Quotes from Lisa Madigan

Hard work, careful planning, and realistic financial advice will be required by many to regain solvency.

Demand to know the school's accreditation. Regional accreditation is preferable to national, particularly if you want to transfer credits. Check with the certifying association or potential employer in your field to ensure successful completion of the program will actually qualify you for that job.

While most of us are trying to be more frugal, the loss of a job, a divorce, or a medical emergency can quickly sink us deeply into debt.

Navient/Sallie Mae treated student loan borrowers unfairly from start to finish.

For many, the loan modification process has been a giant sham.

Stalking is a serious crime with serious consequences.

Stalking is a crime that can paralyze an otherwise productive person with fear.

I enjoy a good fight, and always have, and really just said to myself, 'Look, at the end of my term, it'll be 16 years as attorney general, and I'm ready for new challenges. I'm ready to use my skills in a different way to continue to help people.'

We've done amazing things for the state. Some of them have had a national impact, but I'm going to be ready for some new challenges, and so I'm not going to seek a fifth term as attorney general.

As I travel across Illinois and talk with people, and as others reach out to my office desperate for help, I am becoming convinced that, despite their rhetoric, many lenders have no interest in actually helping their customers.

In 2011, when the General Assembly passed the law allowing civil unions, Illinois took an important step forward to recognize that gay and lesbian couples have the right to build lives together and create strong, loving families.

Foreclosure is nothing new. And it certainly will always be a fact of life for some.

Much of the blame for the Great Recession lies with abuses in the housing market - namely the creation of risky and unsustainable home loans that were packaged and sold as quality investments around the globe.

There were absolutely circumstances where Sallie Mae was working hand-in-hand with for-profit schools and other schools in offering and putting students into risky expensive subprime loans.

Being attorney general has truly allowed me to be a voice for justice for the people of Illinois and oftentimes the country - and I love it.

Consumers don't need to be forced to pay billions for so-called smart technology to know how to reduce their utility bills. We know to turn down the heat or air conditioning and shut off the lights.

I feel strongly that the state would not be well-served by having a governor and speaker of the House from the same family and have never planned to run for governor if that would be the case. With Speaker Madigan planning to continue in office, I will not run for governor.

The creation of a consumer agency, structured similarly to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, levels the playing field. It gives consumers a powerful advocate at the federal level.

Navient's actions have led to student borrowers needlessly carrying billions of dollars in debt, and the company must be held accountable.

My investigation found Sallie Mae put student borrowers into expensive subprime loans that it knew were going to fail.

I've always wanted to be an advocate.

Unlike public universities and private, not-for-profit colleges, for-profit schools are owned by revenue-seeking businesses often more intent on boosting their bottom line than educating their students. They use hard-sell tactics to recruit prospective students, and veterans have become particular targets.

A ban on same-sex marriage violates the state Constitution's equal protection clause.

I went to law school to help people.