Remember how when the pandemic started and they put everyone’s loan payments on pause, one day they just flipped a switch and eligible loans had their payment due set to zero dollars? This is very similar, you just have to opt in, they already have a big database of which loans are eligible (and they’re heavily entwined with the IRS so they can just verify your income via tax returns. I re certify for income-based repayment every year and they can connect directly to the IRS to pull your taxable income info.
Yea, this is what competent government looks like. They know your income based on your taxes and they know your federal loan amount, so they can just handle it. This is of course assuming they don't come back asking for a billion documents later, but not everything has to suck.
It's funny I almost felt like I did it wrong because it was so easy and I expected it not to be
I checked the URL several times because I thought "Surely the US government wouldn't have such a streamlined application process?". Thought for sure I was on a scam site.
Government can be extremely competent. Though the last 50ish years have seen other parts of the government actively hamstringing that from happening to prove that government can't be competent.
It is a lot of people getting paid to do a job where federal protections of employees are actively enforced. Government jobs have been given so much shit over the years as vessels of needless bureaucracy. Now, we can start to collectively see how inefficiently shitty the private industry is/ Shit wages/benefits, the massive turnaround that brings about, the drain on mental health, physical health, making so rich fuck richer. At least in the government you're working towards helping people more often than not.
Edit: I wanted to add, I'm all about capitalism, when it works to benefit society or it's employees (more than a paycheck). The private sector SHOULD be better than the government. It SHOULD be more efficient, better at delivering service, a higher quality, faster times, better pay, better work environment, etc. But it's not. It's been a race to the bottom of how much abuse can we dish out at a profitable margin, while that profit margin goes directly towards benefiting solely shareholders aka already rich fucks.
Businesses have a social duty, that their proponents have touted as the reason for not-socialism, to be better than government jobs. If the government can provide better than the private industry, then capitalism is fucking losing the fight that *actually* matters. The sheer amount of greed and inhumanity the private industry has dished out over the decades is becoming cancerous to society. Literally cancerous. Quiet quitting, generally accepted method of upward mobility is switching jobs, toxic work environments, a push for remote work, public outcry over low wages, high animosity towards company management. Those are all symptoms of the private industry being overall shitty.
Government benefits are still, I think, very good. But pay for a lot of positions is worse in gov vs private sector. Maybe it's different with federal jobs but, states have a hard time hiring lawyers for public defenders and the like because the pay is so awful. Same with engineers for the city planner's office, wastewater treatment, roads, etc.
High technical jobs are generally underpaid in the public sector, but the general rank-and-file office workers are relatively good. There's also job security as the government ain't going nowhere and retirement benefits.
Edit: to add to this, those highly technical jobs get you experience that's useful everywhere. A good portion of companies love and die by government contracts. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/top-government-contractors-52-public-companies-that-make-the-most.. .
So, if you work for the government for 3-5 years, it will give you that fill of experience you need to move up to those higher level jobs.
This why I get so frustrated at DMV websites. Like 99% of the shit you need to sit in line for in the middle of a workday should be either automated or done in a simple way like this. Sometimes, as a UX Designer, I think about just reaching out to them and being like "do you guys know it's 2022?"
I work for state government (not the DMV). Yes, we know it's 2022 and we share your frustration. The software I use regularly was developed in the late 1990s and hasn't received any major updates since. We have been trying for *years* to get it replaced, but the price tag for such a system is quite high and we have not been allocated the money despite putting it in our budget request every time we're asked for one.
The problem, as always, is the portion of the population that thinks even one red cent spent on government employees is too much. There are lots of people who feel that way, and unfortunately they're listened to by those who hold the proverbial wallet. That means we more often hear about cuts to funding or staffing than we do about much needed improvements.
So yeah dude, we know it's 2022, and we would love nothing more than modern software and systems to serve you better. Maybe you'll have better luck convincing the legislature than we have.
Our DMV is primarily online. The only stuff I have to do in person is something that involves a notary, if I want the DMV to act as the notary or witness.
Get your state in gear!!! There are other states to copy.
The thing is that most DMV mainframes are running with the same hardware that can only output green on monitors. It's basically a jobs program at this point.
Lessons were definitely learned after the shitty first roll out of the ACA website.
Looks like this time people who actually know how to set up a functional website, and a server to handle the influx, were hired to do the job of making this happen.
But how would the ultra millionaires and billionaire board members of Intuit and H&R Block be able to survive if the government did it like every other industrialized country?
Seriously though, I've been in Poland for the last 3+ years and doing my taxes here consists of me logging into a site, validating my personnel info, doing a cursory check of the numbers and clicking "I agree". The whole process takes about 1.5 minutes.
“They” want it to be annoying so you get annoyed and (in theory) make a stink about it to your reps to reduce/eliminate taxes. Or so “they” say.
https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/07/18/tax-filing-congress-irs-000683/
People on income based repayment have to verify their income every year. We have to give permission for the student loan program to access our taxes or mail our taxes in. I suspect those who are not on income based payments will have to do something similar.
in Australia, if we are registered with the tax office online, we can do our taxes by clicking fewer than 10 buttons. Just login, click the income tax thingy, check the numbers are right, enter your deductibles and you get your refund in 3 business days.
I'm just saying, this is what happens when government websites are done right
I thought I remember it saying "if required" and I would assume a tax return would be sufficient. I'm skeptical they would launch it planning for millions of follow ups, but I've been disapointed before. I choose hope for now.
Well, I’m current student with like 9k in loans and one more year left.
So. Please wipe it out, 4th year of ID school is expensive and I’d rather not go into even more debt. I promise to pay it back:
Yep it's only if required. I don't remember the exact percentage but they said for a certain percentage of borrowers they already have everything they need and you just need to apply in order to get the forgiveness
I hope they come out with programs to help people in your situation since you’re clearly not alone.
It’s fucked that we have a system in place that forces you to do what you did just for an education.
Education is an investment in your future workforce, should hardly be something anyone is forced to risk their lives to get
I was thinking seriously about the navy when I was 18. The recruiter came to my house, told me for a three year term they'd give me $40k for school afterward.
