Articles Posted in Student loans

Published on:

Christie_1We are hearing numerous reports of  surprise billing by student loan servicers especially now that SAVE is no longer an option.  Or the checking account is being hit with a standard repayment amount rather than an IBR payment based upon someone’s income.  If f you have permitted auto billing in the past, you may be surprised by a charge out of the blue for an unexpected amount.

A tip to help avoid this situation is to set up a separate checking account to obtain the .25% auto pay deduction.  This will avoid a surprise payment and a cascade of NSF fees that could result.

To Schedule a Consultation
Published on:

Christie_1Folks are reporting that they are being asked to make a large student loan payment – but they in in a long queue waiting for their Income Driven Plan (IDR) application to be processed.   This is happening because if a payment isn’t being made, the loan defaults to the Standard payment plan (which is usually very high).

You need to request administrative forbearance while the IDR application is pending.  It’s supposed to happen automatically, but often doesn’t.  Don’t wait until your credit score is hit to do this please!

To Schedule a Consultation
Published on:

Christie_1So 7.7 million borrowers are in a SAVE forbearance.  That means no payment, no interest since the courts applied the SAVE injunction last July (2024).

Lots of questions about what borrowers should do now.  We just did an interview with ABC Action News this a.m. that will run tonight.  Here’s the link to that story.

If you can’t afford to make any payment now, then stay on the SAVE forbearance as long as you can.  Servicers are beginning to shift people off SAVE forbearance but it may be another month or two before they can get to you.  It’s incredibly unlikely that someone can just stay on a SAVE forbearance long term.  SAVE has ended.  No doubt about that.

Published on:

Christie_1Those with federal student loans have had a five year reprieve for collections on federal student debt.  We are seeing more delinquencies as people do not not realize they were due to make a payment and for those borrowers who cannot afford to make a payment now.

There may be relief (talk to us about your specific circumstances) but settlement is likely not an option for most.  The Department of Education has very strict limits on settlement of federal student loans:

  1. 100% of current principal and interest (better credit reporting)
Published on:

Christie_1The IDR payment tracker was removed from many if not all borrower’s studentaid.gov sites today.

You can still find your payment count however.  Write your servicer directly for it or use this direct  link after you’ve logged onto StudentAid.gov:  https://studentaid.gov/app/api/nslds/payment-counter/summary​.

This link shows in a computer code format called JSON which you can’t read.  But if you copy it into an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Claude or any of the others, it can be translated into regular English.

Published on:

We are hearing from multiple sources that federal student loan borrowers IDR progress will be removed from the government site next week.  It’s imperative that you screenshot your IDR progress in case you need it down the road.  This is on studentaid.gov and looks like this:

student-aid-IDR-count

Go ahead and view your IDR progress and screenshot every screen with info.  Don’t wait – do it now please!

Screenshot Your IDR Progress Today

Published on:

Christie_1We’re hearing a lot of people are finding out their student loans are delinquent – another today that received a 90 day late and had no idea they were out of deferment.

The dings to your credit are not small — we had a client recently who had four student loan accounts (not unusual at all) and the hit to his credit was 200 points.

You can imagine what a 200 point hit will do especially when it’s unexpected!

Published on:

Christie_1The IDR online application is back up, though a demo revealed there are some big new restrictions on enrollments:

  • No enrollment in SAVE
  • No opportunity to request enrollment in the plan with the lowest monthly payment
Published on:

Christie_1While the Income Driven Payment application process is shut down  (paper applications were being processed, but now they too are reportedly on hold), to be first in line when it restarts, we suggest a paper application be sent to your loan servicer so it’s in the queue, and be sure to use the latest IDR application form.  (Form #1845-0102 with an expiration date of 4/30/2027).  Attached documentation of your income (latest tax return filed or a recent pay stub).  You can try to upload it to your servicer, but with most of the online systems halted, it may be best to send via paper certified mail with a return receipt.

An Income Driven Payment is one way a borrower can remain current on their federal student loans who cannot afford their normal Standard payment.  Please don’t ignore a student loan bill – it not only will incur late fees, but you will also have damage to your credit and the possibility of default which is not good for a federal student loan.  Please read back through our blogs for some of the reasons why.

You may have some forbearance left.  A couple days ago I blogged about forbearance options.  This will not accrue credit toward forgiveness but it will keep your credit in good standing and avoid default.

Published on:

arkovich_law-narrowMore and more signs are pointing toward bankruptcy being the best platform going forward to address student loans.  Why?

  • We can often discharge private and even federal student loans (if either an undue hardship exists or it’s an unqualified education loan);
  • We can cure a default of a federal student loan (where consolidation or rehab opportunities no longer available);
Contact Information