Public Loan Forgiveness Overhaul

[okla]

Student Loan payments to be pushed to August 31, per NYT.

[pumpkin]

Apr 5, 2022 17:38:46 GMT -5 okla said:

Student Loan payments to be pushed to August 31, per NYT.

Yay! I’m hoping I’ll get the waiver applied before then….

[Jalapeñomel]

[mention]gretchenindisguise [/mention] I keep getting notification that one of my loans isn’t consolidated, but when I click on it, it says that they’ve received and submitted my consolidation request. I can also see that they’ve all been consolidated, with forbearance, but not PSLF has been applied yet.
Is this normal? TIA!

[gretchenindisguise]

Apr 5, 2022 19:38:11 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

[mention]gretchenindisguise [/mention] I keep getting notification that one of my loans isn’t consolidated, but when I click on it, it says that they’ve received and submitted my consolidation request. I can also see that they’ve all been consolidated, with forbearance, but not PSLF has been applied yet.
Is this normal? TIA!

Who is notifying you that your loans aren’t consolidated? Is it the blue box on FSA website? From what I can tell that box will be there forever because it’s reading the paid off through consolidation loans that show was $0 as still loans. I still have that box even though I consolidated in 2010 and was forgiven last week.

If it’s not that notification then I’m not 💯 sure.

[okla]

Apr 5, 2022 18:00:36 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

Apr 5, 2022 17:38:46 GMT -5 okla said:

Student Loan payments to be pushed to August 31, per NYT.

Yay! I’m hoping I’ll get the waiver applied before then….

Me too! If my math is right, and this August date is real, I will only have six more months of payments, ever.

[gretchenindisguise]

Officially extended to August 31st!!

I hope everyone has the waiver applied to their accounts well before then.

[Jalapeñomel]

Apr 5, 2022 23:14:46 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Apr 5, 2022 19:38:11 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

[mention]gretchenindisguise [/mention] I keep getting notification that one of my loans isn’t consolidated, but when I click on it, it says that they’ve received and submitted my consolidation request. I can also see that they’ve all been consolidated, with forbearance, but not PSLF has been applied yet.
Is this normal? TIA!

Who is notifying you that your loans aren’t consolidated? Is it the blue box on FSA website? From what I can tell that box will be there forever because it’s reading the paid off through consolidation loans that show was $0 as still loans. I still have that box even though I consolidated in 2010 and was forgiven last week.

If it’s not that notification then I’m not 💯 sure.

Yes, it’s the blue box on Student aid site, thank you!

[bimbi284]

Last Tuesday I called FedLoan to try and figure out why I have no updated info about my pslf. I waited nearly 2 hours on hold before I finally ran out of time and selected the call back option. I didn’t get a call back until the following Wednesday (over a WEEK), and of course when they called back I was with a client and couldn’t answer, PLUS the caller ID said “telemarketing” so I wouldn’t have answered even if I could.

UGH.

[gretchenindisguise]

Another overhaul related to long periods of forbearance.

Press release on one time change to how forbearance will be addressed.

My understanding at this point is if you had a forbearance of over 12 months or a cumulative forbearance of 36+ months, that time will now count for both the pslf program and the IBR forgiveness programs.

www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-announces-actions-fix-longstanding-failures-student-loan-programs?fbclid=IwAR1xC3QQ-cQHHkt9-JAm9vxK4Y2QAf8pnKr-WBlt9EOLm4WFSW-TamxYcCo

apple.news/A_Sq-l_wGTO2OYRuVIF2H5Q

[taratru]

I'm truly happy for the people this will help.

I'm also still truly angry at how we've arrived here, how there are even more stipulations (guess who doesn't meet these, lolsob), and just :::waves hands::: how difficult they've made this when an EO (or a culture that valued education) would just do the trick.

[brady2012]

My FFEL loans have been consolidated into direct loans and Nelnet has been zeroed out.  My fed loan has a document in there that says they received my PSLF application but it doesn't appear that I have any qualified loans yet - I assume because the consolidation was not complete at that time. 