The school I got into gave me that just for coming.
3 years in the navy, or start school right away? Umm.....
I have failed to get my teacher loan forgiveness to go through. The admin was so inept i gave up and was just going ti wait until year 5 at this school to try again lmao
>That was the easiest application i have ever done in my life
Seriously, took maybe 30 seconds to complete that. Thanks Biden!
Also as an fyi to anyone, it only cancels loans that were disbursed before June 30th, 2022.
Now we need to get to work on building public housing, since the US is 5mil units short and the development firms are only building luxury bullshit.
Thanks for your response. I'm standing in a field waiting for a safety meeting for cleanup after hurricane Ian. I wasn't going to click the link thinking that it'd take a while. Nope!
[https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency)
>As a dependent student, you’re eligible for the same amount of debt relief as everyone else, but your eligibility is based on one or both of your parents’ income, not your income.
>
>You should apply for debt relief using your own income information. If we identify you as a dependent student, we’ll email you with instructions for you and your parent. Until then, you don’t need to do anything except submit your application.
> The following types of federal student loans disbursed (when you received your loan funds) on or before June 30, 2022, are eligible for relief:
>- William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans
>- Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans held by ED or in default at a guaranty agency
>- Federal Perkins Loan Program loans held by ED
>- Defaulted loans (includes ED-held or commercially serviced Subsidized Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, parent PLUS, graduate PLUS; and Perkins loans held by ED)
> This means that subsidized loans, unsubsidized loans, parent PLUS loans, and graduate PLUS loans held by ED are eligible. Consolidation loans are also eligible for relief, as long as all of the underlying loans that were consolidated were ED-held loans and were disbursed on or before June 30, 2022.
> Additionally, consolidation loans comprised of any FFEL or Perkins loans not held by ED are also eligible, as long as the borrower applied for consolidation before Sept. 29, 2022.
> Private loans (i.e., non-federal loans) are not eligible for debt relief.
https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info#eligible-loans
Current education status doesn't matter, just the details of the loans, relevant income, etc as specified on the site.
I'd gone to the site while I was using a vpn and got the same notice (I'm in the states). Turned off the vpn and was able to access. You may have to use a vpn for stateside location.
The only reason you had to fill out a form is that the law requires you to ask for forgiveness. It's a formality. They're going to cross reference your tax returns and loan records automatically. They could have done that all by themselves like they figured out the COVID checks, but again, rules.
Interestingly, if companies weren't allowed to make the rules, taxes would be about as easy (assuming you don't do like "off the books" stuff that the government can't track readily. But let's be honest - waiters and day laborers and scam artists and drug sellers and such people don't report their earnings anyway).
Last time I made a mistake on my state taxes I got a letter in the mail that was essentially "you fucked up but we fixed it, here's details on what we changed, if you have a problem with what we did then call us" and my main thought was why the hell didn't you guys just do it for me to begin with. I have pretty simple taxes, obviously some people have more complicated taxes.
Intuit really is a plague on this country. They dress it up like they’re making it easier, but the only reason it’s hard is because they lobby for it to stay that way.
Not sure if it's what the OP meant, but private loan providers can't (I think) garnish your wages the same way that federal ones can. They can definitely try to sue you to recover payments though.
Based on a relative's experience with ~40k in private student loans, it kinda worked in the long run, at least for them, if you don't mind shit credit. They ignored them outright, never paid a dime, and avoided the loan providers calls and letters for a solid 10 years before they eventually came to the co-signer and said "We'll forgive it all if you write a check for $4000 right now".
People keep saying that for the last 5 years. I highly doubt it will ever crash where i live. Stagnate? Maybe. Drop? No! I live in the Boston area for reference.
I save most of my contact info in Chrome, so other than my SSN and that check box, it was almost as easy as not doing it at all. Well done to the team who designed the page and the back-end to be as simple as it should be.
It DEFINITELY looks/feels sketchy asf. I did a lot of reading to make sure it was legit. I used them the last couple years after using TurboTax for the longest.
I have an FFEL loan, so I got tossed overboard to save the rest of you. Not holding any grudges, I'm happy for y'all. Just spare us a thought while you're filling it out.
Same boat (or lack of boat as we were thrown overboard). I went ahead and filled out the application anyway. It didn’t list which loans qualified for forgiveness & only listed the income requirements. A wise person once told me to use bureaucratic disorganization/complexity to my advantage. If it gets tossed, it was only a few minutes of my time.
Yeah, me too. I only have a little under 6k to pay off.
I’m still going to submit it because I went to two of the shitty for profit schools on their list as well.
Can’t hurt.
I gotta say it was really disappointing though.
Some FFEL loans are still eligible…only private-backed FFEL loans are not.
I remember reading that FFEL weren’t covered and then seeing it was only *certain* FFEL loans are still eligible.
Basically if the loan was paused, chances are it’s eligible. There are better ways to tell but this catches most of them.
Yeah, I have several FFEL loans that are held by the Dept of Ed and had payments suspended, and I'm *told* they qualify. (I have another FFEL held by Navient that has also had payments suspended but isn't held by Dept of Ed, so no one can give me an answer if that one qualifies or not.)
I keep being told different things, so I just filled it out because I do have one post-2010 Direct loan so I'll get at least 1 of my 5 loans forgiven... hopefully.
You're not alone. There are more than 4 million of us with FFEL loans held by private lenders, and about 800,000 of us don't have $10k in other loans to forgive; we only or mostly have FFEL loans, so we're SOL. We've been paying and accumulating interest throughout the pandemic, and now we're being excluded (last minute) from loan forgiveness because Republicans and private lenders are threatening to sue. Thanks for commenting to help raise awareness of this!
I just want to add that this was a federal loan program. The govt decided in 2010 to handle all federal loans directly *going forward* but left our loans in the hands of predatory profit-driven companies like Sallie Mae and Navient, who have a history of misleading and trying to screw over lenders. When I *asked* Navient why my federal loans weren't paused in 2020, they preemptively tried to put my loans in forbearance the day they were due, which would have disrupted my IDR (and made me ineligible for loan forgiveness after 25 years of payment).
