Brindisi Pushing For More Oversight Of Student Loan Industry

With students returning to college, Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi stood in front of New Hartford High School on Wednesday,  pushing for more oversight of the student loan industry.

Brindisi says the federal government watchdog in charge of policing the industry has just resigned and there are no plans to replace him.

He says with the resignation of Seth Frothman, who was the student loan watchdog at the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, there is no one looking out for student borrowers.

"If there is one position at the federal level that should be non-partisan it is the person who protects people paying and applying for student loans because this industry is pervasively polluted with shake down artists," said  Brindisi. "To know that there is no longer a cop on the beat could send loan companies into a feeding frenzy and borrowers into a tailspin, and that is why I am urging immediate action by the New York State Attorney General."

Brindisi is calling on State Attorney General Barbara Underwood's Office to immediately deploy a special focus on the student loan companies doing business in New York.

He says student loan debt now tops $1.5 trillion.