As we approach the crucial July 1, 2024 date for the official implementation of the Department of Education’s IDR Account Adjustment, Hope Credit is pleased to announce the forgiveness of more than $23 Million in student loan debt for hundreds of (former) Hope Credit clients since November of 2021.
Over the last 3 years, Hope Credit has worked with hundreds of student loan borrowers to secure the ultimate relief: complete forgiveness of their entire federal student loan debt balances. This forgiveness has been made possible by the recent adjustments made by the U.S. Department of Education to ensure that student loan borrowers who have held their loans for decades have finally gotten a fair shake under a broken student loan system.
Unlike the blanket forgiveness program which was ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2023, the IDR account adjustment sought to address the unfair collection practices of the student loan collection agencies (servicers) who were supposed to help borrowers account for the required months in repayment to receive forgiveness under federal laws that guaranteed such relief after the borrower completed 10, 20, 0r 25 years of on time repayment and fulfilled the exact requirements of the forgiveness clauses. Those laws, which were approved by congress and signed by the president, have existed in some form since 2007.
Borrowers who signed promissory notes for federal student loans containing forgiveness provisions attempted to fulfill their obligations under such provisions but were misled, misdirected, and misinformed by federally contracted student loan collection agencies (servicers), causing them to be ineligible based on the specific requirements of federal student loan forgiveness. With the IDR account adjustment, these borrowers received months, years, and decades of eligibility for which they would otherwise have been denied due to technicalities that did not reflect the student loan borrowers’ behavior or intent during most of their adult lives repaying federal student loan debt.
While the majority of Hope Credit’s forgiven clients were forgiven under either the Public Service Loan Forgiveness method (10 years, while working for a government or non-profit entity) or the One Time Adjustment method (20 or 25 years in repayment), some clients were also forgiven because they attended a fraudulent school, or were permanently and totally disabled at the time of forgiveness.
How can I tell if I am eligible for this benefit?
Hope Credit continues to hear from hundreds of federal student loan borrowers per year who are eligible for forgiveness, but who have not been contacted by the various outreach methods that are currently being deployed by the U.S. Department of Education. Because the IDR Account Adjustment is not a federal law passed by Congress and signed by the President, it’s future remains vulnerable under future administrations unless it can somehow be turned into legislation. On an individual level, it is still the personal responsibility of every federal student loan borrower to actively seek out the best solution for their student loan debt. If you think you may be eligible for the One Time Adjustment to earn months, years, or decades toward your student loan forgiveness, feel free to consult with one of our certified student loan counselors to help you actively seek out the most financially beneficial solution for your federal student loan debt. https://hopecredit.net/contact-us/