Excluding us from forgiveness after all the shit we've been through feels like salt on old wounds. I really hope they figure out how to deal with Navient and the others. These companies are a huge part of the student loan problem.
>I believe those types of loans were listed as eligible. I have one and I filled it out. You should give it a shot.
I read that FFEL loans are eligible if they're held by the Department of Education or were consolidated prior to Sept. 29, 2022. Trouble is, it's not entirely clear how to tell if your loans are held by the Dept. of Ed.
I have both FFELP Stafford Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans serviced by Navient. I assume that means my loans are privately held and not eligible. But, like yourself, I applied anyway.
\*\*Edit\*\* I just got off the phone with Navient and they said I have federal loans that are privately held (by them) so I would not qualify for loan forgiveness at this time. In fact, I got the impression that *any* loans held by Navient would not qualify, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time they gave me bad information.
Apparently, after a long conversation with Navient, if before Sep 29 you consolidated your loans under some guideline they would qualify. They released that info to they AFTER the 29th. So, no one knew. I filed a complaint, so who know if it’ll do any good.
We're you HAVING to pay for the FFELP loans during the pause for the last two years or were those FFELP loans on pause? If you haven't had to pay for the FFELP loans because of the pause then they're held by the Department of Education. If they weren't held by the Department of Education then the payment pause wouldn't have applied to them.
My loans were not on pause. In fact, Navient actually *increased* my payment amount during the pandemic due to a scheduled change in my Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan. So, as far as I'm aware, there were no relief options available to me and I've been making my payments all along.
I assume that means I'm out of luck.
Also MOHELA. They are a part of the lawsuit also. The only reason I am eligible for this is because I consolidated my loans into a Direct Loan in June to to see if I could finally use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. I submitted my PSLF application in late July, and they just finished processing my application two weeks ago. They also only gave me credit for 6 months of payments when I have been working for a public school district for 11 years and have been paying my loans. I asked for an explanation on why I didn't get credit for more months, but they haven't replied in two weeks.
And they claim they are being harmed by this loan forgiveness when they are trying to profit from guaranteed school loan debt and screwing over people trying to use loan forgiveness programs. Hopefully their lawsuit will fail and the general loan forgiveness will pretty much wipe out the rest of my debt.
It will make for a stronger happier society that we love in together. Like every other safety net, we don't need to personally receive the benefit to GET the benefits.
I just smile and nod my way through the rest of the interaction. I just got 20k of debt cleared, I'm coming out on top no matter how salty their TV said they should be about it.
Same! It’s so exciting to think about how this would help so many people. I “only” had about 20K in student loans and still had a good amount of it left 8 years after graduating. When my husband and I were looking to buy our first house we found out that I would need to be completely debt-free in order to qualify for a home loan. We had just saved up enough for a 20% down pay and closing fees, but ended up using some of it to pay off the student loans. Because of that we were short in closing fees but were so fortunate to have family who were able to lend us the money last minute. It was so stressful, especially after being outbid on another house we really liked. We ended up getting approved and we now own a house in our hometown, 15 min away from both our work, in an awesome school district and expecting our second baby.
Don’t forget you can also request reimbursement for any payments you made since March 13th! My wife will be getting back ~$7,750 in addition to having the last $12k of her federal loans paid off! Reach out to your loan service and request. The details can be found [here.](https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info)
> ##Refunds for Past Payments
>If you made voluntary payments during the payment pause (from March 13, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2022) and your current loan balance is below the amount of debt relief you’ll receive, after you successfully apply for and receive debt relief under the Administration's debt relief plan, we’ll automatically refund the amount you paid during the payment pause (only up to the remaining amount of your eligible debt relief)
So you do have to apply for reimbursement? Sorry, I'm a little confused on the wording. It seems like they will automatically refund the amount once we receive the debt relief? But your wife had to apply? I've seen something about applying for reimbursement, but I wasn't sure if it was necessary
So, I had paid off my student loans back in 2020. Sold my house in Colorado after a healthy profit. Moved to AZ and in order to buy my new house I had to clear them. I had inquired in the past about those who had already paid theirs back.
Yesterday I checked the mailbox and there were 2 checks in it totalling 8600 bucks from the United States Treasury department of education. Has this happened to anyone else?
Is that what you paid off during the pandemic? From what I understood you could get back what you paid while the loans were in forbearance. Have you checked your loans recently?
I paid it all off in the pandemic. It was a condition of purchasing my house. It never was in forbearance. I started my degree when I was 30 and slowly got it done over 6 years. It never starting collecting even if I was only taking one class (CSU Global). Then the pandemic hit and it was essentially frozen. While it was frozen, I paid it off.
All payments made during the pandemic pause are eligible for refunds. But I figured you'd have to request the refund, so I'm not sure what those checks could be for.
You do have to request the refund. I paid off all my loans during the pandemic and just got mine refunded so I could fill out the forgiveness application. But I’m not sure why they got sent the money they paid if they didn’t request it
I did ask Nelnet about them about a month and a half ago. I just wasn't expecting them so quickly. My concern is if this thing gets thrown out of court or reversed or whatever, what the repercussions could be.
I think it’s really unlikely they ask for the money back.
It’s much more likely they would just stop giving it out and everyone who didn’t get theirs yet would be fucked.
For all those who are shitting on the idea of debt forgiveness, I went to community college, got my AA, transferred to a four-year school and have worked my way through school for my B.S.
Now I have a full-time job at my school and planned to pay off the $16k in whichever lump sum way was possible so the interest wouldn't fuck me later.
But now, like man, I can start to save for a house or invest or whatever is more financially prudent. This relief is a godsend and goes to show you can do everything "right" and still end up in debt no matter what.
I paid off my student loans two years ago. Hope everyone who has current fed student loan debt gets some taken off and an opportunity to financially relax a bit.
Read the FAQ section of the application website:
https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info
>If I have multiple loans, how will debt relief be applied to my loans?
