Student loans account for a very high amount of debt by people around the country. If you fall behind on student loan payments your credit report gets shot to pieces, interest rates increase, and you may get so far behind that your loans can go into default. All the while the loan amount is accruing. Sometimes consolidating your student loans is not enough. If you have a documented disability there may be an option for you to get your federal loans discharged or forgiven. This is not an impossible task.
Instructions
1. Gather your paperwork. If you have a disability and student loans it's time to get organized, especially if you have fallen behind in payments. You may qualify for a disability discharge or forgiveness of your federal student loans if you are unable to work or otherwise earn an income in the future.
2. Call the holders of your student loans. Request a disability discharge form. Document this telephone call. Make sure to write down the time of your call and as well as the person's name. Do not be intimidated by the person on the other end of the telephone, especially if you have a student loans in default or collections because they will sometimes try to mislead you into thinking that you cannot potentially qualify for a loan discharge. If this person feels harassing in their perpetual questioning about why you seek to discharge your loans, restate that you want the disability discharge form sent to you.
3. Meet the Department of Education's standards for disability. To qualify you have to be unable to work or earn money. If you are unable to work because of disability then call the student loan lender and ask for the discharge form. Ironic as it may seem government agencies do not define disability the same. A person who is receiving Social Security Disability may not qualify for a student loan discharge, so be careful when thinking you may automatically qualify. On the flip side you do not have to be on disability to get your loan discharged.
4. Go to your doctor. The only acceptable signature for this student loan discharge form is a medical doctor. The doctor must sign the form attesting to a couple of statements that verify the nature of your disability and in what way this prevents you from working and earning money.
As soon as you request the disability discharge form from the student loan lender, make an appointment with your doctor. If possible have a discussion prior to the appointment to see if he or she is willing to sign complete the discharge application. Make sure to keep a copy of the signed application form.
5. Wait. After sending in all the required forms now you have to wait until you hear back from the loan holder or the Disability Division of the Department of Education. If you meet the requirements to have your loan forgiven this does not mean your loan is gone right away. There is a conditional discharge period that lasts three years. But, the status of your loan changes, interest will stop accruing on your account, and collection on your account stops.
It can take several weeks to hear back from the lender. Write down the date you sent your application. If you haven't received any notification from them, but are still getting payment notices or if you're just plain impatient, call them. Sometimes being proactive and calling will get you more information.
6. Make sure to have your doctor fill out a discharge application for each separate lender. If you have one loan with SallieMae and another with some other bank then you will have to fill out separate applications. Although the information will be the same they are going to different places so make sure you find all of your student loans (see resources section below).
Tags: discharge form, student loan, disability discharge, your loan, your student loans