How do I know they received my signed and faxed documents from my 2 employers?  Is there anyway to verify that?  Mine should be fairly straightforward.  Two local gov't employers (no gap in employment). I hit 120 payments while working in those two jobs in 11/21.

[taratru]

Apr 20, 2022 8:23:48 GMT -5 brady2012 said:

My FFEL loans have been consolidated into direct loans and Nelnet has been zeroed out.  My fed loan has a document in there that says they received my PSLF application but it doesn't appear that I have any qualified loans yet - I assume because the consolidation was not complete at that time. 

How do I know they received my signed and faxed documents from my 2 employers?  Is there anyway to verify that?  Mine should be fairly straightforward.  Two local gov't employers (no gap in employment). I hit 120 payments while working in those two jobs in 11/21.

I got a message in my inbox when they received my application.

[okla]

Apr 20, 2022 9:25:30 GMT -5 taratru said:

Apr 20, 2022 8:23:48 GMT -5 brady2012 said:

My FFEL loans have been consolidated into direct loans and Nelnet has been zeroed out.  My fed loan has a document in there that says they received my PSLF application but it doesn't appear that I have any qualified loans yet - I assume because the consolidation was not complete at that time. 

How do I know they received my signed and faxed documents from my 2 employers?  Is there anyway to verify that?  Mine should be fairly straightforward.  Two local gov't employers (no gap in employment). I hit 120 payments while working in those two jobs in 11/21.

I got a message in my inbox when they received my application.

Same. And two months later, I’m still waiting on qualifying payment amounts, which is a normal wait

[bimbi284]

Apr 20, 2022 11:46:33 GMT -5 okla said:

Apr 20, 2022 9:25:30 GMT -5 taratru said:

I got a message in my inbox when they received my application.

Same. And two months later, I’m still waiting on qualifying payment amounts, which is a normal wait

I’m still waiting to find out my qualifying payment amounts and how much my payments will be once I start repaying. My application was acknowledged, noted I was eligible, and all my loans transferred to FedLoan. That all happened in June of 2021 and I’m still waiting .

[pumpkin]

I know this process takes time, but my application has been received, my employer is good, my loans transferred to FedLoan and my initial denial letter for not enough qualifying payments all happened over 2 months ago. I’m just waiting for the Dept. of Ed to apply the waiver…but I’m getting frustrated waited. Need to work on my patience.

[Mushe]

Apr 21, 2022 21:44:11 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I know this process takes time, but my application has been received, my employer is good, my loans transferred to FedLoan and my initial denial letter for not enough qualifying payments all happened over 2 months ago. I’m just waiting for the Dept. of Ed to apply the waiver…but I’m getting frustrated waited. Need to work on my patience.

Hang in there! It’s wild how each stage takes such a different amount of time for folks. They applied the waiver for me just this week, and I applied in November. Employment was confirmed in late February, but they didn’t transfer my loans from Mohela until this month.

[tiramisu]

Apr 20, 2022 9:25:30 GMT -5 taratru said:

Apr 20, 2022 8:23:48 GMT -5 brady2012 said:

My FFEL loans have been consolidated into direct loans and Nelnet has been zeroed out.  My fed loan has a document in there that says they received my PSLF application but it doesn't appear that I have any qualified loans yet - I assume because the consolidation was not complete at that time. 

How do I know they received my signed and faxed documents from my 2 employers?  Is there anyway to verify that?  Mine should be fairly straightforward.  Two local gov't employers (no gap in employment). I hit 120 payments while working in those two jobs in 11/21.

I got a message in my inbox when they received my application.

Is there a way to know if they received your application if your loan servicer is still another company? Trying to figure this all out has been driving me up a wall.

