1. Home
  2. mubany covid 19 resource page

MuBANY COVID-19 RESOURCE PAGE

Below is a list of resources MuBANY compiled for legal practitioners related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This list is as of April 10, 2020.  Please feel free to reach out to MuBANY at info@mubany.org with any additional resources. We hope you all stay safe and healthy.  

LEGAL RESOURCE GUIDES 

Toolkits

Finance, Health, Employment and Other Practice Area Resources

Legal News Resources

COURT CLOSURES

    CRITICAL POLICY UPDATES

    Nationwide

    • U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    • Guide to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act - U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
    • U.S. Department of Treasury - suspension of interest on student loans etc.
    • Small Business Administration - specific loans with 0% interest for small businesses.
    • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: What you need to know about student loans and the coronavirus pandemic. The bill can be found here. And more information on the suspension can be found here. And a few explanatory points below.
    • If you are not sure what kind of student loans you have, call your servicer or go to the National Students Loan Data System (NSLDS). 
    • Borrowers with U.S. Department of Education (DOE) loans may suspend payments for 60 days without penalties and without applying for a forbearance. This is a suspension, not a forbearance. If a borrower does not make a payment for 31 days after a payment is due, loan payments will automatically be suspended. The suspension is retroactive to March 13, 2020. Either way, make sure to request in writing that you are seeking a suspension due to Coronavirus and not a regular forbearance. Does not apply to FFEL loans owned by private lenders or loans owned by your school.  
    • Loan servicers do not report late payments to credit reporting bureaus until they are ninety days overdue, so if you are up to date on your loan payments, the 60 day suspension should not affect your credit score.
    • If you are a public service employee who is partaking in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, you can stop your payments without risking your forgiveness. Even though Fed Loan is giving contradicting information, the bill text reads: the Secretary shall deem each month for which a loan payment was suspended under this section as if the borrower of the loan had made a payment for the purpose of any loan forgiveness program or loan rehabilitation program authorized under part D or B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 17 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.; 1071 et seq.) for which the borrower would have otherwise qualified.
    • If you have federal student loans, you may be eligible to have them discharged (canceled) if you are disabled, you are a qualified public service employee (such as a teacher at a Title 1 school, or work for the government in certain types of jobs), your school closed, or if your school engaged in fraud.
    • If you are not eligible for a discharge, you may be eligible for an income-based repayment plan, which reduces the monthly payment to an amount you should be able to pay based on your income. After a certain number of years (usually 20-25), if you make your payments on time, the debt will be cancelled. To find out if you are eligible, contact the Financial Empowerment Program at 3-1-1 (You will need access to the internet to set up an appointment if you are not a current client) or check the Department of Education website at Coronavirus and Forbearance Info for Students, Borrowers, and Parents.
    • FCC Initiative - Keep Americans Connected - The Federal Communications Center (FCC) has asked cell service providers to pledge that: 1) They will not terminate broadband or cellular services to individuals or small businesses during the crisis. 2) They will waive late fees related to financial hardship related to coronavirus. 3) They will open wifi hotspots to everyone. You can find a current list of companies who have made the pledge at the link above.

      New York State

      New York City

      ONLINE CLE RESOURCES

      *NOTE - the New York State CLE Board has suspended the in-person CLE requirement for newly-admitted attorneys, effective through June 30, 2020