Question: Dear Steve, Owe approx $150k on an original loan of approx $58k. Been paying steadily while trying to raise a family for years now. Did an IBR, making approx the same monies and they almost doubled my new payments starting this month. I don’t feel I can comfortably make these newly adjusted payments. What …
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just published a report examining Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) programs and how they are being managed. The findings are not encouraging. The Department of Education approved forgiveness for a total of 157 loans under Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans as of June 1, 2021, but has not taken the steps necessary …
Question: Dear Steve, I have been trying to find out how many people have actually completed an Income-Based Repayment plan because the Dept of Education always argues this in an adversary proceeding. Any idea on how many people there are who have actually completed it? Rodger Answer: Dear Rodger, Nobody. Nada. Zilch, Zero. The Income-Based …
A long implemented trick by some student loan assistance companies has been to tell consumers they can inflate the number of people they support in order to reduce the monthly payment on Income-Drive Repayment (IDR) Plans. Consumers have reported and I’ve covered stories where sales representatives of student loan assistance companies, sometimes pretending to be …
Question: Dear Steve, I graduated college in 2007. After years of financial hardships and the lack of knowledge of student loans and deferments/forbearances, my loan and interest has risen to $66,000 at a 7.4% interest rate. I’ve tried getting lower rates with negative results. I apply for IBR which brings my monthly payments from about …
For individuals struggling to repay their federal student loans and think the only repayment options are a Graduated Repayment Plan, Extended Repayment Plan, Revised Pay As You Earn, REPAYE, Pay As You Earn, PAYE, Income Based Repayment Plan, IBR, Income Contingent Repayment Plan, ICR, or Income Sensitive Repayment Plan. For Direct Loans there is also …
By the end of his first term in office, President Obama knew the federal student loan program was out of control. Default rates were up and millions of student borrowers had put their loans into forbearance or deferment because they were unable to make their monthly payments. Then in 2013, early in Obama’s second term, …
by Richard Fossey & Robert C. Cloud. The federal student loan program is in crisis. More than 40 million Americans now have outstanding student loans totaling almost $1.3 trillion and 8 million borrowers are in default (Cao, 2016). As reported recently by the Brookings Institution, in the for-profit college sector, default rates are especially high. …
In a recent post, I wrote about Alan and Catherine Murray, who won a partial discharge of their student-loan debt in a bankruptcy case decided in December 2016. Educational Credit Management (ECMC), the creditor in their case, is appealing the decision. We should all hope ECMC loses the appeal, because the Murrays are the poster …
Question: Dear Steve, I graduated college in 1994 with $21k in federal student loan debt. Long story short, 23 years later, after several deferments, forbearances and start and stop payments due to different financial circumstances, I now owe over $108,000!! What can I do? Is there any chance of a settlement or partial forgiveness? Pat …
