Since I was in default on my student loans, I had to choose Income Contingent Repayment. While they were figuring out my taxes for 2003, I was down to $150/mo for my student loans. Now that they got a hold of my taxes, they upped my payment s to $375/month. My last years income ($43000) is based mostly on commission. I would feel comfortable with $200/mo. Has anyone had success with negotiationg with Direct Loans?
Same thing happened to me. I opted to get on gradual payments. So for the first 2 years I pay 200, next 3 300 and so on. Also you can always switch it or try to get them refinanced at a lower interest rate. Which is what I'm trying to do now.
When I first consolidated, I had to pay interest only payments until they processed the IRS paperwork. My payments were over 10 times larger than what my eventual IC plan payment worked out to be. It took almost 5 months until they finished the IC plan paperwork and my actual payment was straightened out. Are you sure that the 375.00 is your actual payment and not interest only payments? There is a payment calculator on the WF web site I believe that gives you a fairly close estimate on what your payments may be. Also, if you have already filed your 03 return and your income is significantly lower than last year, you may be able to have your payments adjusted. It may take some time and a few phone calls. You may also be eligible for a forbearance if you are unable to make the payments now. Also, you may be able to switch to a different plan now that you are in re-payment. Here is info straight from WF site. "Borrowers have flexible repayment options. There are four repayment plans in the Direct Loan Program: Standard, Extended, Graduated, and Income Contingent. Students can change options when they need to without a fee at any time during the life of the loan. Visit the Direct Loan Servicing Site to learn more about these options" I would try using the calculator here and see what plan works best for you. You can spread payments up to 360 months (30 years)! http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/RepayCalc/dlentry2.html 3day
I spoke to William Ford today. The payment is based on interest and principal for a 12 year term. They told me that after 3 monthly ontime payments at my ICR rate of $375, I can then choose the graduated ($172), Extended ($229), and Standard ($440) a month. Although the interest rate is locked at 4.25 the life of the loan varies obviously by the type of repayment I make. I also received a flyer the same day, coincidently, from Reliant Partners LLC offering me a better rate of 3% With their level plan at $226 or their graduated plan starting at $150 and gradually increasing to $230. Since it is still a Federal Guaranteed loan, I still have my borrowers rights and all that goo gaah intact. In the fine print, they stated that I met initial criteria via Experian. I guess they looked at Experian to find who had student loans. They were able to pull up my loan amount in real time. No pressure sale he even offered for me to apply online or wait for the application in the mail.
