State’s financial services department encourages borrowers facing hardships to contact their student loan servicer.
4/12/2020 9:00
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) last week said it reached an agreement with the lion’s share of the private student loan industry. Based on this agreement, which provides relief to as many as 300,000 New Yorkers, borrowers facing financial hardship due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may contact their student loan servicer to defer student loan payments for 90 days and obtain other relief, including no late payment fees and no negative data reported to credit bureau agencies, according to a statement released by the state’s department of finance.
Among those agreeing with this relief are Navient, Nelnet, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA), EdFinancial, and others, which represent approximately 90% of the privately-held student loans in New York.
Pursuant to DFS’ agreement with the student loan industry, New Yorkers with privately-held loans who are impacted by COVID-19 should contact their student loan servicer to request relief, which includes:
- Providing a minimum of 90 days of forbearance relief for borrowers;
- Waiving late payment fees for borrowers;
- Ensuring no borrower is subject to negative credit reporting;
- Ceasing debt collection lawsuits for 90 days; and
- Working with eligible borrowers to enroll them in other applicable borrower assistance programs.
DFS urges all student loan borrowers experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 to ask their student loan servicers for relief, as all servicers are providing varying levels of support during this time. To read more, click here.