Auto Debit
What is a benefit of enrolling in auto debit?
Borrowers enrolled in auto debit will receive a .25% interest rate reduction.
While suspended, interest rate reductions are lost and go back into effect the day after the due date suspended.
What are the qualifications for a temporary forbearance? How long can it be approved for?
The qualification for a temporary forbearance is that the borrower must have general forbearance time available. A temporary forbearance can be approved for up to a 12 month period.
What the four IDR plans? How often are they renewed?
Revised Pay As You Earn, Pay As You Earn, Income Contingent, and Income Based Repayment.
IDR's must be renewed every 12 months.
What are the different loan forgiveness programs offered by the Department of Education?
IDR loan forgiveness, TLF, and PSLF
Can we reset a borrowers password? What information do we include when resetting the password?
Yes!
This password is temporary password it will expire in 48 hours and is case sensitive.
May take 1-2 billing cycles to begin and manual payments should be made for any payments due prior.
Borrower will receive notification of the date Auto Debit will begin.
An EHD is approved up to 12 months at a time, it's allowed for 36 months or 3 years over the life of the loan, subsidized loans will not accrue interest during this time, and an application must be completed and sent back with necessary supporting documentation.
A processing forbearance.
Borrower calls in and is on an IDR plan but his income has decreased due to a loss of employment and his renewal deadline is not for another 8 months. What do we advise the borrower?
We advise "I am sorry to hear you are going through a difficult time, but I see you are on an IDR plan and we can recalculate your plan based on your current situation."
What the the requirements for TLF?
"To qualify for Teacher Loan Forgiveness you must be a full-time teacher for at least 5 consecutive academic school years at a Title 1 elementary or secondary school or an educational service agency listed on the Teacher Cancellation Low Income Directory. You must not have had an outstanding balance on a Direct or FFEL program loan on October 1, 1998, or on the date that you obtained a Direct or FFEL program loan after October 1, 1998. In order to be eligible you must meet additional requirements that may qualify you for a forgiveness amount of $5,000 or $17,500."
Is the borrowers user id and security questions case sensitive?
No, only the password is case sensitive.
Borrowers mother calls in and asks, "I want to enroll in auto debit using my bank account." What should we advise the caller?
Borrowers must be an authorized signer on any bank account used for Auto Debit.
What type of forbearance and deferments are unlimited for the life of the loan?
As long as the borrower qualifies the following options are unlimited for the life of the loan: In-School deferment, post-enrollment deferment, Graduate Fellowship Deferment, Rehabilitation Training Deferment, Cancer Treatment Deferment, and Processing Forbearance.
What IDR plan(s) have forgiveness that is different for undergraduate and graduate loans?
If the borrower has any graduate loans what plan would offer the shortest forgiveness period?
REPAYE
PAYE
Borrower calls in and has parent plus loans and is requesting information about loan forgiveness because he is a teacher at a public school; what do we advise the borrower?
Direct Parent Plus Loans are eligible for PSLF, however the only repayment plan available is the 10 year Standard Repayment plan, which would not leave a remaining balance for forgiveness. If Consolidated into a DLUCNS after 07/01/2006, they are then eligible for ICR and a 10 year Standard Repayment Plan.
How many attempts does a borrower get to log in before they are locked out?
5
What statuses does not allow a borrower to enroll in auto debit?
If a borrower calls in and states that they are unemployed and that they want an unemployment deferment but they are not receiving unemployment benefits and they are not seeking full-time employment how would you send them an application?
You would not send them an application for an unemployment deferment but instead take them through the repayment flow and see what options they are eligible for.
Please explain the difference in interest subsidies between REPAYE and IBR
On REPAYE a borrower does not have to pay 50% of the difference between the monthly payment amount and the remaining interest that accrues for all the years under this plan on unsubsidized loans, and for subsidized loans the borrower does not have to pay 100% of the difference the monthly payment amount and the remaining interest that accrues for the first 3 consecutive years but then drops to 50% for the remaining years under this plan. IBR only offers the interest subsidy on subsidized loans the for the first 3 consecutive years.
Can a spousal consolidation loan be eligible for loan forgiveness and how?
Yes, PSLF and TLF, either both parties or just one party can meet the eligibility requirements. If only one party meets the requirements then only their portion of the loan is forgiven but both borrowers are still responsible for the remaining balance.
Borrower calls in and wants to change his banking information to his auto debit; what do we advise the borrower?
Borrowers can change their banking information online at mohela.com. Please allow 1-2 billing cycles for the new auto debit to begin. Manual payment should be made for any payments due prior to the auto debit start date. The borrower will receive a notification of the date the new auto debit will begin to pull.
A parent plus loan borrower calls in and states that their child they took out a loan for is back in school full time at the same school, the last audit trail in the system shows that the child withdrew. Do we need to submit an IDQ to review enrollment information?
No, we should advise the borrower to contact the school to ensure that the school has updated the NSLDS and offer to send out a parent plus in-school deferment application.
Borrowers account is on ICR and has been in repayment since 11/24/2016. Borrower calls in and wants to know how long they have until their loans are forgiven. What do we advise the borrower?
Based on your current repayment plan, your forgiveness period is 25 years. Your loans entered repayment on 11/24/2016. Based on this, you have been in repayment approximately 6 years. Please keep in mind, this is just an estimate based on the time in repayment. It does not take into consideration the actual qualifying payments made. The actual time toward forgiveness may be extended based on payments made or periods of deferments and forbearances. A letter will be sent advising you of your status within 6 months of the estimated forgiveness date.
If a borrower taught at a title 1 school for the first year but that same school did not have title 1 eligibility the following years can they still apply for TLF?
Yes!
A borrower calls in and says they are having an issue creating their web account, what do you do?
You should check to see if they already have an account created and then if not offer to create it for them.