Student Loan Deferment Availability By Lenders
Several choices are offered to individuals who cannot make their loan payments. Deferments, payment relief or forbearances might be available. If you, as so many others are, experiencing financial hardships, contact your lender to find out what student loan deferment you qualify for.
There are several types of deferments that are offered by lenders. With a deferment, your payments are postponed for specified time periods. Situations that may qualify you for a deferment is if you reenroll in school become unemployed or are suffering economic hardship. Any interest that accrues on the loan does not have to be paid during this time as long as it is a subsidized FFEL or Direct Stafford Loan or Federal Perkins Loan. If the loans are unsubsidized, you will have to pay the interest during the deferment period.
For active duty or reservists who are called into active duty there is a special deferment. The demobilization period may also qualify you for deferment.
If you are currently enrolled in school at least part time and you are a reservist or were a reservist who is called back to duty, a deferment is offered to you that will continue for- months from the conclusion of the active duty status or reenrolling in school.
If, according to federal regulations, you are experiencing economic hardships, a deferment may be available to you for up to 3 years if the loan is a FFEL, Federal Perkins or Direct Loan. Regardless, you need to contact your lender to find out if you qualify.
Having your payment amounts reduced or postponed is called forbearance. This only happens for a certain amount of time. If you do not qualify for a deferment you may qualify for forbearance. The difference between a forbearance and deferment is that during the forbearance, it doesn’t matter what kind of loan you have, the interest still grows and you do have to pay it. There is a possibility that the forbearance will last for up to 3 years total. As with deferments you do have to apply for it and continue to make payments until it is approved.
Those with Plus Loans can apply for deferments or forbearances like anyone else. Those with Plus Loans must also meet the same standards. With Plus Loans, you aren’t required to pay the interest during the postponement or reduction period; but, if you don’t pay it, it will compound which means you will owe more.
There may be times when changing your payment plans would be more beneficial to you. If you decide to change your current plan with an FFEL loan, you are only going to be able to do this once a year. If you feel that you need to change the payment plan and you have a Direct Loan, as long as the repayment time is longer than your current plan, you can change it as many times as you want.
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