Another SL payment is coming

[Ava]

minnesotapaintlady
I didn't realize that was in the same plan.
I thought it was an idea for future development.
That would be a game changer.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Nov 23, 2022 0:33:01 GMT -5 Ava said:

minnesotapaintlady
I didn't realize that was in the same plan.
I thought it was an idea for future development.
That would be a game changer.

Well, of course none of it may go through at this rate, so who knows...

[TheOtherMe]

Ava  A bill could not get through Congress.  It didn't have the votes.  It absolutely will not have the votes in January.

So Biden had to go the way he did it and some GOP governors didn't like it and sued. 

It has to go through the court system and who knows how long that will take. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Well I got approved through the Biden program this morning but since it's all tied up who knows.   

Curious if my PSLF will go through while we sit around and wait.  Glad I applied under both programs.

My balance is just under $10k and I've been paying on it since the first day it was due.  I am not really all that concerned I can easily make the payments if they decide to lift the pause and it's not like I have a ton of late fees and interest piling on it.

I'd just like it gone and I am going to go ahead and take advantage of another six months not paying.  That's been helpful with inflation it's not a significant sum but it's a couple tanks of gas each a month.

[haapai]

Nov 22, 2022 18:56:29 GMT -5 haapai said:

That's a longer pause than most of the others.  I kinda understand the reasons for it.  It gives everyone time to file their taxes, do the math on income-driven repayment, and wait for SCOTUS to rule.  It's kinda humane in that way.  

I sincerely hope that a whole lot of people who expected loan forgiveness/cancellation will use the time to come up with a plan to manage their loans.   I'm particularly worried about the folks who were in default when this started and have balances that would have been forgiven entirely.  I kinda doubt that they are emotionally or financially prepared to make payments.  It would be such a shame for them to default again, especially if they were eligible for an IDR program with a minimal payment that would keep garnishment away.  Garnishment is pretty horrible. 

I really have no idea how I would play my cards if I still had federal student loans.  I'm not sure whether the advice in the linked article to save several months of payments in a "high" interest account is the best advice.  It's advice that will keep you out of default, but it's quite conservative.  In an inflationary environment, it can be quite expensive to park money in a "high" yield savings account.  Folks who are close to paying their loans off, with or without cancellation, are probably tearing their hair out right now. 

I typed the above way too quickly.  In theory, a definitive decision could be made in early December and repayment could begin in February.  So this pause could last anywhere from ten more weeks to nine more months. 

I doubt that February is possible.  The courts rarely move that fast.  Also, I am having difficulty understanding how the courts could completely resolve the litigation unless they rule against the administration.  There can always be more lawsuits filed with different arguments but a ruling that the administration had stretched the HEROES act too far would seems to be the only thing that would totally resolve the legal questions. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

So, it's March 2023 now. 
This is the current message on the front our current federal student loan servicer's page: 

---

The student loan payment pause is extended until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 - payments will resume 60 days after that. We will notify borrowers before payments restart.
...
[SERVICER'S] systems will reflect August 31, 2023 as the end of the payment pause however this date may change if the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved before June 30, 2023.

---

I'm on that site this morning because, in my normal Saturday morning of coffee and perusal of emails, there was a message from our federal loan servicer stating that DH's federal student loans had been forgiven as a public employee. Here is some background info: 

• The amount forgiven was ~$22,000 
• DH originally took out ~$25,000 during the 2005- 2007 school years to complete his master's degree so he could get his school administrator licensure
• DH has worked in poverty-stricken school districts since 1993 (that's his qualifier for Public Service Loan Forgiveness in the first place even without what the Biden administration implemented)
• Since June 2012 (when I started using YNAB) I've made $23,562.92 of payments to his student loans. 
• Payments were also made from 2008 - May 2012, but those records are on a MS Money program on a computer I actually managed to throw out last spring when we moved.  
  
