Should student loan be discharged or not? Law Essay

No title and reference needed, must be one full page and can use double-spaced. The topic is about should the student loan be discharged or not based on the case. Thank you!

Before KELLY, HENRY and LUCERO, Circuit Judges. Submitted on the briefs: * Scott M. Browning and Craig R. Welling, Rothgerber, Johnson & Lyons, L.LP., Denver, CO, for Appellant. Stephen R. Winship, Winship & Winship, P.C., Casper, WY, for Appellee. Plaintiff-Appellee Nancy Jane Polleys sought a bankruptcy court discharge of federally guaranteed student loans. Defendant-Appellant Education Credit Management Corporation ("ECMC'’) is a non-profit company and fiduciary of the Department of Education that is charged with collecting such loans, ft now holds these loans. Ms. Polleys initiated an adversary proceeding in bankruptcy, contending that the loans were dischargeable because payment of them would impose an undue hardship within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8). The bankruptcy court agreed and discharged the loans. The district court affirmed. ECMC now appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.
Background
At the time of trial, Ms. Polleys was a 45-year old single mother of a teenaged girl. In 1993, she obtained a degree In accounting financed with student loan funds. She has not repaid any amount on these loans. Her loans were later consolidated, and at the time of trial had a balance of approximately $51,000; repayment would require $420 per month over a period of 20 years.
Aplt.App. 187.
Ms. Polleys was previously employed as an accountant. In 1994, she worked for one year in that capacity and earned $33,000. She had a job in public accounting in 1997, earning $13,771. According to Ms. Polleys, she was laid off from that job when the employer realized she was taking antidepressant medication and she asked for too much help. Ms. Polleys also tried self-employment, but could only get small bookkeeping jobs that paid less than $400 per month.
Since 1997, Ms. Polleys's annual income has been as high as $16,000 and as low as $3,000. Through August 2000, she earned minimum wage while employed at a greenhouse until she was laid off. Recently, Ms. Polleys and her daughter have lived on about $9,800, obtained from child support and two or three part-time jobs. Ms. Polleys receives $400 per month In child support payments.
Ms. Polleys and her daughter live in a rental property owned by her parents and pay no rent or utilities. She has a 1993 Subaru, which has significant body damage, but owns very little other property and no real property. Her budget contains no funds for emergencies. She qualifies for food stamps, and her income is below the federal poverty guidelines, as it was in the year before trial. Aplt.App. at 48,128-29. Although her daughter is eligible for Medicaid, Ms. Polleys herself has no health insurance. She expects to receive unemployment compensation at some point in the future.
Ms. Polleys is apparently in good physical health, but she has been diagnosed with and continues to suffer from a psychological condition known as "cyclothymic disorder." She was once involuntarily committed. Aplt.App. at 32,168. Ms. Polleys is currently prescribed Serzone, an antidepressant, twice a day. Aplt.App. at 132. Her mental health condition also apparently resulted in a suicide attempt. Aplt.App. at 24-27,30-31,159. She has ongoing expenses for her various medical and psychological conditions. Aplt.App. at 132-32.
On appeal, ECMC argues that the district court and the bankruptcy court not only selected the wrong standard for an undue hardship discharge, but also applied it incorrectly. Rather than relying upon a "totality of the circumstances' test, ECMC argues that the courts should have looked to the three-part test in Brunner v. New York State Higher Education Services Corp., 831 F.2d 395,396 (2d Cir.1987), and concluded that Ms. Polleys was not entitled to a discharge.