[curbsideprophet]

Apr 21, 2022 21:44:11 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I know this process takes time, but my application has been received, my employer is good, my loans transferred to FedLoan and my initial denial letter for not enough qualifying payments all happened over 2 months ago. I’m just waiting for the Dept. of Ed to apply the waiver…but I’m getting frustrated waited. Need to work on my patience.

Did you have to do anything after the initial denial letter? I finally got that letter saying I do not have enough payments. I want to make sure I am not supposed to be doing something else at this time. Has your waiver been applied yet?

Also, is there a way to change what payment plan I am under now that my loan is a FedLoan? I filled out the application and picked a payment option that they estimated to be reasonable. I got the payment amount and it is insanely high. If my waiver is not applied before the end of Aug or they don't extend the no payment on loans am I just completely screwed?

[wanderingback]

Jul 21, 2022 22:18:49 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Apr 21, 2022 21:44:11 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I know this process takes time, but my application has been received, my employer is good, my loans transferred to FedLoan and my initial denial letter for not enough qualifying payments all happened over 2 months ago. I’m just waiting for the Dept. of Ed to apply the waiver…but I’m getting frustrated waited. Need to work on my patience.

Did you have to do anything after the initial denial letter? I finally got that letter saying I do not have enough payments. I want to make sure I am not supposed to be doing something else at this time. Has your waiver been applied yet?

Also, is there a way to change what payment plan I am under now that my loan is a FedLoan? I filled out the application and picked a payment option that they estimated to be reasonable. I got the payment amount and it is insanely high. If my waiver is not applied before the end of Aug or they don't extend the no payment on loans am I just completely screwed?

I know nothing about the pslf because I’ve been a complete slacker and haven’t applied, but I do know it’s very easy in my experience to defer federal loan payments, so no I don’t think you’d be screwed if all of a sudden Sept 1 they said you owe a huge amount and you can’t afford it.

1 year I forgot to turn my tax info in so my non income based payment is like $3,500 or something and I got a notice that it was due in a few weeks and we were also closing on a home, so I was like oh shit, haha. So I just called them, got my payment deferred and then submitted my taxes with my income and all was well.

I did that 1 other time previously when for some reason I also couldn’t pay for 2 months. Obviously interest still accrues so not the best MM advice but they do seem to work with you if you absolutely can’t pay for a short period of time and to figure out a payment plan.

But hopefully you won’t have to worry about that!

[gretchenindisguise]

Jul 21, 2022 22:18:49 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Apr 21, 2022 21:44:11 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I know this process takes time, but my application has been received, my employer is good, my loans transferred to FedLoan and my initial denial letter for not enough qualifying payments all happened over 2 months ago. I’m just waiting for the Dept. of Ed to apply the waiver…but I’m getting frustrated waited. Need to work on my patience.

Did you have to do anything after the initial denial letter? I finally got that letter saying I do not have enough payments. I want to make sure I am not supposed to be doing something else at this time. Has your waiver been applied yet?

Also, is there a way to change what payment plan I am under now that my loan is a FedLoan? I filled out the application and picked a payment option that they estimated to be reasonable. I got the payment amount and it is insanely high. If my waiver is not applied before the end of Aug or they don't extend the no payment on loans am I just completely screwed?

Yay for movement! You don’t need to do anything but wait for right now.

For the payment plan, do you expect to be over 120 is all said and done with counting? If yes, just ask to go into forbearance while they’re processing your paperwork once the payment pause ends.

If you don’t think you’ll be over 120, investigate what payment plan would be best for you and submit the paperwork to get there before the pause ends.

[gretchenindisguise]

Jul 21, 2022 22:48:42 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jul 21, 2022 22:18:49 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Did you have to do anything after the initial denial letter? I finally got that letter saying I do not have enough payments. I want to make sure I am not supposed to be doing something else at this time. Has your waiver been applied yet?

Also, is there a way to change what payment plan I am under now that my loan is a FedLoan? I filled out the application and picked a payment option that they estimated to be reasonable. I got the payment amount and it is insanely high. If my waiver is not applied before the end of Aug or they don't extend the no payment on loans am I just completely screwed?

