Texas Gurantee

Student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy unless you can show that your loan payment imposes an "undue hardship" on you, your family, and your dependents. Non-dischargeable debts are those debts that you cannot totally eliminate when you file for bankruptcy and will have to be paid by you.

It is almost impossible to show an undue hardship unless you are physically unable to work and the chances of your obtaining any type of gainful employment in the future are non-existent.

Under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, privately funded student loans are treated the same way that loans funded and guaranteed by the federal government or nonprofit institutions. Prior to the new law, if you had a loan from a private-sector lender that was not guaranteed, it could be discharged under chapter 7. The new law gives these loans the same protection as the guaranteed loans.

If you would like to discharge your student loans under the "undue hardship" exception, you must file a separate motion with the bankruptcy court and then appear before the judge to explain your hardship. This is not an easy task, so if your student loans are the main part of your debt, you would be better off not facing the harshness of bankruptcy as courts are extremely reluctant to discharge student loans.
Consolidating Your Loans Under Chapter 13
Although you may not totally eliminate student loans in bankruptcy, you can consolidate them, with your other bills, in a Chapter 13 proceeding. Under this chapter, you can propose a repayment plan in which to pay your creditors over three to five years. For a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you'll need a stable income with disposable income and must have no more than $1,010,650 in secured debt (debt involving property that your creditor might take if you don't make your payments) and $336,900 in unsecured debt. These amounts are adjusted periodically to reflect changes in the consumer price index. Chapter 13 will also stop collection action against you.

If you include your student loans in a Chapter 13 repayment plan, depending on certain factors such as the size of the loan, the number and amount of your other debts, and the amount of your disposable income, you might be able to make a dent in the loan balance over the life of your plan. However, you will still owe whatever student loan debt remains when you complete your plan.
Challenging the Loan Balance

Often, a student loan has been transferred between lenders many times, and it's not clear just how much is owed or whether any charges in addition to the principal amount of the loan are in accordance with law.

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you can use an objection to the claim of the holder of a student loan to get a court's determination of your rights. Once a judge decides what is properly owed, the bankruptcy court decision is binding on the lender even if the repayment period on the loan stretches beyond the end of the bankruptcy plan.