For borrowers with federal student loan debt, repayments begin Oct. 1, and the D.C. Office of the Attorney General is advising consumers to gather the latest information on the status of their loans to prepare for that first payment date.
The federal government paused student loan payments during the COVID-19 emergency, which ended May 11, 2023. There had been proposals to extend the emergency, but those were blocked when Congress passed legislation to prevent further extensions.
Efforts to provide debt relief through a plan at the U.S. Department of Education were stymied when the Supreme Court issued a ruling blocking the plan. Under the student relief plan, borrowers would have seen between $10,000 and $20,000 of their debt forgiven.
Student borrowers were put on notice about the end of the program that put their payments on pause, but the D.C. Attorney General’s Office notes in an advisory that “borrowers who graduated during the COVID-19 emergency should pay special attention to the restart of the federal loan payments,” since they haven’t had to make payments before.
How borrowers should prepare for resumed payments
To start, borrowers will want to make sure they can log on to the U.S. Department of Education’s website and that their information is accurate and up to date.
There are a number of steps borrowers should take to make sure they know who their loan servicer is, that they know how much their payments will be and that they know how to make sure their automatic payments will resume.
In some cases, a borrower may see that their loan was transferred to a new servicer and in that case, they should check to see that there are no changes in the terms of their loans.
Borrowers who enrolled in an automatic payment plan before March 13, 2020 can’t assume that their automatic payments will resume — they will have to contact their loan servicer to confirm that they do want the automatic payments to restart, according to information provided by the attorney general’s office.
For borrowers who find they won’t be able to afford their student loan payment, there’s an option in “income driven repayment plans” which bases the amount of payments on income and family size. A loan simulator tool is available, allowing visitors to that site to see which repayment option would work for them.
There’s also advice on avoiding scams that have targeted borrowers. Signs that you may be getting pitches from scammers include requiring upfront fees to reduce the borrower’s debt. Consumers are also warned to be wary of being asked to provide their four digit Federal Student Aid PIN.
