With the Coronavirus wreaking havoc on our economy, the U.S. Department of Education has made several announcements that can provide some relief to distressed borrowers of federal student loans:
- Interest rates will be set to 0% for all all borrowers, automatically.
- Borrowers have the option of requesting from their loan servicer a forbearance for at least 2 or more months. Such requests may be made online or by phone.
- Any borrower whom is at least 31-days delinquent, or becomes at least 31-days delinquent, as of March 13, 2020.
While these announcements may bring some necessary reprieve, they do not address those borrowers struggling to keep up with the payments on private student loans, which will become a bigger issue as businesses close and income's diminish. Private lenders may individually elect to offer concessions such as forbearances or possibly interest modification, but they are not legally required to do so.
If you're unable to keep up with your student loan payments, you should contact your loan servicer to discuss your available options. If you don't know who your servicer is, visit https://studentaid.gov/.
At the Law Office of Simon Goldenberg, PLLC, our lawyers assist with a comprehensive set of debt relief services including bankruptcy, debt settlement negotiations, and dispute resolution. On average, we've help students reduce their private loans balance by 40%-60%, and we charge no up-front fees for our debt settlement services! Contact us to learn how we can help. But most importantly, take proper precautions to stay safe until the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak subsides.