All borrowers should honor obligations

The question as to whether student loan debt should be forgiven should be met with careful consideration.

Let us consider the lending institution that has granted these loans. The loans were granted after application and promises by the students to repay the loans after graduation. It is these promises that moved the lenders to make the loans in the first place.

Too many borrowers seek to have their student loans dismissed/forgiven simply because it is not convenient for them to now have to allocate a portion of their income to repay these loans long after school is over. This would be a very bad issue for our banks, credit unions and other lenders and would most likely cause the availability of this form of student financial aid to disappear if lenders can no longer rely on the borrower’s promise to repay.

In the real estate meltdown from 2008 to 2012, many homeowners sought to escape repayment of those loans as well but the lenders in that case at least had some collateral to rely on (in the homes) and with government assistance, some of that debt was forgiven.

With student loans. there is no collateral for the lenders to rely on. Also, what kind of character are we instilling in our young people if we teach them that is it OK to borrow for your needs but there isn’t any need to honor their commitments and repay as promised? There should, of course, be some provision for absolutely unavoidable circumstances that may arise that would prevent a borrower from repaying at all but that is usually provided for in the filing of bankruptcy.

Almost all lenders would be happy to restructure the repayment plan if necessary and allow the borrower to stretch his/her payments out if that would make the repayment easier. We should all honor our obligations and keep the promises we make.

Michael F. Sullivan, Murrieta