Re:Chinese Companies Are Buying Up Cash-Strapped U.S. Colleges
by azeotropic on Wednesday March 21, 2018 @07:30AM
(#16637088)
You could, but, in the U.S., ex post facto law is unconstitutional. Lenders have correctly gauged the odds of this provision of the U.S. constitution changing to be near zero.
Re:Chinese Companies Are Buying Up Cash-Strapped U.S. Colleges
by lovich on Wednesday March 21, 2018 @09:05AM
(#16637653)
This would be an ex post facto change. The government wouldn't be retroactively making the lenders guilty, it'd be a change in regulations. If this change was unconstitutional then you'd have situations like a company with a contract to dump industrial waste into a river going "oh sorry, I made this contract based on the regulations back then, so it's unconstitutional for you to make me stop polluting"
Re:Chinese Companies Are Buying Up Cash-Strapped U.S. Colleges
by jjeaff on Sunday March 25, 2018 @01:20AM
(#16670888)
If you had a contract that was contingent on your ability to dump your waste in the river, and then a law was passed forbidding the dumping of waste, you would of course have to stop polluting, but your contract would be null and void as well.
Non-bankruptable student loans aren't "regulations" they are specific contracts between students, lenders, and the US government.
Why not? You totally can. It's not some fundamental law of nature that regulation can't be changed after some time. The loans were made under the assumption that they are not dischargeable, at that time someone could attempt to estimate what's the probability that the laws would be repealed or modified in some time horizon. That probability is going to be > 0. Is that risk large enough to change the business case for making the loan in the first place?