• Because of the the way the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was administered; the Great Recession (you may remember how the real estate market crash affected us);and not choosing to eat beans and rice, rice and beans to pay off the student loans,  prior to the Temporary PSLF review, only 64 of DH's payments counted toward the PSLF. When the Temporary PSLF went into effect, DH had 189 qualifying payments. 120 are required for PSLF. 

(You'll notice that earlier in this thread I shared that mine had been forgiven a few months ago. I'd filed for both of ours with Temporary PSLF at the same time. An illegible date written by the HR department of DH's employer made his process take extra time.)

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Apr 1, 2023 11:29:10 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

So, it's March 2023 now. 
This is the current message on the front our current federal student loan servicer's page: 

---

The student loan payment pause is extended until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 - payments will resume 60 days after that. We will notify borrowers before payments restart.
...
[SERVICER'S] systems will reflect August 31, 2023 as the end of the payment pause however this date may change if the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved before June 30, 2023.

---

I'm on that site this morning because, in my normal Saturday morning of coffee and perusal of emails, there was a message from our federal loan servicer stating that DH's federal student loans had been forgiven as a public employee. Here is some background info: 

• The amount forgiven was ~$22,000 
• DH originally took out ~$25,000 during the 2005- 2007 school years to complete his master's degree so he could get his school administrator licensure
• DH has worked in poverty-stricken school districts since 1993 (that's his qualifier for Public Service Loan Forgiveness in the first place even without what the Biden administration implemented)
• Since June 2012 (when I started using YNAB) I've made $23,562.92 of payments to his student loans. 
• Payments were also made from 2008 - May 2012, but those records are on a MS Money program on a computer I actually managed to throw out last spring when we moved.  
  
• Because of the the way the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was administered; the Great Recession (you may remember how the real estate market crash affected us);and not choosing to eat beans and rice, rice and beans to pay off the student loans,  prior to the Temporary PSLF review, only 64 of DH's payments counted toward the PSLF. When the Temporary PSLF went into effect, DH had 189 qualifying payments. 120 are required for PSLF. 

(You'll notice that earlier in this thread I shared that mine had been forgiven a few months ago. I'd filed for both of ours with Temporary PSLF at the same time. An illegible date written by the HR department of DH's employer made his process take extra time.)

congrats!!

[haapai]

Apr 1, 2023 11:29:10 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

So, it's March 2023 now. 
This is the current message on the front our current federal student loan servicer's page: 

---

The student loan payment pause is extended until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 - payments will resume 60 days after that. We will notify borrowers before payments restart.
...
[SERVICER'S] systems will reflect August 31, 2023 as the end of the payment pause however this date may change if the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved before June 30, 2023.

---

I'm on that site this morning because, in my normal Saturday morning of coffee and perusal of emails, there was a message from our federal loan servicer stating that DH's federal student loans had been forgiven as a public employee. Here is some background info: 

• The amount forgiven was ~$22,000 
• DH originally took out ~$25,000 during the 2005- 2007 school years to complete his master's degree so he could get his school administrator licensure
• DH has worked in poverty-stricken school districts since 1993 (that's his qualifier for Public Service Loan Forgiveness in the first place even without what the Biden administration implemented)
• Since June 2012 (when I started using YNAB) I've made $23,562.92 of payments to his student loans. 
• Payments were also made from 2008 - May 2012, but those records are on a MS Money program on a computer I actually managed to throw out last spring when we moved.  
  
• Because of the the way the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was administered; the Great Recession (you may remember how the real estate market crash affected us);and not choosing to eat beans and rice, rice and beans to pay off the student loans,  prior to the Temporary PSLF review, only 64 of DH's payments counted toward the PSLF. When the Temporary PSLF went into effect, DH had 189 qualifying payments. 120 are required for PSLF. 

(You'll notice that earlier in this thread I shared that mine had been forgiven a few months ago. I'd filed for both of ours with Temporary PSLF at the same time. An illegible date written by the HR department of DH's employer made his process take extra time.)

