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Written by: Braden Balocan

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Student Loan “Limited Waiver” Program

This is an urgent notice to all of our older student loan borrowers out there.  Those of you who took out your loans prior to 2007, listen up.  The federal government has a special program that is set to expire that could help you qualify for PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) and maybe even have these loans fully forgiven in the coming months.

Before we get started, make sure that ALL the items below apply to you:

I have either FFEL (Federal Family Education Loan) and/or Perkins student loans

  • Unsure, do the following to figure it out:
    • Log into https://studentaid.gov to view your total loan package
    • Look for the section titled, “loan breakdown”
    • Expand “view loans”, then select the “view loan details” arrow next to the loan.
    • Each loan should either say “Direct”, “FFEL”, or “Perkins”
      • Hint – we want one or both of the last two

 

I am currently and/or have worked full-time for a “qualifying employer” in the past

  • Qualifying employer definitionhttps://studentaid.gov
  • Full-time employment definition – meet your employer’s definition of full-time or work at least 30 hours per a week, whichever is greater.
    • If you work for two qualifying employers – it counts, if you work at least 30 hours per a week between both employers.

Now, for those of you who answered “no” to one of the items above, stop reading.  For those of you who answered “yes” to both items, let’s begin!

The government currently is reviewing student loan cases through their “Limited Waiver” process.  In an effort to help more people qualify for PSLF in the future or even potentially have your student loans fully forgiven here shortly.  If you have either FFEL and/or Perkins loans, these debts currently don’t qualify for PSLF specific forgiveness.  However, now they potentially could. Huge caveat, this “Limited Waiver” process needs to be completed by 10-31-2022 for you to qualify.

Woman sitting in the park researching debt inheritance

To apply for the “Limited Waiver” process, you’ll need to do a few things:

 

  1. Consolidate your “non-qualifying” student loans into a “direct consolidation” loan with MOHELA
  1. Once your loans have been consolidated, you will then need to verify your current and past “qualifying” employment by submitting employer certification forms for each of your qualifying employer(s).
    • You can use the governments employer search tool to determine if your employer(s) are qualifying for the purposes of PSLF.
    • The search tool will also help you generate the necessary employer certification forms that you need to submit to complete the “Limited Waiver” process.
  1. Submit all of the employer certification form(s) to MOHELA for the Education Department’s (ED) review.
  1. Complete all requirements by 10-31-2022
  1. If everything has been completed correctly. In the Fall and moving into the New Year, the Education Department will be reviewing cases and providing you qualifying payments towards PSLF.
    • The best part – for any time that you were employed after 10/2007 for a qualifying employer and your loans were in good standing, will now be counted as a qualifying payment towards PSLF.
      • Whether you were in deferment, made a payment, the correct payment, was participating in the correct repayment plan, or made no payments at all. They all count!

Now, before jumping all-in on the “Limited Waiver” process, let’s do some quick math and critical thinking on your specific situation.

 

Do you currently work full-time for a qualifying employer for the purposes of PSLF?

  • If you don’t, does your past qualifying employment add up to at least 120 months of qualifying payments?
    • If they do not, it may not make sense for you to make this switch unless you intend to resume qualifying employment in the near future to complete the PSLF process.

 

Does all of your past qualifying employment add up to at least 120 months of qualifying payments?  

  • Congratulations! You are a prime candidate for this “Limited Waiver” process and potentially looking at having your student loans fully forgiven in the coming months.
  • Although, be sure to account for some variance in your calculations, for time between jobs and other situations where you maybe weren’t actually working.

Money for student loan debts

Are you currently working for a qualifying employer and this “Limited Waiver” process allows for more of your loans to qualify for PSLF or get you closer to realizing actual forgiveness from the government?

  • Perfect! You are also a prime candidate for the “Limited Waiver” process.

I hope this article was helpful and able to shed some light on the “Limited Waiver” process that you probably have been receiving notices about from the government.  Either way, helping you to make an appropriate determination on if this program is appropriate for you to proceed with or stay the course with your current repayment plan.

If you still have questions on the “Limited Waiver” process or about your student loan repayment plans in general, please reach out to our advisors here at Finity Group and we are always happy to help. We are well-versed in all things student loans and can help you with other areas of your financial plan as well.

If you would like to read more about the “Limited Waiver” process, see the following link — https://studentaid.gov.  At the bottom of the page there are some common questions that others have asked, that may be helpful and specific to your own situation.

Otherwise, wishing you all the best and look forward to hearing from you soon!

 

 

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