scammers to prey on your desperation.

Elaine Rubin, a student loan policy expert, wants borrowers to be on high alert for student loan scams offering to lower their payments, get their debt canceled or make sure their wages aren’t garnished.

“All the noise, the concern and the fear starts to bring about more predatory or scam companies to contact borrowers to offer them an ‘easy way out,'” Rubin said.

It’s always important to stay vigilant and look out for scammers, but student loan borrowers should be even more cautious right now, since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been…

In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court of Appeal
(“SCA“) considered whether an appellate
court can grant a final winding-up order in a proceeding against a
company, where another court has already granted a provisional
order against the same company. The appeal was brought by by
Resilient Rock (Pty) Ltd (“Resilient“)
against Voltex (Pty) Ltd t/a Atlas Group
(“Voltex“).

The dispute arose from an application for liquidation instituted
by Voltex against Resilient on the grounds that Resilient was
unable to pay its debts. The Johannesburg high court found that
Voltex failed to prove that Resilient was commercially insolvent,
that the debt was due and payable, and that Resilient had no
defence to the claim of Voltex….

Woking declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023 with £2bn of debt, and has since increased council tax and cut services.

The problem has spilled into neighbouring councils after the government announced in 2024 that local authorities in Surrey would be reorganised.

The county looks likely to be reorganised into two or three single-tier councils.

The government has now committed to “supporting any new authorities in Surrey with the rationalisation of Woking’s assets”, according to a Woking Borough Council report.

This could include interim financial support and “further tranches of financial support for any remaining unsupported debt”.

The council would still be expected to continue cutting costs and finding “best value” for taxpayers…

The NCLT in its detailed judgment dated January 10 found that DLF had raised repeated concerns about quality, delay and site conduct starting as early as December 2021, much before Drilltech issued the statutory demand notice under Section 8 of IBC on July 1, 2022.

DLF had also issued a formal show cause notice on June 21, 2022 – 10 days before the demand notice – stating that Drilltech’s work was defective and that the company intended to recover approximately ₹10 crore in revenue losses due to delayed and defective piling.

The NCLT had concluded that these facts showed a clear pre-existing dispute. The NCLT, therefore, dismissed the plea noting that insolvency proceedings are barred where there exists a genuine, pre-litigation dispute.