Wow!  There's a story there.  From halfway there to one and a half ways there. 

and I'm glad this weight is off your shoulders. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Looks like Chloe got her loans taken care of just in time....


biden admin says repayments are coming back in 2-3 months...

Are you ready?? I am not!!!

[bookkeeper]

Watching this for my daughter in law.

[nidena]

May 21, 2023 13:04:56 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Looks like Chloe got her loans taken care of just in time....


biden admin says repayments are coming back in 2-3 months...

Are you ready?? I am not!!!

The forgiveness decision is still up in the air though.
It'll be interesting to see what happens if it actually goes through.  Those with SLs will have some relief but those against it will lose their minds.

[minnesotapaintlady]

May 22, 2023 11:06:31 GMT -5 nidena said:

May 21, 2023 13:04:56 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Looks like Chloe got her loans taken care of just in time....


biden admin says repayments are coming back in 2-3 months...

Are you ready?? I am not!!!

The forgiveness decision is still up in the air though.
It'll be interesting to see what happens if it actually goes through.  Those with SLs will have some relief but those against it will lose their minds.

But the restart is 60 days after June 30th or a ruling on the student loans whichever comes first, so either way it's pretty much 2-3 months.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

May 22, 2023 11:51:15 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

May 22, 2023 11:06:31 GMT -5 nidena said:

The forgiveness decision is still up in the air though.
It'll be interesting to see what happens if it actually goes through.  Those with SLs will have some relief but those against it will lose their minds.

But the restart is 60 days after June 30th or a ruling on the student loans whichever comes first, so either way it's pretty much 2-3 months.

Yep!


I have no idea where my student loans are at or what my minimum payment is. Hopefully somebody is going to mail me the info? I think before the pause my minimum payment was over 1400/month on the regular repayment plan, I paid off 3 smaller loans that were not included in the pause, but think my minimum monthly will be about 1250ish....maybe more.......spoiler! I do not have an extra 1250/month floating around that i don't know what to do with, lol!! Well I guess if I stop all non 401k/HSA savings/investing.....which would be a bummer! I bonds have been a 10k thing, so that might be greatly reduced or eliminated.....


oh well, it will be whatever it is....I can't say the educations paid for on this (my phd, DD's BA) have not paid off handsomely. DD has had 2 promotions.....might be 3 even....you know, with her "useless" creative writing degree. (Sidebar: she is the go to for writing up speeches and talking points for the executives, even for national conference, assists with publications, and such....cuz she the best writer they got <--- Momma pride . AND - we've been through this before, she has 30k of her own loans, these are my parent plus loans.....mine to pay).

I did get a big increase at my new job right after I got the degree, So while it definitely paid off to get it, there is a lot of taxes on the increase, 7.5% fica, 2224% fed, 4.9% state....so not feeling as flush as I would like. Inflation has taken a toll too....but that is life as they say.....

Still willing to kick that can downt he road again.....common biden....you can do it!! One more year!! One more year!!!

[Ava]

I read in the news Biden negotiated no more student loan pause in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

For some reason, I feel he threw us under the proverbial bus.

Anyway, none of the proposals I've read about would fix the root of the problem.

It looks like payments will be due in September.
Personally, I'm not anywhere near ready for ayments.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jun 17, 2023 14:24:13 GMT -5 Ava said:

I read in the news Biden negotiated no more student loan pause in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

For some reason, I feel he threw us under the proverbial bus.

Anyway, none of the proposals I've read about would fix the root of the problem.

It looks like payments will be due in September.
Personally, I'm not anywhere near ready for ayments.

while disappointing - it couldn't last forever! I am totally unprepared as well.

the 3 years with no interest with high inflation really eroded the balance, so got to hang on to the positives!

[Ava]

Yes, that's true.
Even paying the same amount I was paying then, it's less due to inflation.

Said amount is a lot of money for me, though.

I don't think for a minute you and I are the only borrowers unprepared to resume payments.

A lot of people will be in a world of hurt in a couple of months.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jun 17, 2023 14:31:29 GMT -5 Ava said:

Yes, that's true.
Even paying the same amount I was paying then, it's less due to inflation.

