Sommers Schwartz attorneys Jason Thompson and Lance Young, as class counsel on behalf of a group of some 105,000 student loan borrowers, secured an $11.5 million settlement in a breach of contract action against Michigan Finance Authority.
The plaintiffs alleged that the Authority violated provisions of the “Michigan Students First” loan program when it terminated the program and made them ineligible to participate in a zero interest rate reduction program, forcing them to make higher interest payments than borrowers who qualified for the rate reduction by the program’s termination date. After appeals to both the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court, the parties reach an agreement that would pay each class member a settlement ranging from $100 to $1,200 based on the borrower’s original loan amount.