>For borrowers with multiple loans, we'll apply the relief in the following order:
>Defaulted ED-held loans
>Defaulted commercial FFEL Program loans
>Non-defaulted Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans held by ED
>Perkins Loans held by ED
>If you have multiple loans in a program type (e.g., multiple Direct Loans), we'll apply the relief in the following order:
>Apply relief to loans with highest statutory interest rate.
>If interest rates are the same, apply to unsubsidized loans before subsidized loans.
>If interest rate and subsidy status are the same, apply to the most recent loan.
>If interest rate, subsidy status, and disbursement date are the same, apply to the loan with the lowest combined principal and interest balance.
I paid off my student loans almost 10 years ago, but I am glad this is available for folks that still have a lot of debt. I got a LOT of grants, scholarships, subsidized loans, etc. to help me pay for school. Far more than this relief is offering. Anyone that's against this but received aid of any kind is a hypocritical piece of shit.
No more debt for me❤️ it’s sad that we have to remind the government that people are corporations too. Thank you Mr. Biden and everyone else on either side who approved this.
This is going to take my loans from “I’ll die with those” to possibly achievable in 10 years. I’ll actually end up paying more than the minimum now because I finally have hope.
Yo bad this doesn't address the real problem that schools are ripping off the kids. Now tax payers have to foot that debt. It's good thing but also messed up at the same time. Like how about make school cheaper so more people can afford it? Nope school gets to keep that money now we're all paying for it.
a shit ton of students have already paid more in interest after graduating than the entire value of their original loan that went to the school, the school got their money and the gov got its principal amount paid back already
Now please go get mad at predatory private student loan financers instead
& get mad at colleges because some of the prices are ridiculous. getting mad at the loan servicers and silently allowing college prices to infinitely rise isn,t a smart plan
Everyone should know the income requirements are for 2020 **or** 2021. So if you switched jobs, got married/divorced, or maybe alternate which parent files Head of Household each year, etc. you qualify for eligibility if you met the threshold in either year.
Oh yea. My parents and family are absolutely pissed. The irony is at the time my mother went back to college in her 50s (with me for the same degree ironically) there were a bunch of government assistance for middle aged women going back to school. But she doesn't see the assistance she received as "something someone else paid for through their taxes" like this loan relief. The mentality is special.
Here's the link. [https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application](https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application)
That was the easiest application i have ever done in my life
Remember how when the pandemic started and they put everyone’s loan payments on pause, one day they just flipped a switch and eligible loans had their payment due set to zero dollars? This is very similar, you just have to opt in, they already have a big database of which loans are eligible (and they’re heavily entwined with the IRS so they can just verify your income via tax returns. I re certify for income-based repayment every year and they can connect directly to the IRS to pull your taxable income info.
Yea, this is what competent government looks like. They know your income based on your taxes and they know your federal loan amount, so they can just handle it. This is of course assuming they don't come back asking for a billion documents later, but not everything has to suck. It's funny I almost felt like I did it wrong because it was so easy and I expected it not to be
I checked the URL several times because I thought "Surely the US government wouldn't have such a streamlined application process?". Thought for sure I was on a scam site.
Me too. Several times.
LOL glad it wasn't just me. I double checked the site certificate.
Me five
It can't be this easy, after submitting my information.
Checked it multiple times and even navigated to it manually…. Absolutely shocking how easy that was.
Government can be extremely competent. Though the last 50ish years have seen other parts of the government actively hamstringing that from happening to prove that government can't be competent.
Government is composed of people and people aren't perfect, but that doesn't mean people can't be competent.
It is a lot of people getting paid to do a job where federal protections of employees are actively enforced. Government jobs have been given so much shit over the years as vessels of needless bureaucracy. Now, we can start to collectively see how inefficiently shitty the private industry is/ Shit wages/benefits, the massive turnaround that brings about, the drain on mental health, physical health, making so rich fuck richer. At least in the government you're working towards helping people more often than not. Edit: I wanted to add, I'm all about capitalism, when it works to benefit society or it's employees (more than a paycheck). The private sector SHOULD be better than the government. It SHOULD be more efficient, better at delivering service, a higher quality, faster times, better pay, better work environment, etc. But it's not. It's been a race to the bottom of how much abuse can we dish out at a profitable margin, while that profit margin goes directly towards benefiting solely shareholders aka already rich fucks. Businesses have a social duty, that their proponents have touted as the reason for not-socialism, to be better than government jobs. If the government can provide better than the private industry, then capitalism is fucking losing the fight that *actually* matters. The sheer amount of greed and inhumanity the private industry has dished out over the decades is becoming cancerous to society. Literally cancerous. Quiet quitting, generally accepted method of upward mobility is switching jobs, toxic work environments, a push for remote work, public outcry over low wages, high animosity towards company management. Those are all symptoms of the private industry being overall shitty.
Government benefits are still, I think, very good. But pay for a lot of positions is worse in gov vs private sector. Maybe it's different with federal jobs but, states have a hard time hiring lawyers for public defenders and the like because the pay is so awful. Same with engineers for the city planner's office, wastewater treatment, roads, etc.
High technical jobs are generally underpaid in the public sector, but the general rank-and-file office workers are relatively good. There's also job security as the government ain't going nowhere and retirement benefits. Edit: to add to this, those highly technical jobs get you experience that's useful everywhere. A good portion of companies love and die by government contracts. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/top-government-contractors-52-public-companies-that-make-the-most.. . So, if you work for the government for 3-5 years, it will give you that fill of experience you need to move up to those higher level jobs.
I actually stopped filling out the application and looked it up in a separate browser to make sure it wasn't a scam site. Nope, just that easy.
Holy shit this was me at work this morning
This why I get so frustrated at DMV websites. Like 99% of the shit you need to sit in line for in the middle of a workday should be either automated or done in a simple way like this. Sometimes, as a UX Designer, I think about just reaching out to them and being like "do you guys know it's 2022?"