I know nothing about the pslf because I’ve been a complete slacker and haven’t applied, but I do know it’s very easy in my experience to defer federal loan payments, so no I don’t think you’d be screwed if all of a sudden Sept 1 they said you owe a huge amount and you can’t afford it.

1 year I forgot to turn my tax info in so my non income based payment is like $3,500 or something and I got a notice that it was due in a few weeks and we were also closing on a home, so I was like oh shit, haha. So I just called them, got my payment deferred and then submitted my taxes with my income and all was well.

I did that 1 other time previously when for some reason I also couldn’t pay for 2 months. Obviously interest still accrues so not the best MM advice but they do seem to work with you if you absolutely can’t pay for a short period of time and to figure out a payment plan.

But hopefully you won’t have to worry about that!

Stop procrastinating and apply asap! Even if you’re not at 120 yet, everyone benefits at least a bit from this waiver. It’s incredibly powerful but you have to apply for pslf by Oct 31st to benefit from it. Please! You deserve this!

[wanderingback]

Jul 22, 2022 0:58:51 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Jul 21, 2022 22:48:42 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

I know nothing about the pslf because I’ve been a complete slacker and haven’t applied, but I do know it’s very easy in my experience to defer federal loan payments, so no I don’t think you’d be screwed if all of a sudden Sept 1 they said you owe a huge amount and you can’t afford it.

1 year I forgot to turn my tax info in so my non income based payment is like $3,500 or something and I got a notice that it was due in a few weeks and we were also closing on a home, so I was like oh shit, haha. So I just called them, got my payment deferred and then submitted my taxes with my income and all was well.

I did that 1 other time previously when for some reason I also couldn’t pay for 2 months. Obviously interest still accrues so not the best MM advice but they do seem to work with you if you absolutely can’t pay for a short period of time and to figure out a payment plan.

But hopefully you won’t have to worry about that!

Stop procrastinating and apply asap! Even if you’re not at 120 yet, everyone benefits at least a bit from this waiver. It’s incredibly powerful but you have to apply for pslf by Oct 31st to benefit from it. Please! You deserve this!

Yes I know! I’ve had so many employees it’s such a pain to track them down I tried once before the waiver with one employee but the put the wrong tax ID so it got rejected so I got discouraged. But it’s in my to-do list.

[imimahoney]

I just sent in my completed form. I had my loans consolidated a few weeks ago but my superintendent took forever to fill out the form. Hopefully I get accepted, I still owe over 29k from 10 months of grad school.

[wanderingback]

I think I owe $380,000. I don’t qualify yet, and who knows if I will, but does anyone know how taxes work on the forgiven amount? Or did they get rid of that policy as well?

[wanderingback]

Jul 22, 2022 0:58:51 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Jul 21, 2022 22:48:42 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

I know nothing about the pslf because I’ve been a complete slacker and haven’t applied, but I do know it’s very easy in my experience to defer federal loan payments, so no I don’t think you’d be screwed if all of a sudden Sept 1 they said you owe a huge amount and you can’t afford it.

1 year I forgot to turn my tax info in so my non income based payment is like $3,500 or something and I got a notice that it was due in a few weeks and we were also closing on a home, so I was like oh shit, haha. So I just called them, got my payment deferred and then submitted my taxes with my income and all was well.

I did that 1 other time previously when for some reason I also couldn’t pay for 2 months. Obviously interest still accrues so not the best MM advice but they do seem to work with you if you absolutely can’t pay for a short period of time and to figure out a payment plan.

But hopefully you won’t have to worry about that!

Stop procrastinating and apply asap! Even if you’re not at 120 yet, everyone benefits at least a bit from this waiver. It’s incredibly powerful but you have to apply for pslf by Oct 31st to benefit from it. Please! You deserve this!

Also other question, what are other benefits of pslf if I don’t ever qualify? Just curious
*my loans have been consolidated I know I’m in the right payment plan, etc. So just wondering what other benefits. Lower interest rate would be motivating on this $380,000 lol.

