AP Exclusive: Gov’t questions unfair student loan practices (Navient) Student Loans |
- AP Exclusive: Gov’t questions unfair student loan practices (Navient)
- Info for PSLF: have paid ahead status permanently disabled from account retroactively and for future payments
- No Longer Qualify for PAYE
- What's the private refinance market like now?
- Help deciding term length for refinancing student loans
- Refinance Advice
- Sticking with my federal loan vs. taking my chances with a private lender?
- Private Loans
- Re-certifying IDR plan after income increase
- A different perspective
- A student loan for an international student
- Too close to call - help me decide
| AP Exclusive: Gov’t questions unfair student loan practices (Navient) Posted: 20 Nov 2018 04:20 PM PST | ||
| Posted: 20 Nov 2018 08:24 AM PST For an inexplicable reason my automatic withdraw payment did not occur this month (not a holiday or weekend). After 2 days overdue I called Fedloan and the rep said she could not see any attempt on their end to withdraw funds from my account- which apparently they try at least twice before giving up. Because she could not see any activity on their end she recommended I make a single payment over the phone. I agreed and all went through without a problem. Of course, 1 week after my due date the original automatic withdraw suddenly appeared (for the due date, no less). Now I had 2 payments and I panicked about the dreaded paid ahead status. I called Fedloan, explained the issue, and was promptly told paid ahead status was a good thing. I explained that I absolutely wanted to avoid paid ahead status because of PSLF and asked how best to correct the situation. Now, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable on student loans and the PSLF program. I didn't think I would have to explain several times to a FEDLOAN REP about why paid ahead was bad for a person on PSLF. I wish Fedloan would educate their front-line people with some simple but IMPORTANT info so they don't inadvertently tell someone the wrong thing and we get another news article about someone getting screwed by PSLF because they didn't read the fine print. Once I was transferred to the PSLF-centric people I was able to have paid ahead permanently disabled on my account for all future payments AND retroactively. Better to be safe than sorry. I am still skeptical that I won't have 1 month of paid ahead status and lose out on one month toward 120. I'm fortunate that I can float 2 months worth of payments but my stingy side is miffed they might get an extra payment out of me. Regardless, its easy to see how people can be mislead (however unintentionally) by phone reps and it is absolutely crucial you educate yourself and your friends. You spent a lot of money on higher education so use it! Also, direct number to PSLF people 855-265-4038. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 20 Nov 2018 09:14 PM PST My income based repayment renewal was denied because I apparently no longer quality for PAYE due to our income. I have $72,000 in loans. Our AGI is approximately $149,000. The letter I received when I was advised to recertify my income stated that if I do not recertify, payments would increase to approximately $800. When I talked to the customer service agent at FedLoan Servicing today, he advised that I should switch to ICR or REPAYE, in which my payments would be about $913 or $982. My question is: Can I NOT switch repayment plans and only pay the $800 a month (is this my standard repayment plan amount?) or do I have to switch plans? I can't figure out what the standard repayment plan payment would be. I was going for PSLF but it seems more reasonable to start throwing money at the loans to pay them off. I had 22 payments complete. However, it would be nice to have the lowest monthly payment as possible in the event that we cannot make a large payment occasionally (due in January with our first child...). If I don't request a new payment plan and the payments change to $800 a month, will these still count towards PSLF (just in case I do end up needing to go that route)? We have already paid off my spouses student loans and we have no credit card debt. I believe we could put approximately $1300 towards these loans per month. [link] [comments]  | ||
| What's the private refinance market like now? Posted: 20 Nov 2018 08:38 PM PST With rates on the rise, I'm curious if anybody has recent experience with refinancing and what rates are being offered out there. Are there ten year loans under 4% out there? Five years? Here is what my wife and I have currently with private lenders from low to high balance:
The rate at Lendkey started in the low to mid 4s last year and has gone up from there. [link] [comments]  | ||
| Help deciding term length for refinancing student loans Posted: 20 Nov 2018 12:54 PM PST I have a $10k loan through Navient which has a high variable rate of 11.75% and my father on as a cosigner so I am looking to refinance through SoFi. My reasons for refinancing are obviously getting a lower, fixed rate but also getting my father's name off the loan. My current minimum payment with Navient is about $160/month, which I haven't been exceeding since I'm trying to get some credit card debt under control. I have been pre-qualified for a loan through SoFi and and am wanting to proceed with the application but I'm wondering what length of loan to go for. Here are the options I was given from SoFi (all fixed rate):
