How Much Can I Get For Student Loans
If you’re in default on your student loans, you may be wondering if there’s any hope of getting out from under them. That question is a little more complicated than it sounds. The good news: yes, there is a way to get rid of some or all of your student loan debt. The bad news: it can be difficult and expensive to do so, especially on your own.
You may have been told that your student loans are not eligible for discharge.
You may have been told that your student loans are not eligible for discharge. While this is true in most cases, there are some circumstances where you may be able to get your student loan debt discharged:
- You can file a petition with the court and show that you would suffer undue hardship if forced to pay. Courts look at several factors when deciding whether or not you would suffer undue hardship by being unable to pay your student loan debts. These include things like medical expenses, financial losses due to unemployment, or other specific costs related to hardships such as divorce or natural disasters occurring during the time frame when they were supposed to repay their debt.
Student loans can be discharged under certain circumstances.
If you can prove that your situation constitutes undue hardship or permanent disability, your student loans may be eligible for discharge.
Undue hardship means a situation in which paying back the debt would prevent you from meeting basic living expenses and maintaining minimal standards of health and hygiene. This is usually considered when a borrower has a catastrophic illness or accident that prevents them from working at all, such as paraplegia. It’s important to note that if your condition improves enough that you can work again at some point in the future (even if it’s just part-time), you might not qualify for this exemption.
Permanent disability refers to an injury or illness with symptoms lasting indefinitely or permanently disabling an individual from ever working again; being disabled by something like cancer would count under this category. In cases where temporary disabilities are involved—for example, blindness after one eye is removed due to retinoblastoma—hardship must be proven based on how long these conditions will last before they’re resolved by their own nature rather than medical intervention (in other words: until death).
Your ability to pay gets a lot of attention in these procedures but is not the only factor.
The ability of the borrower to pay their student loans is only one factor involved in these discharge procedures. Other factors include:
- Age: Student loans cannot be discharged if you are under 21 years old; however, if you are over 21 years old and have been out of school for at least 7 years, your loan may be eligible for discharge after 120 consecutive days of having no payments on a federal loan. If this does not apply to you and your income makes it difficult for you to make payments on the debt, then consider using other means of paying off this debt such as consolidating or refinancing student loans into a lower interest rate option.
- Health: The health status of an individual can play an important role in determining whether or not their student loans will be considered for disability discharge due to total disability (total medical inability). A person who has already filed several applications with Social Security but was denied because they do not meet all three requirements must file another application within five years after receiving notice that they were denied benefits because they did not meet all three requirements listed above.* Hardship: If there are extenuating circumstances preventing someone from making monthly payments on their student loan obligations then they may be eligible under certain conditions.* Disability: A borrower who has become disabled before receiving their degree while enrolled at least half-time in college and whose disability prevents them from pursuing gainful employment may qualify for full disability discharge through Sallie Mae Bankruptcy Services LLC and/or Navient Federal Student Loan Trusts.* Unemployment: If a borrower has been unemployed for more than six months consecutively due to reasons unrelated or unrelated but foreseeable only if he/she had stayed employed indefinitely without regard aspecialized training program designed specifically around his particular skill set (which would likely require additional coursework), he/she might be eligible under certain conditions.* Other Factors include bankruptcy status prior to filing Chapter 13 petition; number & size of debts owed by debtor relative compared those owed by spouse; amount owed
The more debt you have, the easier it is to prove undue hardship.
The more debt you have, the easier it is to prove undue hardship. The reason for this is that if a borrower has several loans and they cannot afford to pay them all, their income will be lower than someone who only has one loan. Also, if a borrower has multiple loans in default at any given time, this can also be used as evidence of undue hardship because it shows that they were unable to find other means of paying back their debts besides bankruptcy.
A lawyer is usually necessary to conduct a successful discharge proceeding.
In order to get a student loan discharged, you will need to prove that repaying the debt would cause you undue hardship. The process of proving this is complex and requires representation by an attorney who is well versed in bankruptcy law. Most attorneys are trained to deal with such matters, so it’s best for you if you hire one for your case.
A lawyer can also help ensure that all the necessary paperwork has been filed and properly served on all parties involved. This includes filing a complaint with the court, serving it on the plaintiff(s), collecting evidence from them (or their records) as needed, and negotiating with them when appropriate.
Unpaid interest, fees and penalties are added to the total amount of your debt when determining whether you qualify for a discharge.
When applying for a student loan discharge, the total amount of your debt, including interest and penalties, is used to determine whether you qualify. So even if the principal portion of your loans have been paid off, unpaid interest and other fees are added to the total amount of your debt when determining whether you qualify for a discharge.
Additionally, if you are paying more than the minimum on any loans (including private student loans), this amount does not count toward eligibility since it does not reduce or eliminate any part of the original balance.
The income-based repayment program can help you demonstrate undue hardship in a student loan discharge proceeding.
If you’re having trouble repaying your loans, the income-based repayment program can help you demonstrate undue hardship in a student loan discharge proceeding.
Here’s what you need to know about this option:
- You can apply for an income-driven repayment plan only after having been denied an income-driven repayment plan through your servicer. If you’re denied, do not despair! Your servicer won’t tell you why they denied your application—but they’ll tell the Department of Education if they approve it. That’s why it’s important to always keep track of whether or not you’ve applied and been rejected before contacting anyone else about having a better chance at getting approved for an income-driven payment plan.
- The application process itself is pretty simple: all it requires is filling out some forms online (or calling customer service). After that, the DOE will process your request and send confirmation that everything is set up correctly within days (the exact turnaround time varies from person to person). From there on out, payments are calculated using either 20% of discretionary income or 10% of gross monthly income (whichever comes first) along with any other outstanding debt obligation(s) such as child support payments or alimony payments made towards another party as well as court ordered fines owed by convicted criminals sentenced “time served” sentences which means less than one year incarceration terms served here in America but usually more than 3 months jail time served if convicted criminally charged by law enforcement officials locally here in America where I live near San Francisco Bay Area California USA
With proper legal representation and planning, you may still be able to get rid of some or all of your student loan debt.
If you have a mountain of student loan debt, this doesn’t mean that your options for relief are limited. With proper legal representation and planning, you may still be able to get rid of some or all of your student loan debt.
You need to show that you can’t pay, can’t afford to pay, and won’t be able to pay. If the government cannot prove any one of these three things, then they will dismiss their collection efforts against you. You should also consider filing an adversary proceeding with the court where your student loans were filed. An adversary proceeding is a lawsuit against someone who owes money but refuses to pay it back in accordance with their contract or agreement with another party (i.e., an individual or entity).
The discharge of federal student loans is a difficult process, but it is not impossible. If you have a high amount of debt and are facing an undue hardship, you may be able to get rid of some or all of your student loans.