President Joe Biden wasted no time getting to work after his inauguration yesterday, signing a number of executive orders, including at least one that will impact the accounts receivable management industry.
The newly sworn in president signed 15 executive actions yesterday, making changes to policies enacted by former President Donald Trump on immigration, climate change, racial equity, and instituting a mask mandate in all federal buildings, on federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors. He also signed an order extending a moratorium on student loan payments and housing foreclosures and evictions. The moratorium started last March when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.
Individuals with federal student loans will not have to make any payments until at least September 30, according to the executive order. The moratorium was due to expire at the end of this month. About $1.5 trillion of federal student loans are outstanding and will not accrue any interest during the moratorium. As well, all debt collection activity on the loans is to be stopped until the moratorium is over.
Many have called upon President Biden to cancel student loan debt entirely or at least wipe out some significant amount of it, as a means of boosting the economy and helping those with massive amounts of student loans to put that money to use elsewhere. But at least one study has said that canceling student loans would be an ineffective tool to stimulate the economy.
Along with extending the moratorium on student loan debt collection, the president also halted all evictions and housing foreclosures until March 31. About 12% of homeowners and 19% of renters are behind on their payments, according to a survey conducted by the Census bureau.
