No one wants to think about how much student loan debt they have, but everyone with a loan kind of has to right now. That’s because earlier this fall, COVID forbearance ended for federal loans, which means interest is accruing and payments are due this October. Mercedees Rees is a staff attorney and student loan debt counselor at Neighborhood Legal Services who says people should not wait until the last minute to check on their loans.
“People with federal loans should absolutely be thinking a lot about their loans right now. As of September 1, interest started occurring, which means that COVID forbearance is officially over, people are going to have payments coming due in October. The dates on those vary based on servicers. So for people who are entering repayment for the first time, they really need to get into their student.gov account, which is where they did their FAFSA, they need to see who their assigned servicer is, and then they need to create an account with that servicer.”
Neighborhood Legal Services has a free program with no income restrictions, where anyone with student loans who needs help figuring out their loan servicer, repayment plans, and what options are best for them can get help from an experienced loan debt counselor.
For more information, visit the Neighborhood Legal Services website.
