In a major change of policy, the Obama administration has directed the Department of Education to forgive $7.7 billion in federal student loans held by 387,000 permanently disabled people. The Department of Education has offered loan forgiveness to the permanently disabled for some time (known as the total and permanent disability discharge), but few borrowers knew they were eligible or how to take advantage. Permanently disabled borrowers who did try were frustrated by ‘lost paperwork’ or being bounced back and forward between different Department of Education offices. Under the new directive, the Department of Education will combine loan data with information from the Social Security Administration to identify eligible borrowers. Specifically, the Department of Education will look for information on borrowers receiving Social Security disability payments. Eligible borrowers who are receiving Social Security disability payments have been deemed permanently disabled and are unable to work. The Total and Permanent Disability…
Read More »