Reset Button to Tackle $1.6T Student Loan Debt Crisis Through Bankruptcy
Y Combinator Alums launch tech company to combat student loan debt through bankruptcy; offers a fresh start to the 99.9% of people who were misled into excluding student debt from bankruptcy filings
Feb 12, 2020, 05:00 ET
NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Reset Button—a first-of-its-kind technology company—launched today to eliminate student debt via bankruptcy and provide an entire generation a fresh start. Reset is focused on helping the 99.9% of people who were misled into excluding student debt from their bankruptcy filings.
Founded by Y Combinator alums and industry leaders with expertise in technology, bankruptcy law, and student loan debt litigation, Reset Button is dispelling the myth that student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. In the last five years, more than one million student loan debtors filed for bankruptcy. Of those, however, 99.9% failed to include their student loans in their filings. This misstep has left individuals on the hook for billions of dollars of educational debt that could have been discharged in bankruptcy. Reset Button aims to solve this problem by connecting consumers with skilled legal experts and streamlining the administrative process necessary to pursue a student loan discharge.
"Student loan lenders and bankruptcy lawyers have been providing false information to borrowers for years about discharging student loans in bankruptcy. The truth is borrowers can include student loan debts in bankruptcy and get them discharged," said Reset Button CEO and Co-Founder Rob Hunter. "Reset Button is helping a generation crippled by massive student debt attain the fresh start they need for a better financial future."
According to a recent study by the Federal Reserve, Americans—mostly the middle class—are carrying $1.6T in student loan debt. Trapped by impossible payments and skyrocketing interest rates, this debt contributes to poor credit scores and a decline in home-ownership rates. African Americans are disproportionately affected by student debt, with 38% of black students defaulting on their student loans.
"For years, I barely survived," said Laura, who was told it was impossible to include her student loans in bankruptcy until she found one of Reset's affiliated lawyers to help her discharge her debt. "I can't imagine what it would've been like to have Reset Button from the start—how much quicker I could've gotten my life back on track."
For consumers, Reset Button quickly evaluates a debtor's financial situation, and offers data on how their case compares to other consumers that have been successful—or unsuccessful—in discharging student debt through bankruptcy. Reset Button's network of preferred lawyers offers affordable monthly payment plans at a fixed price, if bankruptcy is the right path forward. Should a lawyer not be able to eliminate a significant portion of the consumer's debt, the consumer pays nothing.
Reset Button is launching its free debt analysis tool nationwide, and can provide help for consumers everywhere. They'll present consumers with resources specific to each individual situation, including bankruptcy if appropriate. Reset Button is constantly growing its cross-country network of preferred lawyers with experience eliminating student debt in bankruptcy.
"The misconception that student loans can't be discharged in bankruptcy is hurting millions of Americans," said Kara Bruce, a Professor of Law at the University of Toledo. "It's important to educate debtors about what's possible, but it's essential to educate and equip bankruptcy attorneys, who need to be ready to fight for their clients and develop the law."
For lawyers, Reset Button is a 'business in a box' that provides attorneys with a pool of pre-qualified clients and eliminates the pre-legal and administrative paperwork, saving attorneys time that they can use to focus on client representation. Lawyers receive a flat fee up front, guaranteeing payment regardless of the case's outcome.
"Working with Reset Button is an effective way for me to help the most people possible get their financial lives back on track through debt elimination," said Christie Arkovich, a Florida lawyer with years of bankruptcy and student loan debt litigation experience.
To learn more about Reset Button, visit www.resetbutton.com, and see here to view and download B-roll footage.
ABOUT RESET BUTTON: Reset Button is the first technology company to help eliminate student debt via bankruptcy and provides an entire generation a fresh start for a low, fixed fee. Co-founded by Y-Combinator alums and industry leaders with expertise in technology, bankruptcy law, and student loan debt litigation, it is a one-stop shop that both educates the public on how they can include student debt in bankruptcy and provides borrowers a financial fresh start through fast and easy debt analysis, consultation, and elimination alongside the best legal experts in the field. Early investors in Reset Button, include Craft Ventures, Slow Ventures, and Jeff Morris Jr. of Lambda School. To learn more about Reset Button, visit www.resetbutton.com, and see here to view and download B-roll footage.
Media Contact: A.J. Walton, [email protected]
SOURCE Reset Button