[wildrice]

Jul 22, 2022 8:09:29 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jul 22, 2022 0:58:51 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Stop procrastinating and apply asap! Even if you’re not at 120 yet, everyone benefits at least a bit from this waiver. It’s incredibly powerful but you have to apply for pslf by Oct 31st to benefit from it. Please! You deserve this!

Also other question, what are other benefits of pslf if I don’t ever qualify? Just curious
*my loans have been consolidated I know I’m in the right payment plan, etc. So just wondering what other benefits. Lower interest rate would be motivating on this $380,000 lol.

If you don't ever qualify - like if you move to a for profit employer or leave the field entirely - there are no benefits that I'm aware of. This is the case for my H- he had about 2 years of qualifying employment but now works for a for-profit company so we are just going to try to pay off his loans ASAP. It actually ended up negatively impacting us, to be honest, because we would have been making larger payments for those 2 years but we took advantage of the pause since we thought those would apply to his eventual forgiveness.

However, if you stay in medicine (and especially the type you practice) I would think you would eventually qualify?

Anyway, I assume you know about this program already but if not, check it out: nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment . It won't forgive all your loans but I would think you'd qualify for what is offered and it's a much shorter period of time. 


ETA: My understanding is that PSLF is not taxable currently

[gretchenindisguise]

Jul 22, 2022 6:45:28 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jul 22, 2022 0:58:51 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Stop procrastinating and apply asap! Even if you’re not at 120 yet, everyone benefits at least a bit from this waiver. It’s incredibly powerful but you have to apply for pslf by Oct 31st to benefit from it. Please! You deserve this!

Yes I know! I’ve had so many employees it’s such a pain to track them down I tried once before the waiver with one employee but the put the wrong tax ID so it got rejected so I got discouraged. But it’s in my to-do list.

PSLF forgiveness is not taxable unless you live on Mississippi.

To get the waiver kick in, you only have to have 1 employer and the correct loans accepted. That will start the process and any months that they determine are now eligible thanks to the waiver will remain with you. They don’t get taken back after Oct 31st, they’ll just show as “needs employment certification.” So figure out what job is the easiest for you to get (current job maybe?) and start there.

If you never get pslf, there’s really not any benefit, however if you stay in an income based repayment plan - those can be forgiven after 20-25 years of consistent payment. I believe that is taxable though.

[Vespasia]

I'm currently at 110/120 payments. However, there were a few years in there where I wasn't making payments because I was back in school. I thought I had heard that they were going to go back and count those periods towards repayment. Does anyone know more about this?

There is also a period where it says I was in school and not making payments when that was not the case. Or at least I know I took a class or two but certainly not full-time. 

[taratru]

Jul 22, 2022 9:15:27 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

I'm currently at 110/120 payments. However, there were a few years in there where I wasn't making payments because I was back in school. I thought I had heard that they were going to go back and count those periods towards repayment. Does anyone know more about this?

There is also a period where it says I was in school and not making payments when that was not the case. Or at least I know I took a class or two but certainly not full-time. 

Its my understanding that in-school deferment doesn't count, but I would submit anyway.

[gretchenindisguise]

Jul 22, 2022 9:15:27 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

I'm currently at 110/120 payments. However, there were a few years in there where I wasn't making payments because I was back in school. I thought I had heard that they were going to go back and count those periods towards repayment. Does anyone know more about this?

There is also a period where it says I was in school and not making payments when that was not the case. Or at least I know I took a class or two but certainly not full-time. 

In school deferment doesn’t count, and you’re placed in that status automatically when you enroll.

If for the 2nd period you paid and you haven’t consolidated since then, you may be able to fill out a “school deferment waiver” and get the deferment lifted and your payments to count. But there isn’t a way to have it lifted and make back payments. The only exception to this is if you have direct loans and it was during covid forbearance, since those are $0 payments.