CIT & Student Loan Xpress (SLX) is the lender for the student loan that I was pressured to secure for the purpose of attending Silver State Helicopter School in Jacksonville, Florida. The Silver State Helicopter Program (SSH) consisted of an 18 month training program in which students progressed through various pilot ratings. Upon successful completion of the program, students would gain employment with Silver State Helicopters as a Certified Flight Instructor and Commercial Helicopter Pilot. I attended SSH from Oct-06 until the school filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors in February leaving me without any pilot ratings or future employment opportunities as a commercial helicopter pilot.
SSH turned out to be a big Ponzie Scheme where the leadership, led by CEO Jerry Airola, would take money from the new student's funds to fund other students in training and for their own personal use on extravagant purchases such as homes, automobiles, vacations, etcall this with the help, as you will see, of SLX.
Additionally, EOS Private Equity came in a few weeks before SSH's filing for Bankruptcy and purchased' SSH but allowed Jerry Airola to remain in control of SSH. There must have been some research done by EOS Partners before spending millions of dollars to invest in a company. They must have some knowledge of the contracts between SSH and the lenders.
It has come to my attention that SLX has sought refuge within Ohio and is attempting to hide behind Ohio's unconscionable credit laws.
CIT & SLX failed to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility by:
Not preparing the loan documents with nor providing me the necessary consumer protection information i.E., FTC Holder Rule, Truth in Lending Disclosure, Fair Credit Reporting Act, nor advising of an opt out' period for the Arbitration clause, etc
Delegation of their Loan Counselor responsibilities to paid employees of SSH who made statements on behalf of SLX have proven false.
Failure to provide proper oversight of student progress in the SSH program i.E., Demanding progress reports from SSH that demonstrated percentage of students enrolled, completed, dropped and average time to complete course. Reports which were part of the contract between SLX & SSH.
Failure to regulate SSH's use of disbursed funds resulting in much of the funds being used fraudulently for personal gain by the owner and top leadership of SSH.
100% disbursement of my student loan, within 6 months of my enrollment in the SSH program, without ensuring that services had been rendered and I have received the training for which the loan had been intended.
As a group, the other students and I have contacted our individual state's Attorney General, the FTC who in turn sent us to the OCC, who sent us to the FDIC who has sent us back to the State Banking Department. Many of us who are veterans have also contacted the VA and directed to the OCC. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida has served as an advocate to those of us from the Florida schools.
This matter could be resolved to my satisfaction by 100% discharge and forgiveness of all student loans in my name based on the fact that I did not receive the proper lending documents that included the FTC Holder Rule, proper notice of ability to waive arbitration, nor did I receive service, training, certifications and employment for which the loans were secured. All of which could have been avoided had CIT and SLX fulfilled their fiduciary responsibility and acted in good faith on their contracts with SSH to monitor the progress of the students.
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