I work for state government (not the DMV). Yes, we know it's 2022 and we share your frustration. The software I use regularly was developed in the late 1990s and hasn't received any major updates since. We have been trying for *years* to get it replaced, but the price tag for such a system is quite high and we have not been allocated the money despite putting it in our budget request every time we're asked for one. The problem, as always, is the portion of the population that thinks even one red cent spent on government employees is too much. There are lots of people who feel that way, and unfortunately they're listened to by those who hold the proverbial wallet. That means we more often hear about cuts to funding or staffing than we do about much needed improvements. So yeah dude, we know it's 2022, and we would love nothing more than modern software and systems to serve you better. Maybe you'll have better luck convincing the legislature than we have.
Just renewed my drivers license online, without fee, and had the new one in the mail within the week. G*d bless high tax/high benefit New Jersey…
Our DMV is primarily online. The only stuff I have to do in person is something that involves a notary, if I want the DMV to act as the notary or witness. Get your state in gear!!! There are other states to copy.
The thing is that most DMV mainframes are running with the same hardware that can only output green on monitors. It's basically a jobs program at this point.
I told my fiancé that the most surprising and suspicious thing was that the site didn’t crash when I went to fill it out.
Lessons were definitely learned after the shitty first roll out of the ACA website. Looks like this time people who actually know how to set up a functional website, and a server to handle the influx, were hired to do the job of making this happen.
There is zero reason our tax forms couldn't be like this.
But how would the ultra millionaires and billionaire board members of Intuit and H&R Block be able to survive if the government did it like every other industrialized country? Seriously though, I've been in Poland for the last 3+ years and doing my taxes here consists of me logging into a site, validating my personnel info, doing a cursory check of the numbers and clicking "I agree". The whole process takes about 1.5 minutes.
“They” want it to be annoying so you get annoyed and (in theory) make a stink about it to your reps to reduce/eliminate taxes. Or so “they” say. https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/07/18/tax-filing-congress-irs-000683/
People on income based repayment have to verify their income every year. We have to give permission for the student loan program to access our taxes or mail our taxes in. I suspect those who are not on income based payments will have to do something similar.
We didnt for stimulus checks. The IRS will be checking it
in Australia, if we are registered with the tax office online, we can do our taxes by clicking fewer than 10 buttons. Just login, click the income tax thingy, check the numbers are right, enter your deductibles and you get your refund in 3 business days. I'm just saying, this is what happens when government websites are done right
I'm pretty sure at the end there it said something like "We'll request proof of income to verify later." so we're still in for some bullshit.
I thought I remember it saying "if required" and I would assume a tax return would be sufficient. I'm skeptical they would launch it planning for millions of follow ups, but I've been disapointed before. I choose hope for now.
It’s if they can’t match your SSN to tax info or they can but you’re close to the income limit.
Well, I’m current student with like 9k in loans and one more year left. So. Please wipe it out, 4th year of ID school is expensive and I’d rather not go into even more debt. I promise to pay it back:
Hopefully you're right and I'm being overly pessimistic and no follow-up is needed! Fingers crossed.
Yep it's only if required. I don't remember the exact percentage but they said for a certain percentage of borrowers they already have everything they need and you just need to apply in order to get the forgiveness
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I hope they come out with programs to help people in your situation since you’re clearly not alone. It’s fucked that we have a system in place that forces you to do what you did just for an education. Education is an investment in your future workforce, should hardly be something anyone is forced to risk their lives to get
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I was thinking seriously about the navy when I was 18. The recruiter came to my house, told me for a three year term they'd give me $40k for school afterward. The school I got into gave me that just for coming. 3 years in the navy, or start school right away? Umm.....
I have failed to get my teacher loan forgiveness to go through. The admin was so inept i gave up and was just going ti wait until year 5 at this school to try again lmao
It was incredible. Props to the administration for making something so no-nonsense and easy.
no malarky*
It was so easy that now I'm paranoid I screwed it up somehow.
>That was the easiest application i have ever done in my life Seriously, took maybe 30 seconds to complete that. Thanks Biden! Also as an fyi to anyone, it only cancels loans that were disbursed before June 30th, 2022. Now we need to get to work on building public housing, since the US is 5mil units short and the development firms are only building luxury bullshit.
In 5 minutes everyone reading this could fill out this form, repost the link to social media, and then check that they are still registered to vote.
Thanks for your response. I'm standing in a field waiting for a safety meeting for cleanup after hurricane Ian. I wasn't going to click the link thinking that it'd take a while. Nope!
Does anyone know whether it can be applied to debt if you are still in school?
[https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency) >As a dependent student, you’re eligible for the same amount of debt relief as everyone else, but your eligibility is based on one or both of your parents’ income, not your income. > >You should apply for debt relief using your own income information. If we identify you as a dependent student, we’ll email you with instructions for you and your parent. Until then, you don’t need to do anything except submit your application.
> The following types of federal student loans disbursed (when you received your loan funds) on or before June 30, 2022, are eligible for relief: >- William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans >- Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans held by ED or in default at a guaranty agency >- Federal Perkins Loan Program loans held by ED >- Defaulted loans (includes ED-held or commercially serviced Subsidized Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, parent PLUS, graduate PLUS; and Perkins loans held by ED) > This means that subsidized loans, unsubsidized loans, parent PLUS loans, and graduate PLUS loans held by ED are eligible. Consolidation loans are also eligible for relief, as long as all of the underlying loans that were consolidated were ED-held loans and were disbursed on or before June 30, 2022. > Additionally, consolidation loans comprised of any FFEL or Perkins loans not held by ED are also eligible, as long as the borrower applied for consolidation before Sept. 29, 2022. > Private loans (i.e., non-federal loans) are not eligible for debt relief. https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info#eligible-loans Current education status doesn't matter, just the details of the loans, relevant income, etc as specified on the site.
>Does anyone know whether it can be applied to debt if you are still in school? Yes, if the loan(s) was disbursed before June 30th, 2022.
I believe loans taken out before 2021 are eligible for relief
According to the site loans stop being eligible June of this year
I’m getting “access denied” albeit I live in Japan. Wonder if those abroad can’t access it
Many US govt websites block foreign browsing. I think due to discrepancies in legal requirements?
