Heads-Up for anyone paying Federal Student Loans

[CitySky]

Today I learned that my student loan payments were put in a 3-month forbearance, without my asking for it, because of Hurricane Rita.

Well, Rita didn't touch my job and I WANT to pay off these debts while I still have most of my teeth, so I corrected that today. But this is just just a heads-up to everyone else -- go check your account.

Peace!

[murielm99]

1. Mine were put in forbearance once, too, without my asking.

I was taking ONE class at a community college in the summer, so they did it.

I just continued to pay the monthly amounts as usual. You can go ahead and do that too, rather than get entangled in their red tape or sit on hold for three hours trying to speak to someone. Just keep track of what you have paid. Save your records. I had no problem with mine.

[YOY]

2. Who are your loans with? Citibank?

Also why is this in the Texas folder instead of the general folder?

[CitySky]

4. answers

Loans are with Direct Loan Servicer, arm of the US Dept of Ed.

They put my loans in forbearance because I live in a state with people who were affected by a hurricane. So yes, the same thing may be happening to people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, etc. - I was giving a heads-up to fellow TX folks who may not have expected this.

[finecraft]

3. Yep- same thing happened to me

in addition to my mortgage company temporarily suspending the automatic withdrawal for my mortgage payment for three months *in case* I would need to resolve any insurance issues concerning my property. Seems like anyone living in an area that was federally declared a disaster area was affected....whether you actually sustained any damages or not. It's a gigantic pain-in-the-ass to get this stuff straightened out again, especially since we didn't ask for the changes to be made in the first place. Grrrrrrrrr......

[CitySky]

5. what mystifies me

How do they decide who's in a disaster area? Is the whole state of Texas a disaster area? We have 4.5 million people here in Houston alone, and Rita DID NOT really affect us. Our only "disaster" was the evacuation; the storm took a hard turn to the right.

And Muriel, I have the DOEd automatically debit my account each month (for which they knock down the interest rate a bit.) It wasn't until I went in to check my checking account balance today that I realized that payment hadn't been taken out this month. So I had them fix it (over the phone) AND made my payment today. With direct debiting, it's easier for this stuff to slip under the radar.