PHEAA’s tips also harm individual consumers. At the beginning of 2013, Lee Pele, a beneficial twenty seven-year-old-man out-of Fairfax County, Virginia, titled to inquire of as to why defaulted student loans however never taken out was in fact showing up to your their credit report. PHEAA didn’t come with respond to. In the future he had been getting hounded from the a collection agencies for more than $137,000. The guy sued. PHEAA argued one to, because an arm of your county, they got sovereign immunity. Oberg’s whistleblower match, and therefore fought equivalent immune system says, wound the way-up into Finest Legal, and therefore a year ago personal loan Chicago bank kept a lower life expectancy court’s ruling you to definitely PHEAA, economically independent and working nationally, might possibly be held responsible for the malfeasance. Shortly afterwards, the firm compensated having Pele.

Oberg’s suit and shined a light towards pipeline between PHEAA and also the authorities. As an example, the education Department’s secretary assistant responsible for postsecondary studies try Sally Stroup, that has prior to now spent more than a decade because PHEAA’s chief the recommendations. (more…)