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Freedom Debt Relief Announces First Recipients in Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Initiative
June 11, 2020
New Effort Aims to Give Freedom Debt Relief Clients A Fresh Start and Call Attention to $1.6 Trillion Student Debt Crisis
San Mateo, Calif., June 11, 2020 – Freedom Debt Relief (FDR) announced that Emely Alcantara of Massachusetts and Lynn Martalock of Wisconsin will be the first recipients of student debt forgiveness as part of the company’s initiative to assist its clients with their student loan debt. This effort, spearheaded by FDR, is assisting clients with student debt repayment to raise awareness of its impact on consumers and the economy at large, and the sparse options available to Americans facing financial hardship due to rising student loan debt.
Emblematic of the vastness of this problem, thousands of Freedom clients applied for the student loan forgiveness program, submitting an essay or video on what they would tell their younger selves before taking out student loans.
“For me, student loan debt was an anchor weighing down mine and my family’s future,” said Emely Alcantara. “This opportunity changed my life, for once I have a real opportunity in staying ahead of my finances and not worry about unpaid debt.”
“At age 49, I made the decision to go back to school and finish my degree while continuing to workhard and put four children of my own through school,” said Lynn Martalock. “The passing of my late husband after fighting cancer for more than seven years put in financial stress, but this money will help ease the burden of my remaining student loans.”
Recent company data found that 29 percent of clients enter their FDR programs with student debt at an average balance of more than $43,000 – far greater than $36,000 – the average balance for student loan borrowers across the country. Of the FDRclients with student loan debt, 54 percent said they cannot save any money because of this debt, and 58 percent said it causes them to feel overwhelmed about their financial situation.
Student loan debt is not an isolated part of finances for our clients or consumers across the country, it weighs on every financial decision they make, whether it is taking on additional debt, building savings, starting a business, or buying a house. With limited options to resolve student loan debt, many of our clients put off servicing other debts, including credit card bills, causing them to take on massive amounts of unsecured debt and get stuck in a seemingly never-ending cycle.”
In the United States, consumers are largely restricted from discharging student loan debt in bankruptcy and from negotiating with their creditors to ease their student debt. This means millions of Americans remain trapped by a system, which makes it far too easy to get into debt with no simple way out as things currently stand.