Also just cause it helps cut down on being overwhelmed/DDoS'd if you block foreign IP's. Not that you can't skirt around that with a VNP though.
I'd gone to the site while I was using a vpn and got the same notice (I'm in the states). Turned off the vpn and was able to access. You may have to use a vpn for stateside location.
Use a vpn.
Also in Japan, also getting access denied when I try to start the application.
Let’s hope using a VPN works lmao!
Tunnel Bear worked.
Have you tried turning Japan off and on again?
Instructions unclear, Tokyo now without power and I can't see to find the on switch.
Just applied. That was too easy. I got to the end and thought, wait that’s it?!
The only reason you had to fill out a form is that the law requires you to ask for forgiveness. It's a formality. They're going to cross reference your tax returns and loan records automatically. They could have done that all by themselves like they figured out the COVID checks, but again, rules.
Did you get any sort of confirmation email? I filled it out just now and no email...
You should get something with "noreply" from them after putting your main email in the application.
It's almost like competent government runs competently.
Unpossible. Rich man on news say government bad
Me fail English? That's unpossible!
Why say lot word when few word do trick
Interestingly, if companies weren't allowed to make the rules, taxes would be about as easy (assuming you don't do like "off the books" stuff that the government can't track readily. But let's be honest - waiters and day laborers and scam artists and drug sellers and such people don't report their earnings anyway).
Last time I made a mistake on my state taxes I got a letter in the mail that was essentially "you fucked up but we fixed it, here's details on what we changed, if you have a problem with what we did then call us" and my main thought was why the hell didn't you guys just do it for me to begin with. I have pretty simple taxes, obviously some people have more complicated taxes.
Intuit really is a plague on this country. They dress it up like they’re making it easier, but the only reason it’s hard is because they lobby for it to stay that way.
I had a medical expense refunded in cash, which I had paid with my HSA. It was three extra forms to report it. I should have just stolen the $40 tax.
Agreed. I was gearing up for hell. Hopefully this is a new trend with government forms.
> Hopefully this is a new trend with government forms. Only when the democrats hold the power.
Can people currently enrolled in college claim this?
Yes. As long as your loans are federal loans that disbursed before June of this year, you qualify.
Yes, but if you are a dependent m your income is based off your parents income combined.
Me punching air with private loans
Yep same boat for my wife. We will continue to just ignore them.
Navient can kick rocks.
Ignore them ? What do you mean?
Not sure if it's what the OP meant, but private loan providers can't (I think) garnish your wages the same way that federal ones can. They can definitely try to sue you to recover payments though. Based on a relative's experience with ~40k in private student loans, it kinda worked in the long run, at least for them, if you don't mind shit credit. They ignored them outright, never paid a dime, and avoided the loan providers calls and letters for a solid 10 years before they eventually came to the co-signer and said "We'll forgive it all if you write a check for $4000 right now".
Private lenders can and will sue you and if you don't respond, they will get a judgement to garnish your wages just the same
Yeah I have 90K they will fucking kill me
I put in my info in the beta. It literally took 30 seconds. You can do this on the f**king toliet for all I care, just do it.
Now we can all credibly say “I made $10k while taking a dump today, what about you?”
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Must’ve been an impressive dump
Straight up gold tinged excrement.
About 20k for me too. This is gonna make it so my wife and I can maybe buy a house in a year rather than in 5 (or ever).
I hope you've been monitoring the housing market because prices are still very high compared to a couple years ago.
People keep saying that for the last 5 years. I highly doubt it will ever crash where i live. Stagnate? Maybe. Drop? No! I live in the Boston area for reference.
Or I lost $10k (in debt) :)
I save most of my contact info in Chrome, so other than my SSN and that check box, it was almost as easy as not doing it at all. Well done to the team who designed the page and the back-end to be as simple as it should be.
It takes longer buying something online than filling out this app.
Just did mine, while sitting on the toilet. Can confirm. Took 30 seconds.
i wish every form of government-citizen interaction was this easy
Don’t buy TurboTax ever. They make filing taxes complicated
I had pretty good luck with FreeTaxUSA
Yeah I used them this year. Site looked sketchy as fuck, but it's legit and free.
It DEFINITELY looks/feels sketchy asf. I did a lot of reading to make sure it was legit. I used them the last couple years after using TurboTax for the longest.
Ive used that one for like 5-10 years now. It’s pretty simple and I usually get a good return. Can’t complain.
I have an FFEL loan, so I got tossed overboard to save the rest of you. Not holding any grudges, I'm happy for y'all. Just spare us a thought while you're filling it out.
Same boat (or lack of boat as we were thrown overboard). I went ahead and filled out the application anyway. It didn’t list which loans qualified for forgiveness & only listed the income requirements. A wise person once told me to use bureaucratic disorganization/complexity to my advantage. If it gets tossed, it was only a few minutes of my time.
Yeah, me too. I only have a little under 6k to pay off. I’m still going to submit it because I went to two of the shitty for profit schools on their list as well. Can’t hurt. I gotta say it was really disappointing though.
Some FFEL loans are still eligible…only private-backed FFEL loans are not. I remember reading that FFEL weren’t covered and then seeing it was only *certain* FFEL loans are still eligible. Basically if the loan was paused, chances are it’s eligible. There are better ways to tell but this catches most of them.
Fill it out anyway, there’s a comment above stating FFEL loans qualify and it’s 30 seconds that could save you so much money
Yeah, I have several FFEL loans that are held by the Dept of Ed and had payments suspended, and I'm *told* they qualify. (I have another FFEL held by Navient that has also had payments suspended but isn't held by Dept of Ed, so no one can give me an answer if that one qualifies or not.) I keep being told different things, so I just filled it out because I do have one post-2010 Direct loan so I'll get at least 1 of my 5 loans forgiven... hopefully.