I've spoken with SoFi and they said there is no penalty for paying the loan off early and in that case, I don't see why I would go with a variable rate loan with them, as the rates they are giving me are very close to a fixed rate. I think at this point I'm trying to decide between the 7 and 10 year as I don't want my minimum payment to be higher than it currently is at this time. Since I can pay this loan off early without penalty, I don't see why I wouldn't just go with the 10 year, giving me a lower monthly payment than I have now. I would take the difference and pay a little more towards my credit card debt for the next year or two and once that is under control, focus on paying the student loan off early. Is there any flaw to that logic that I'm missing? [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 20 Nov 2018 06:46 AM PST I want to refinance my private loans. I'm currently with Navient and have an average of 6% (variable). I have excellent credit (800+) and want a fixed rate. SoFi is offering 5.45%, Laurel Road is offering 5.02%. How do I know what a good interest rate is right now? Since the Fed keeps raising them, I keep seeing my current Navient rates go up. Advice? [link] [comments]  | ||
| Sticking with my federal loan vs. taking my chances with a private lender? Posted: 20 Nov 2018 05:25 PM PST
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2018 05:50 AM PST Okay, so here goes. I know that this sub is mostly for paying off loans, but I'm hoping y'all have some insight for me. I graduated May (2018) with 7500 in debt. That number is now 4800. I am currently making 100 dollar payments every month on it now. The reason I am now making less payments is I am continuing schooling. I could defer, but then it will just gather interest, and since I can afford it, I'm making some payments, you know? I have a Bachelor's degree (social work) but want a specialiazed certificate that will get me the job I want + increase earning potential. This means I need to take 6 classes. 3 of these at a local community college (yay, cheap!) But also 3 at a state school which is significantly mkre expensive. I have enough money for 4 of the classes. Which means I will need loans for the other two. Since I am a "not-degree seeking student" the state school says I am not eligible for financial aid (aka FAFSA eligible). The total amount of money for these two classes is about 3,000 dollars. Where should I be looking at to take out this loan? Who has good interest rates and good customer service? Also, please let me know if this is not the correct forum :) [link] [comments]  | ||
| Re-certifying IDR plan after income increase Posted: 20 Nov 2018 12:15 PM PST I'm changing jobs in January, and my income will increase substantially (it helps that I'm starting from a pretty low floor). I just re-certified my current, lower, income in September, and based on that my monthly payments are $0. I try to pay the monthly interest when I can, with mixed results. My new income level will increase my minimum payments, probably close to the standard re-payment amounts. I'm sure if I asked my servicer they'd tell me to update my income information immediately, but my question is: what would happen if I waited until next September to re-certify? Would I owe any penalties or extra principal/interest for the payments I theoretically should have been making from the time my income increased? If not, I could really use the ~9 months of $0 payments to cover relocation expenses, building up an emergency fund, etc. Thanks for any advice! [link] [comments]  | ||
| Posted: 20 Nov 2018 10:56 AM PST I'm a 25 year old male who recently finished paying off my student loans without assistance or forgiveness. I see a lot of people my age who seem to prioritize other things (brand new/very expensive vehicles, lavish expensive trips, overly expensive first homes, etc.) over paying off their loans. At the same time these people will continue to complain how the system is set up against them in every way and they can't possibly be expected to pay back the loans as they should be forgiven. To give some background on my situation, I graduated in 2016 with $30k in debt and paid it off in October of 2018. During this time I did also have one poor choice in a vehicle purchase ($16k) that I sold six months later recovering the cost. I now drive a $3k car that may not be as nice, but is just as reliable. I worked extremely hard in my jobs, earning 2 promotions in the first job and that lead me to the new job I accepted in July of this year. Since finishing my debt off, I have now also started contributing 15% into my retirement and still have plenty of money to live on. I feel as if the student loan issue, in most part, is due to a lack of willingness to wait on big and non essential items. I would like to hear people's stories and/or opinions as to why or how these loans are not able to be paid off? [link] [comments]  | ||
| A student loan for an international student Posted: 20 Nov 2018 08:55 AM PST Hi all, I am accepted into a university in MA, and I am looking at my options to finance my way through college. So the loan I am looking to take is about $50k at around 13% (yup). That's insanity, so my question is - is there any other way for me to get money to study there? I do not qualify for federal aid, and I am a citizen of the EU (Poland). [link] [comments]  | ||
| Too close to call - help me decide Posted: 20 Nov 2018 08:54 AM PST Friends, I'm at a crossroads and need input. I owe 25.4k on student loans and should all be federal loans. I'm serviced by Great Lakes (my only loan servicer). It's a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized loans with a current monthly repayment of $360. The average interest rate between the 7 disbursements is 4.83%. I'm estimated to finish repayment on 9/2024. I'm on the graduated plan which increases my monthly payment every 2 years. I want to lower my monthly payment and considered refi through Sofi (had the better rate vs. Earnest). I liked the 10-year loan at 5.204% for 275.44/m I know i'd be going from Fed to Private loans, but I do like the difference in monthly payment. Is it worth it to refinance? [link] [comments]  |
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