Lynnette shares good news for people who need help paying their private student loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transcription
Lynnette Khalfani Cox: If you have private student loans and it’s been a struggle for you to keep up with those payments during the COVID 19 outbreak, I’ve got some good news for you.
Recently, lawmakers in 10 states reached an agreement with 20 different private student loan companies to bring you some relief. Essentially, what they’ve said is that the companies agreed that you will not have to make any payments. You have a forbearance for 90 days minimum, so three months without going to make any payments.
They also have suspended debt collection lawsuits for 90 days. They’re waiving late payments. They’re also making sure that you don’t get any negative marks put on your credit report as a result of your private student loan payments, or the lack thereof.
Then, they’re also working with borrowers to make sure that you have the assistance you need or you’re in the right programs. Maybe you need to get in a program that has an income based component to it.
This is, again, good news for those of you who have private student loans. Some of you might have remembered that back in March when the CARES Act passed, there was federal student loan relief granted to federal borrowers because they don’t have to make payments for six months until September 30th, 2020. Now, those of you who have private student loans can get a little extra relief, as well.
I mentioned that there’s 20 companies involved. It includes a variety of them, everyone from SoFi Lending, to Nelnet, to Navient. You should get online or even call your private student loan company and see if they’re among the entities that entered into this multi state agreement.
Who are the states? I know some of you are like, “What are the states? Do I qualify?” Yes, you do if you are a resident in one of these 10 states. Let me tell you what they are. It’s California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York New York actually struck their own deal before the multi state accord was reached Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Again, if you do have private student loans and it’s been a struggle for you to keep up with those payments, you have to reach out to your private student loan company or your loan servicing agent and ask for this relief. It’s worth it, though, to make that phone call.