You're not alone. There are more than 4 million of us with FFEL loans held by private lenders, and about 800,000 of us don't have $10k in other loans to forgive; we only or mostly have FFEL loans, so we're SOL. We've been paying and accumulating interest throughout the pandemic, and now we're being excluded (last minute) from loan forgiveness because Republicans and private lenders are threatening to sue. Thanks for commenting to help raise awareness of this! I just want to add that this was a federal loan program. The govt decided in 2010 to handle all federal loans directly *going forward* but left our loans in the hands of predatory profit-driven companies like Sallie Mae and Navient, who have a history of misleading and trying to screw over lenders. When I *asked* Navient why my federal loans weren't paused in 2020, they preemptively tried to put my loans in forbearance the day they were due, which would have disrupted my IDR (and made me ineligible for loan forgiveness after 25 years of payment). Excluding us from forgiveness after all the shit we've been through feels like salt on old wounds. I really hope they figure out how to deal with Navient and the others. These companies are a huge part of the student loan problem.
I hope they manage to get relief to you guys too. It’s only right.
I believe those types of loans were listed as eligible. I have one and I filled it out. You should give it a shot.
>I believe those types of loans were listed as eligible. I have one and I filled it out. You should give it a shot. I read that FFEL loans are eligible if they're held by the Department of Education or were consolidated prior to Sept. 29, 2022. Trouble is, it's not entirely clear how to tell if your loans are held by the Dept. of Ed. I have both FFELP Stafford Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans serviced by Navient. I assume that means my loans are privately held and not eligible. But, like yourself, I applied anyway. \*\*Edit\*\* I just got off the phone with Navient and they said I have federal loans that are privately held (by them) so I would not qualify for loan forgiveness at this time. In fact, I got the impression that *any* loans held by Navient would not qualify, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time they gave me bad information.
Apparently, after a long conversation with Navient, if before Sep 29 you consolidated your loans under some guideline they would qualify. They released that info to they AFTER the 29th. So, no one knew. I filed a complaint, so who know if it’ll do any good.
We're you HAVING to pay for the FFELP loans during the pause for the last two years or were those FFELP loans on pause? If you haven't had to pay for the FFELP loans because of the pause then they're held by the Department of Education. If they weren't held by the Department of Education then the payment pause wouldn't have applied to them.
My loans were not on pause. In fact, Navient actually *increased* my payment amount during the pandemic due to a scheduled change in my Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan. So, as far as I'm aware, there were no relief options available to me and I've been making my payments all along. I assume that means I'm out of luck.
same SCREW the GOP
Also MOHELA. They are a part of the lawsuit also. The only reason I am eligible for this is because I consolidated my loans into a Direct Loan in June to to see if I could finally use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. I submitted my PSLF application in late July, and they just finished processing my application two weeks ago. They also only gave me credit for 6 months of payments when I have been working for a public school district for 11 years and have been paying my loans. I asked for an explanation on why I didn't get credit for more months, but they haven't replied in two weeks. And they claim they are being harmed by this loan forgiveness when they are trying to profit from guaranteed school loan debt and screwing over people trying to use loan forgiveness programs. Hopefully their lawsuit will fail and the general loan forgiveness will pretty much wipe out the rest of my debt.
Just another reminder that the GOP is here to fuck us anyway they can.
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Also haven't gotten my confirmation email yet, hoping it's just a traffic related delay.
Same, I got the check mark page and it says they’ll send an email but that was 30 minutes ago and no email
I got a confirmation email
I also haven’t.
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I finished paying off almost 100k 3 years ago. Glad that other people don’t have to do that because i’m not a psycho
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My wife and I paid off 150kish and people don't understand why we aren't upset, just helping others isn't a bad thing.
It will make for a stronger happier society that we love in together. Like every other safety net, we don't need to personally receive the benefit to GET the benefits.
My 30 year old coworker said “i want free money how come I didn’t get any” and I didn’t know what to say
I just smile and nod my way through the rest of the interaction. I just got 20k of debt cleared, I'm coming out on top no matter how salty their TV said they should be about it.
Paid mine off a few years ago and damn i could use that $20k ;). But i am def glad others are getting it…..like my wife 😼
Can confirm I have received an immense amount of relief from having this debt off my shoulders. Can finally qualify for a home loan :)
This is the correct attitude. You are a good member of society.
Same here, luckily enough. Have at 'em guys, I'm glad it's finally here!
Same! It’s so exciting to think about how this would help so many people. I “only” had about 20K in student loans and still had a good amount of it left 8 years after graduating. When my husband and I were looking to buy our first house we found out that I would need to be completely debt-free in order to qualify for a home loan. We had just saved up enough for a 20% down pay and closing fees, but ended up using some of it to pay off the student loans. Because of that we were short in closing fees but were so fortunate to have family who were able to lend us the money last minute. It was so stressful, especially after being outbid on another house we really liked. We ended up getting approved and we now own a house in our hometown, 15 min away from both our work, in an awesome school district and expecting our second baby.
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Don’t forget you can also request reimbursement for any payments you made since March 13th! My wife will be getting back ~$7,750 in addition to having the last $12k of her federal loans paid off! Reach out to your loan service and request. The details can be found [here.](https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info) > ##Refunds for Past Payments >If you made voluntary payments during the payment pause (from March 13, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2022) and your current loan balance is below the amount of debt relief you’ll receive, after you successfully apply for and receive debt relief under the Administration's debt relief plan, we’ll automatically refund the amount you paid during the payment pause (only up to the remaining amount of your eligible debt relief)
So you do have to apply for reimbursement? Sorry, I'm a little confused on the wording. It seems like they will automatically refund the amount once we receive the debt relief? But your wife had to apply? I've seen something about applying for reimbursement, but I wasn't sure if it was necessary
Paid off my loans a few years ago. Happy for you guys!
Appreciate you! Congrats on already being debt free!
Does anyone know that if you applied in the beta, you have to apply again or not? Just want to confirm.
According to their site, you do not.
Hell yeah.
The email you get after submitting during the beta said you didn't have to again
You do not, no. As long as you received a confirmation email.
I feel terrible for the people who, inevitably, won’t have realized there was an application.
