Right. We're talking all things
student loans with the president of the
Institute of Student Loan Advisors,
Betsy Mayotte. All right,
So what let's talk about now
that the payments are resuming,
we've been on pause for,
it seems like forever.
And so let's talk about when and
where and how it all happens.
Yeah. So after over three years of
many federal student loan borrowers
not having to make payments and
not having any interest accrue,
unfortunately that holiday is
is coming to a close very soon.
Interest is going to start accruing
on these loans on September 1st and
borrowers should expect their next
payment to be due sometime in October.
Many borrowers should be able to log
in to their services website now and
be able to see what their payments
going to be and what what actual day
in October that first payment is due,
right. And so we know again and we,
we probably can't say it enough if they
don't remember who services their loan,
they don't even remember what their
loan number is. Whatever it is,
they need to go to student aid Gov.
Correct. And student aid Gov is
going to point them to anything and
everything that they need to know.
It's a excellent resource.
Not only will it tell you what your
federal loans are and where they
are and what status they're in,
but there's all kinds of information
about the stuff we talked about
on this program together.
Income driven plans.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness is a
great calculator that can help you
figure out which payment plan to choose.
It's a really excellent resource.
OK, we've got a few
questions already coming in.
And one of them deals with what happens
if you paid for years and then the
loan gets moved to a new service.
Or do you start your loan all over again?
No. In fact, federal student loan
transfers happen all the time.
17 million of them happened during the pause.
As long as it's still a federal
student loan and you haven't
refinanced into a private loan then
your account will not restart.
In fact, nothing should change about
your loan just by transferring servicers.
This person is saying.
Is the loan service company
responsible for contacting
me regarding my repayment?
Yes, and you should be here.
If you haven't heard from them already,
you need to log into the service
or website and make sure they have
your up to date contact information.
Snail mail, e-mail, phone, owl.
However you get your communications,
make sure that servicer has that
up to date information and if
you haven't heard from them yet,
you will very shortly
even carry your pigeon. I imagine.
Right. Carry your pigeons owls.
Yes, all those things.
OK, so then it leads me to this because
that when that question came up,
I thought to myself, yes,
they're supposed to tell you,
but don't wait and don't make it
so that if you don't get some
kind of e-mail then you go, oh,
I didn't know so I don't have to pay it.
Yeah, that's a terrible defense to
it's a it's a non defense to repayment
with just about any consumer debt,
including student loans.
Not getting a bill is not a
defense to repayment and you know
any consequences from not paying
with would still apply to you.
So if you haven't heard from your servicer,
I would say by September 1st,
then you need to log in and make sure
everything's where it needs to be.
All right? This person is asking what is
available for Parent PLUS loan forgiveness.
So Parent PLUS loans are actually eligible
for most of the forgiveness programs
that the other loans are eligible for.
Just in some cases they might have
to jump through a few extra hoops.
Parent PLUS loans are absolutely eligible
for Public Service loan forgiveness,
assuming that the parent borrower
is working for an eligible
nonprofit or government employer.
Parent PLUS loans are also eligible
for the 20 or 25 year forgiveness.
For Parent PLUS loans, it would be 25 years.
That is baked into the income driven plans.
Now there is a loophole for Parent
PLUS loans that could make them
eligible for some plans that include
a forgiveness component that they
aren't usually eligible for.
The little,
I don't know if we have time in
this segment to go through that.
But if people go to our website,
which is free studentloanadvice.org,
and click on the consolidation tab and
look for the information about double
consolidation for Parent Plus loans,
they'll find information about that loophole.
OK, this person is asking,
if the institute was not accredited
and you did not receive your degree,
are you eligible for any kind of exemption?
So you cannot get federal student
loans for an unaccredited institution.
So if the school lost their accreditation
after you left the institution,
whether or not you received your degree,
unfortunately that is not usually a
reason to have your loans discharged.
If, however,
the school misrepresented themselves,
such as they said their job
placement rate was 90% and it was
really only 20 or if they said
that your degree would lead to a
particular credential and it didn't,
that could be a reason for
forgiveness under something called
Borrower Defense to Repayment,
which which consumers can read about
on our website or on studentaid.gov
This is an interesting question.
They say if I am retired,
am I still responsible for my loans?
Yes, 1000 times, yes.
I mean there's not anything that really
disqualifies you unless they decide that
you're they're going to forgive your loan,
right. If you're retired however,
and you're obviously your
income is is likely lower,
that's a great time to look into these
income driven repayment plans because
that will base the payment on your
income and hopefully keep it affordable.
You may even end up with a $0.00 payment.
And then if you're on these
plans for 20 or 25 years,
depending on what loans you
have and what plan you're on,
anything that's leftover is forgiven.
So there are ways to keep the loans
manageable and the light at the end of
the tunnel even once you're retired.
OK. All right. We're going to take a
quick break from this and we'll be back
with more of your questions coming up.