{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=011F2184-C33B-4BAC-AE14-F5B938D90A36", "Warner Announces New Federal Application for Individuals Looking to Separate Joint Consolidated Student Loans", "2024-10-23", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "VA", "Mark R. Warner", "W000805", "www.warner.senate.gov", "warner", "https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued the statement below in response to a new form released by the U.S. Department of Education, which has begun to accept applications from joint consolidation loan borrowers seeking to separate their loans.\n\nThis announcement and new application follows longtime efforts by Sen. Warner to provide relief for individuals who previously consolidated their federal student loan debt. Borrowers who consolidated their student debt with a spouse, did so under a program that was created by Congress and subsequently eliminated without providing a way for spouses to sever existing loans \u2013 even in the event of domestic violence, economic abuse, or an unresponsive partner. In 2022, Sen. Warner secured the passage of the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act of 2021 in order to help borrowers who remain liable for their abusive or uncommunicative spouse\u2019s portion of their consolidated debts. In July of 2024, Sen. Warner hailed new Ed implementation guidance that today culminates in the launch of this new application.\n\n\u201cTwo years after getting the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act into law, I\u2019m proud to say that borrowers can now apply to separate their joint consolidation loans. While this took longer than I had hoped for, I have no doubt that it brings a sigh of relief to so many borrowers who remain trapped in financial agreements with unresponsive or abusive ex-spouses, and unable to access important loan forgiveness programs. I\u2019m proud to have written the law that\u2019s bringing this process to life and I\u2019m glad to see the Department of Education take such a significant step towards freeing borrowers from these burdensome loans,\u201d said Sen. Warner.\n\nThrough the new Department of Education form, borrowers are able to submit a:\n\nJoint Application: Both co-borrowers submit individual App/Notes to the Department, which will separate the JCL and create a new, individual Direct Consolidation Loan for each individual; or,\n\nSeparate Application: An individual JCL applicant submits an App/Note to the Department without regard to whether or when the co-borrower applies, if the applicant has experienced an act of domestic violence or economic abuse from the other co-borrower, or if they are unable to reasonably reach or access the loan information of the other co-borrower.\n\nOnce the loans are separated, the applicants\u2019 loan obligation will be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan if both borrowers completed the joint application process. For those who submit a separate application, the loan obligation will follow the same process as the joint application process, but if the remaining co-borrower does not complete an application, their loan obligation will remain a JCL with one borrower.\n\nSen. Warner\u2019s Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act, originally introduced in 2017, was inspired by Sara, a constituent from McLean, Virginia who contacted Sen. Warner to communicate her struggles with a joint consolidation loan. Sara was raising two children on a public school teacher\u2019s salary in Northern Virginia and trying to keep up with payments on her student loans. Unfortunately, her ex-spouse, whom she had divorced and moved thousands of miles away from to start fresh, refused to pay his share of their joint loan. Because joint consolidation loans create joint and several liability for borrowers, Sara faced the threat of having her wages as a public school teacher garnished if she did not pay both her and her ex-husband\u2019s portions of their debt. Sen. Warner did not think this was fair and sought to create a solution, so that constituents like Sara could control their own financial futures. You can hear Sen. Warner tell Sara\u2019s story here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:55:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=011F2184-C33B-4BAC-AE14-F5B938D90A36"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5072999522089958, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}