Said amount is a lot of money for me, though.

I don't think for a minute you and I are the only borrowers unprepared to resume payments.

A lot of people will be in a world of hurt in a couple of months.

I agree!

I'm unclear if they are just going to resume as if nothing happened, or reamoritize the balances......

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jun 17, 2023 15:10:29 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Jun 17, 2023 14:31:29 GMT -5 Ava said:

Yes, that's true.
Even paying the same amount I was paying then, it's less due to inflation.

Said amount is a lot of money for me, though.

I don't think for a minute you and I are the only borrowers unprepared to resume payments.

A lot of people will be in a world of hurt in a couple of months.

I agree!

I'm unclear if they are just going to resume as if nothing happened, or reamoritize the balances......

I've never seen anything indicating they'd reamoritize balances. 

[Ava]

There are many things very unclear yet.
When exactly will interest start accruing again?
When is the first payment due?
Will the forgiveness go through or not?

I have a question I cannot find the answer for anywhere I've looked.
I have a total of 6 loans. These are 4 undergraduate loans; all have a beginning balance of 5k and some change. Then I have 2 graduate loans for higher amounts.

My undergraduate loans were taken between 2010 and 2012. I read that the new repayment program Biden sponsors calls for loans with original balance less than 10k to be forgiven after 10 years. Would my 4 undergraduate loans qualify?
No idea. 
There's a lot in the air yet about the whole thing. I try not to think about it too much, but it's eating at me.
I am looking at my budget to see where I can cut back and make up the payment.
It would mean some sacrifices. 
There's no easy answer. I only wish trying to get ahead and get an education wouldn't mean dealing with this caliber of debt and interest. Somewhat, it doesn't seem right.

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2023 17:05:49 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Jun 17, 2023 15:10:29 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

I agree!

I'm unclear if they are just going to resume as if nothing happened, or reamoritize the balances......

I've never seen anything indicating they'd reamoritize balances. 

I haven't read anything about reamortization. I think that if you're on standard payment plan, you get the 3 years added back at the end. If you're on an income based plan, the 3 years count as time towards forgiveness. I may be wrong, though.

[TheOtherMe]

The court case is at the Supreme Court level.  Biden has no control over the red states filing cases to stop the student loan forgiveness.

There was give and take in the negotiations for the debt limit.  Nobody got everything they want.  Nobody

[nidena]

Nothing definitive but it looks like they're leaning towards reamortization: It’s official: Student loan payments will restart in October, Education Department says

[azucena]

this line from the article made me chuckle

    "For those who still have a balance after the relief, the Education Department has said it plans to “re-amortize” borrowers’ lower debts. That’s a wonky term that means it will recalculate people’s monthly payment based on their lower tab and the number of months they have left on their repayment timeline."

[teen persuasion]

Don't like this part:

The Education Department says borrowers will be expected to make their first post-pause payment in October. Meanwhile, interest will start accumulating on borrowers’ debt again on Sept. 1, the department says.

People are waiting for details on when the pause ends and repayment restarts. No one is going to make payments while interest owed is zero, but most won't learn of the interest kicking in BEFORE payments are owed. Are loan processors ready to accept payments? Do people even know how/where to make payments, given all the upheaval? I know DS4 is waiting to hear from whoever is processing his loans - he's never made a payment yet, he was in college when covid hit, so he's been in limbo. He's also been banking $$ in the interim, and will pay them off after he knows whether forgiveness is go/no go.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jun 21, 2023 0:50:59 GMT -5 nidena said:

Nothing definitive but it looks like they're leaning towards reamortization: It’s official: Student loan payments will restart in October, Education Department says

thank you Nidena!! I thought I had heard that somewhere!  

Although - it seems that it is only going to be done for those who have balance reductions

For those who still have a balance after the relief, the Education Department has said it plans to “re-amortize” borrowers’ lower debts. That’s a wonky term that means it will recalculate people’s monthly payment based on their lower tab and the number of months they have left on their repayment timeline.



