Student loans

[mjan]

I sent in my paperwork in April 2010 I believe, then got some prelimanary letter months later saying it was sent to such and such a place.. if.. I remember right LOL

But about 1.5 year later, I got a letter stating it's been accepted and will be reviewed for next 3 years till 2013. After that I believe it perm approved. If you work w/in the approved amt while receiving SSDI, then you must report it. I will not be working but still.

Good luck all~ Jan

[wrest53]

loans

Freedom1,

I had my loans discharged through Direct Loans too. It took a long time. You have to be disabled with no income for at least 3 years. As long as your loans are in deferment--don't worry--but be sure to fill out the deferment form every year. Keep copies of all the forms/letters you send to them. I just keep all of the info in a file by the phone and every couple of months I would call and check on the status. At least once ayear you will have to send them a letter stating your income for the year. If you are on SSDI only--you have no income and just tell them that.

After three years they will notify you of the discharge and your obligation to let them know if you ever go back to work.

I had a lot of questions going through the process and the people at Direct Loan where very helpful--just call and ask them to explain the deal.

[freedom1]

Thanks Jan, I know the feds don't move with lightning speed but I thought since you don't have to pay while they review (and I don't think that interest accumulates) it would be incentive to move their you know whats.

I don't have to worry about income, I haven't worked since March of 2009 and don't anticipate ever being able to work again.

I have been paying them all along and back in Sept I decided to try to have them discharged. With everything going up except my disability I no longer can afford them. When I went out on disability my company guaranteed me 60% of my salary until SS retirement kicked in. So even though we are getting a COLA this January my LTD will just be decreased by that amount. I know I bring in more than alot of people who work, never mind SSDI, however since I am only 52 it will be a long time before I see any increase in income. BTW these are parent plus loans, mine are long paid off.

[freedom1]

Thanks Wrest53, do you mean deferment or forbearance? Mine are in forbearance because they are parent plus loans and my kids have graduated. They told me I could only defer if the kid was in school. I also think they told me you could only have them in forbearance for 12 months over the life of the loan.

They are very easy to talk to at Direct Lending, as a matter of fact when I called to put them in forbearance they suggested that I have them discharged and sent the paperwork right out. Hopefully their answer will be to my benefit. The form was surprisingly short and to the point did they ever ask for more information?

[wrest53]

loans

The form was surprisingly short and to the point did they ever ask for more information?
No--the deferment forms are short and sweet too. I did have to have my doctor sign off on the form to forgive the loans--but even that one was short. They already have tons of info about the loans.

The loans were mine—so deferment. Do whatever they tell you to do. I don't think they are slow because of all of the red tape--this is a large forgiveness of debt and we would be pretty ticked if they went around wiping out thousands of dollars in debt to people who were not disabled and likely to remain so.