Our two attorneys, Christie Arkovich and Barbara Leon, help to reduce student loan debt, file bankruptcy, avoid garnishment and foreclosure and other problems that too much debt can create.
Barbara Leon is a Florida licensed attorney for nearly 20 years in the areas of bankruptcy, foreclosure and student loans. Her practice and experience is well diversified, having gained experience through an internship with the U.S. Attorney’s office, a clerkship with a Federal Magistrate Judge, and both creditor and debtor private practice. This insight helps her to see all sides and find a solution quickly that works for everyone.
As founder of the firm, Christie Arkovich has practiced law for over 25 years. She is a frequent speaker at various consumer-oriented continuing legal education seminars for other attorneys before the Florida Bar, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association. The firm maintains an AV Preeminent rating and enjoys excellent client reviews and we welcome you to see what we can do for you!
Our channel Student Loan Sidebar is a continuation of a quarterly column that we write for our local bankruptcy attorney bar organization helping people get a handle on their student loan debt. Whenever possible, Christie shares her knowledge about student loans gained working as former trial counsel for Sallie Mae, ECMC, and other student loan servicers or guarantors, and her current law practice of over 25 years.
We’re a nationally known law firm who has helped thousands of student loan borrowers obtain a sustainable, affordable payment with an end in sight. Please sit back, check out our awesome client reviews, watch a few videos and see if we can help you!
Now for the All-Important Disclaimer and where to go for more information. The information in our videos does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Instead, all information and content are for general informational purposes – and may not be the most up to date. Please contact us for a strategy session where we review your particular loans and how best to position yourself to create the life you want with as little debt as possible.
Hello, my name is Christy Arkovich.
We have a small law firm, Arkovich Law in Tampa, Florida,
where we specialize in student loan, debt relief, bankruptcy,
and other ways to basically get relief for debt.
Might be garnishment, foreclosure issues, things like that.
I did want to mention, we're seeing a lot of people
starting to be concerned about their federal student loans.
I know that waiting until the elections
and possibly until the U.S. Supreme Court rules
on the SAFE program and the injunctions
has been the plan recently.
But keep in mind that if you do so,
you're probably getting bills right now.
And the bills have relatively large payments
that come due in September and October.
We also have people being placed on forbearance
instead of income-driven plans.
And we don't know what to do about that.
They're getting these bills that are due
after the forbearance ends.
So beware that there are some programs
that are expiring in September 30,
Fresh Start, OnRamp, and the IDR audit
is also expected to go and take place by September 30.
So please watch some of our other videos,
make sure that you know what these programs are,
how they might benefit you.
They will be gone by the time of the election.
So if you wait until you know whether or not,
whichever house or independent is going to win,
make sure that you know that these programs are gone
and they will never be back.
The OnRamp is ending,
that's basically the non-collections of federal student loans
for the year after the pause ended last September.
We have Fresh Start, another way to cure loan defaults,
that's ending.
And we have the IDR audit
that is supposed to happen the end of September.
So that's supposed to give people credit
for payments they may not have been making
while under forbearance recommended by their servicer,
which maybe wasn't the best plan to do
for a decade or more.
And so please know that if you wait till the elections,
these programs are gonna be gone, they're not coming back.
And so there's some real advantage with these programs now,
and I encourage you to reach out to us
or research all you can about these programs
before those deadlines, before September 30.
You wanna take advantage
of those opportunities before that.
It's possible that we may do a secondary,
shorter consultation,
do a strategy session with our clients now,
if anyone wants to have help with their student loans
to know what to do,
and then do a shorter one, a follow-up,
come December or after the elections,
once we kind of have some dust settling
on some other issues.
But I don't want you to wait until after the election
because these deadlines are going to come and go
and you're gonna miss out.
So I hope this has been helpful.
If it has, please share, please subscribe,
and please stay tuned for future updates on student loans.
Don't forget, if you wanna try
to settle a private student loan,
there is another deadline of 12-31-25,
basically next December,
to have the settlement completely paid for,
to have tax forgiveness on a federal level.
We'll do separate videos about that,
but it's a great opportunity
to settle a private student loan
and something that's really not talked about very much.
So stay tuned,
and we'll put out another video on that shortly.
Have a great day, everyone.
