COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) — Ohio Attorney Mike DeWine announced June 22 that his advisory group on student loan debt collection issued a report on its findings.
DeWine put the group together in September 2016 to look into debt collection practices for unpaid student loans at Ohio public colleges and universities.
The group examined uniformity of university practices related to unpaid accounts, the education of students about their loans, the university certification process for student debt accounts and debt collection and litigation processes.
Upon analyzing the report’s findings, the advisory group made recommendations regarding collection practices. The group recommends that institutions adopt uniform certification processes, notify students about past-due debts being transferred to the Attorney General’s Office, notify the Attorney General’s Office of any atypical debts, not include institutional late fees and penalties in calculating interest and collection costs, and deliver appropriate notice of collection costs.
The advisory group was an external group of experts chaired by Dan Sadlier, chairman of the board of directors (retired) at Fifth Third Bank and member of the Sinclair Community College Board of Trustees. It met five times over six months before issuing its report.