Is anyone informed or experienced with the National Student Loan forgiveness Center? Can Parent Plus Loans be forgiven?
As far as I can figure, the “National Student Loan Forgiveness Center” appears to be a scam.
Can you be more specific with your question? There are various options for forbearance or discharge that could apply in situations such as disability of the parent, or death of the student.
Death or Disability of parent or Student.
Guessing that the parent who signs the loan should be the main breadwinner. It would be additionally unfortunate if the the lower/no income Parent signed and then the breadwinner became disabled or died.
Good article about the companies running student loan scams here: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/03/ftc-continues-crack-down-student-loan-scams
Nerdwallet also has several articles.
I don’t know what prompted this question, but it’s common for companies with names like the one mentioned in the OP to do robocalling – so if you or someone you know got a phone call from that company… then definitely a scam.
It doesn’t cost anything for a person to apply for forbearance or death or disability discharge - and that application would be made directly to the Dept. of Education.
I think that the term “forgiveness” applies to the process where the balance of the loan is waived if the borrower is eligible to have an income-contingent repayment plan or would qualify for public service forgiveness … and that in turn requires years of making payments. (10 years for public service, 25 year for the ICR).
Thank you all.
I thought it was a scam. Being an honest soul here…this question is for the parent of a recent college grad who is a friend. I know we aren’t supposed to post for friends…and really, I was posting for my own knowledge!
But let’s just say…I told her that she shouldn’t be paying a fee for anything like this…and she should deal directly with her loan servicer.
I think a thread about loan forgiveness and income contingent repayment…and when taxes owed on what is forgiven in the end applies…or not…would be a helpful one.
I’d actually have the parent with no income take the loan. Nothing to attach if the loan goes into default.
If the parents are married, then whatever they own jointly is subject to attachment by a lender…plus one spouse’s bad credit will impact the other’s. So not a good plan.
No one should take on debt they can’t pay, but the advantage of Plus loans is that there are more flexible options for repayment than with a HELOC or many private loans. They can also be consolidated and payment schedule extended, without any requirement to provide a reason. Those options don’t get rid of the loan, but they can be used to reduce monthly payment amounts.
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If the parents are married, then whatever they own jointly is subject to attachment by a lender.....plus one spouse's bad credit will impact the other's. So not a good plan.<<
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Well, don’t put paychecks into joint accounts, and don’t own things jointly. A salary can’t be garnished because of the debts of another. You can keep one spouse’s credit separate from the others but it takes planning and organization.
Since the early 70’s credit of spouses has been allowed to be separate and to be kept separate. My parents have done it for 40 years because my father has terrible credit (and he won’t change) and my mother has good credit.
https://fsaconferences.ed.gov/2017sessionlist.html - scroll down & find Session 21. This presentation has everything you ever wanted to know about loan repayment!
Parent PLUS loans do not have IDR or forgiveness options. The only way it might work is if a parent has his/her own federal Direct student loan & consolidates the Parent PLUS loan into a Direct Loan - contact your servicer to find out if you might benefit before doing this, though.