Kantrowitz provided an example: Let’s say a person currently owes $30,000 in student loans at a 5% interest rate.



Before the pandemic, they would have paid around $320 a month on a 10-year repayment term. If forgiveness goes through and that person gets $10,000 in relief, their total balance would be reduced by a third, and their monthly payment will drop by a third, to roughly $210 a month.

which, poops on me.....

[haapai]

Yes, the language used in the linked article (For those who still have a balance after the relief, the Education Department has said it plans to “re-amortize” borrowers’ lower debts.) does imply that only borrowers who get debt relief will have their loans re-amortized. 

This makes me want to holler.  Is the Department of Education actually saying these things or are reporters hearing what they want to hear and then publishing it?  I'm having a really hard time believing that only debts that received forgiveness or were paid on during the pause will be re-amortized.  I absolutely believe that all of these debts will be re-amortized. 

Why is the messaging that we are getting so bad?  Is it the DoE or the reporters? 

I read somewhere that about 1% of borrowers who had paused loans kept making payments.   (Or maybe I read that about 1% of loans that were paused continued to receive payments.  The later seems more plausible.)  Can you imagine how much greater that number would be if the DoE had made it clear from the get-go that loans would be re-amortized when the pause ended? 

[Ava]

For some reason, I was convinced we would hear back from the Supreme Court ruling yesterday.
Nothing yet.

My loans have been transferred to another lender. Haven't even logged into their website yet.

If interest starts accumulating in September, I will make a payment in September instead of waiting to October when payments restart.

I don't even know how much I will pay yet.
Before the pandemic I was paying $350 a month just to keep interest from capitalizing. And that was a huge sacrifice for me. That amount is a huge sacrifice to me today, despite inflation, etc.
Hopefully, my balance will be down a little bit before payments restart, and I don't have to send so much a month. That is, depending on the SC ruling.
The respite in payments has allowed me to boost retirement savings. Since I'm 50, I feel that's my focus.

Sometimes I wonder if I should really send more than my IDR indicates to stop the loan from growing.
Maybe I should just pay what they tell me I have to pay, and even if the balance keeps growing it will be forgiven in the end. Yes, I may owe more in taxes, if the relief is still taxable by then, but I can invest the difference for years and have more money available to cover the IRS bill.
I remember feeling overwhelmed and sad when I was making payments as requested and my balance was growing. I don't want to accumulate more debt.

[haapai]

Tomorrow is the last day of the current Supreme Court term.  That means that decisions in the two student loan forgiveness cases will be handed down shortly after 10 AM EDT. 

I've got a suspicion that they'll DIG the case brought by individual plaintiffs and only rule on the case brought by the states. 

[Ava]

Jun 29, 2023 10:11:04 GMT -5 haapai said:

Tomorrow is the last day of the current Supreme Court term.  That means that decisions in the two student loan forgiveness cases will be handed down shortly after 10 AM EDT. 

I've got a suspicion that they'll DIG the case brought by individual plaintiffs and only rule on the case brought by the states. 

I was thinking the same. That they'll rule today.

Wasn't today the last day? What will happen now?

[haapai]

They already ruled at 10AM today and the Chief Justice announced that tomorrow will be the last day of opinions.  It is the custom of the court to announce the end of the term on the penultimate day.  Sometimes, they extend the term into July but they are not doing that this year. 

There are three cases remaining - the two student loan forgiveness cases (one of which I suspect that they will dismiss as improvidently granted) and 303 Creatives.  They could/can push one of these cases into the next term (it will have to be re-argued) but I don't think that they will.  I very much doubt that they'd do that to either of the two student loan forgiveness cases.  Doing so would create more chaos. 

If you're looking for information regarding the new/proposed 225% of the poverty line IDR program, you are not alone.  I'm trying to find out what is going on with that and whether there are court challenges and I'm not finding anything.  Nobody is talking about it, and it's really a much bigger deal than one-time forgiveness of up to $20K.