OHMomof2 yes the direct loans do go on the kids credit report. We have taken the unsubsidized and paid them off and they are there along with the subsidized loans from the Dept of Ed.
@SeeksKnowledge no. I meant that my kids were never asked for permission to pull a credit report when taking a direct or Perkins loan
^ Thumper1 you are not asked for permission unless you have a freeze or some kind of alert on your report, but now the official name is escaping me? Oh fraud alert, then maybe they call you and ask before letting a report be pulled. That is why you put the freeze on then nothing can be pulled. In our situation we aren’t planning on getting loans for anything so I froze it not to have to worry about identity theft. I’m going to research this more tomorrow and get an answer. I’d really like to go ahead and freeze the kids’ credit.
Thank you @SeeksKnowledge - good to know as D took a small one this year but intends to pay it back in the next month.
Hmmm… if the DRT was hacked and you/your kids may have been victims of identity theft, then you should be able to freeze/unfreeze for free. Might require a police report, though.
@SeeksKnowledge I highly recommend that you or your kids take advantage of free credit monitoring anytime it’s offered. Not a panacea, but another tool. It generally includes insurance coverage too.
No credit check for Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized or Perkins loans (because they are guaranteed). When a grad student applies for a Grad PLUS loan, there is a credit check involved (a soft check) - same for Parent PLUS loan (there will be wording in the request that tells you that your credit will be checked … when you sign the request, you are authorizing the credit check).
Thanks Kelsmom! I double checked with the dept of ed and they said the same thing. I’m going to go ahead and freeze the kids credit since we’ve been offered it. I don’t see them needing loans until they are out of college and ready to buy themselves new cars. In the meantime this will provide peace of mind that we don’t have to worry about all these hacks all the time!