Military VETS are being unfairly denied for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

I heard from a client today who attended one of our student loan seminars recently.  Many of her colleagues in the military recently submitted their PSLF applications and are now starting to get back denials.  Despite completing the ten years of payments while working full time for Uncle Sam, PSLF relief is being denied due to what amounts to loopholes.  The most common reasons are they have the wrong loan types or wrong payment plans.  So as I thought, many people still don’t know they have a problem!

Kathy wrote:

• I cannot THANK YOU both enough for all the help and guidance getting my loans back on track for future forgiveness.  It’s a huge weight lifted knowing that now I have an end date to look forward to!! 🙂  I will absolutely write a review for you and have been talking you up to my fellow vets in the same position as me.  Quite a few of them recently tried to submit for loan forgiveness after 10 years of public service only to realize the same thing I did after your talk, Christie – that they did not have the correct loan type to do so.  I hope they reach out and utilize your expertise.

We were interviewed by ABC Action News this week about a new GAO report about the PSLF.  In that report, only 55 borrowers were approved.  Fifty-five out of over a million thus far who have submitted PSLF certifications.  This story will likely air in December.

Our class actions against Great Lakes and Navient to try to correct this nationwide problem are moving along nicely.  This effort will take years still, but hopefully student loan borrowers across the nation will obtain damages for their lost years.  Servicers who misrepresent the status of their student loans should be held accountable.  People have relied upon these programs in making career and other life decisions.

If you have a FFEL loan or a FFEL Consolidation Loan — please note, these DO NOT qualify for public service loan forgiveness.  Despite whatever your servicer tells you!  Second, make sure you are in a PSLF eligible payment plan – IBR, Repaye, ICR – all of these are eligible for public service loan forgiveness.  Reach out to someone knowledgeable who is on your side to make sure you are doing the right things to qualify.  Above all, remember the servicers are nothing more than debt collectors!