We, the undersigned, are calling on the Department of Education to permanently end involuntary collections practices for anyone who has defaulted on their student loans.

We urge the Department of Education to act immediately by:

- Permanently ending all debt collections practices, including administrative wage garnishments and tax refund offsets for borrowers who have defaulted on their federal student loans.
- Implementing safeguards that protect the borrower's financial security such as affordable repayment plans and pathways to relief.

The Department of Education announced a temporary pause to collections, including administrative wage garnishment and tax refund seizures. For the time being, no borrower will have their wages or tax refund taken away, however, we need the Department to take more permanent actions to help millions of struggling Americans.

Wage garnishment and tax refund offset leave irremediable harm on American families and the economy by allowing up to 15% of wages and entire refund checks to be seized. With less money in Americans’ pockets, countless families may face food insecurity, housing insecurity, and lapsed healthcare coverage due to the Department’s flawed and uncontrollable collections system. At a time when millions of Americans are financially struggling, the resumption of seizing hard-earned paychecks is cruel and immoral.

Americans need relief, not additional economic hardship. It is time the Department of Education centers the needs of Americans with student loan debt in the policies it promotes. Allowing for administrative wage garnishments, Treasury Offset, or any collections practices to resume will only cause more harm.