School borrowers seek higher fines against DeVos’ Education Dept.

Former Corinthian Colleges students are asking a federal judge to impose higher fines against the Education Department after the agency disclosed it pursued scores of additional borrowers for debt collection in violation of a court order.

Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt and fined the department $100,000 in October for pursuing loans owed by 16,000 students from the defunct for-profit chain despite an order halting collections.

This month, the department revealed in a court filing that it identified an additional 29,000 people who were pursued for loan payments. The agency also informed attorneys for the students that it never fully ceased collections and pursued at least 21 people for payments as recently as this month.

“The malfeasance of Secretary DeVos continues to shock us,” said Eileen Connor, legal director at the Project on Predatory Student Lending, a legal aid group representing the students. “Students have had their tax refunds stolen, their wages seized, been evicted from their homes and seen their lives ruined, many losing things that cannot be recovered, due to the Department of Education’s shameful actions.”

Education Department spokeswoman Angela Morabito said the agency does not comment on allegations in pending litigation.

In a motion filed Monday, attorneys for the Corinthian students argue that the scope of people harmed by the department’s actions and its continued violation of the order warrant stiffer penalties.

Money from the $100,000 fine was meant to provide redress for some 16,000 borrowers, but now there are actually about 45,000 people affected. Attorneys have compiled affidavits from borrowers about how the collection has affected their lives.