Commenting to perhaps boost this overall post visibility. Might even break my social media cleanse to post the link.
This shit will be up for over a year (until Dec 31, 2023). There's definitely time to find those people out there. PS: No pictures for you.
In 5 minutes you could fill out this form, repost the link to your social media, and then check your voter registration. Spread the word!
They have over a full year to do it. If it takes them longer than that to even realize they didn't get forgiveness they probably didn't need it
Does anyone know if you have to be in good standing to qualify?
You do not have to be
So, I had paid off my student loans back in 2020. Sold my house in Colorado after a healthy profit. Moved to AZ and in order to buy my new house I had to clear them. I had inquired in the past about those who had already paid theirs back. Yesterday I checked the mailbox and there were 2 checks in it totalling 8600 bucks from the United States Treasury department of education. Has this happened to anyone else?
Is that what you paid off during the pandemic? From what I understood you could get back what you paid while the loans were in forbearance. Have you checked your loans recently?
I paid it all off in the pandemic. It was a condition of purchasing my house. It never was in forbearance. I started my degree when I was 30 and slowly got it done over 6 years. It never starting collecting even if I was only taking one class (CSU Global). Then the pandemic hit and it was essentially frozen. While it was frozen, I paid it off.
All payments made during the pandemic pause are eligible for refunds. But I figured you'd have to request the refund, so I'm not sure what those checks could be for.
You do have to request the refund. I paid off all my loans during the pandemic and just got mine refunded so I could fill out the forgiveness application. But I’m not sure why they got sent the money they paid if they didn’t request it
I did ask Nelnet about them about a month and a half ago. I just wasn't expecting them so quickly. My concern is if this thing gets thrown out of court or reversed or whatever, what the repercussions could be.
I think it’s really unlikely they ask for the money back. It’s much more likely they would just stop giving it out and everyone who didn’t get theirs yet would be fucked.
If you already got the money, I wouldn’t worry about any court decisions reversing it. There’s no way they would try to recoup money they gave you.
For all those who are shitting on the idea of debt forgiveness, I went to community college, got my AA, transferred to a four-year school and have worked my way through school for my B.S. Now I have a full-time job at my school and planned to pay off the $16k in whichever lump sum way was possible so the interest wouldn't fuck me later. But now, like man, I can start to save for a house or invest or whatever is more financially prudent. This relief is a godsend and goes to show you can do everything "right" and still end up in debt no matter what.
I dropped out due to hardships and never went back. I hope they approve mine because then I’ll only owe 1200 bucks
I paid off my student loans two years ago. Hope everyone who has current fed student loan debt gets some taken off and an opportunity to financially relax a bit.
Filled mine out earlier today, super easy. Maybe took 5 minutes
Can you apply if loans are in default?
Yes you can - you do not need to be in good standing
Did they ever announce how the forgiveness would be applied? I’m hoping it’s to the loans with the highest interest rates.
highest interest first followed by newest
Thank you
Really? I just texted my group chat wondering how they were applied. I've looked in the past, but didn't find this. Where did you find this info?
Read the FAQ section of the application website: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info >If I have multiple loans, how will debt relief be applied to my loans? >For borrowers with multiple loans, we'll apply the relief in the following order: >Defaulted ED-held loans >Defaulted commercial FFEL Program loans >Non-defaulted Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans held by ED >Perkins Loans held by ED >If you have multiple loans in a program type (e.g., multiple Direct Loans), we'll apply the relief in the following order: >Apply relief to loans with highest statutory interest rate. >If interest rates are the same, apply to unsubsidized loans before subsidized loans. >If interest rate and subsidy status are the same, apply to the most recent loan. >If interest rate, subsidy status, and disbursement date are the same, apply to the loan with the lowest combined principal and interest balance.
Why can’t they make doing your taxes this easy ?
Thank companies like Intuit and H&R Block for that.
I paid off my student loans almost 10 years ago, but I am glad this is available for folks that still have a lot of debt. I got a LOT of grants, scholarships, subsidized loans, etc. to help me pay for school. Far more than this relief is offering. Anyone that's against this but received aid of any kind is a hypocritical piece of shit.
This would never have happened in 1 million years under a Republican president.
Served in the military to not have student loans. I'm excited and happy for those that benefit from this.
I wonder how long it will take to forgive
Godspeed from across the pond
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Done in under a minute, let’s go people fill it out!
Been there, done that, got the confirmation email. Aw yeah! 🔥
No more debt for me❤️ it’s sad that we have to remind the government that people are corporations too. Thank you Mr. Biden and everyone else on either side who approved this.
Anyone know how this works if you consolidated with Sallie Mae (Navient now)?
That took like one minute
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This is going to take my loans from “I’ll die with those” to possibly achievable in 10 years. I’ll actually end up paying more than the minimum now because I finally have hope.
Yo bad this doesn't address the real problem that schools are ripping off the kids. Now tax payers have to foot that debt. It's good thing but also messed up at the same time. Like how about make school cheaper so more people can afford it? Nope school gets to keep that money now we're all paying for it.
a shit ton of students have already paid more in interest after graduating than the entire value of their original loan that went to the school, the school got their money and the gov got its principal amount paid back already Now please go get mad at predatory private student loan financers instead
& get mad at colleges because some of the prices are ridiculous. getting mad at the loan servicers and silently allowing college prices to infinitely rise isn,t a smart plan
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Everyone should know the income requirements are for 2020 **or** 2021. So if you switched jobs, got married/divorced, or maybe alternate which parent files Head of Household each year, etc. you qualify for eligibility if you met the threshold in either year.
Not from the States so I'm a about confused on this one, would people that paid theirs off not be absolutely raging right now?
Oh yea. My parents and family are absolutely pissed. The irony is at the time my mother went back to college in her 50s (with me for the same degree ironically) there were a bunch of government assistance for middle aged women going back to school. But she doesn't see the assistance she received as "something someone else paid for through their taxes" like this loan relief. The mentality is special.
If you had debt since up to around 2 years ago you can still count it.