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I believe I have no obligation to repay the student loan because:
I believe I am being charged the wrong amount for the student loan because:
The defaulted student loan that I owe is causing me financial hardship because:
Identity Theft and Unauthorized Signature Disputes
Find the statement below that most accurately describes your situation, and then follow the instructions for resolving that problem:
The loan records I have seen show my SSN, but the name shown as borrower is
not my name, and I did not sign a promissory note for this loan.
In order to prove that you are not the person who received this loan, you will be
required to show U.S. Department of Education (Department) representatives proof that you are not the
individual identified on the loan records. This evidence typically
includes samples of your signature and photocopies of the following:
- Your Social Security Card
- Your Driver's license or government-issued ID card
- Your Passport or Birth Certificate
The loan records I have seen show a name that is the same as mine, but the
SSN shown as that of the borrower is not my SSN, and I did not sign a promissory
note for this loan.
In order to prove that you are not the person who received this loan, you will be
required to show Department representatives proof that you are not the
individual identified on the loan records. This evidence typically
includes samples of your signature and photocopies of the following:
- Your Social Security Card
- Your Driver's license or government-issued ID card
- Your Passport or Birth Certificate
This loan has my name and SSN, but I did not sign a promissory note for this
loan.
To prove that the promissory note was forged, you will be required to submit
examples of your signature from around the time that the loan was made (e.g.,
from tax returns for that year, driver's licenses issued at that time, cancelled
checks that you wrote at that time). Alternatively, you can provide proof that
you did not attend the school for which the loan was made (e.g., proof that you
were living, employed or enrolled in school elsewhere at that time.). Lastly, if
you are unable to provide such proof, you can provide a report from an
independent handwriting expert to support your claim.
I am the victim of identity theft.
If you believe you qualify for an identity theft discharge, you must
complete, sign, date, and submit a discharge application to U.S. Department
of Education representatives for consideration of loan discharge. You can
request an application form from the party that holds your loan, or you can
click here to
download the application form.
Include with your application form the information described below:
- A court judgment that was made in your favor that conclusively finds
that you were a victim of identity theft and identifies the
name(s) of the
individual(s) who committed the crime.
- Any supporting written statement that describes how the identity
theft relates specifically to your student loan(s).
- A clear copy of a valid government-issued photo identification card
(i.e. Driver's License, State-issue ID Card, or Passport) OR a clear
copy of your Social Security Card.
Send the documents to the party that holds the loan. Check a recent
demand letter or bill for this loan; if the address to which you are
requested to send payment is the National Payment Center in Greenville, TX,
you should submit this documentation to:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FEDERAL STUDENT AID
Processing Group Regional Office, Room 8633
50 Beale Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-1813
Disability
- Your student loan may be discharged (forgiven) if you become totally
and permanently disabled. If a physician (doctor of medicine or
osteopathy) certified that you are totally and permanently disabled and
you meet other requirements during a 3 year conditional discharge period
your loan(s) may be discharged. It is important to note that: You may
receive Social Security, VA or other disability benefits and still not
meet the definition of total and permanent disability that applies to
student loan discharges.
- You do not qualify for discharge if the medical condition or
impairment existed at the time you applied for the loan, unless after
that time, the condition significantly deteriorated and then you became
totally and permanently disabled. In other words, an individual who was
already totally and permanently disabled when he or she applied for a
loan cannot have that loan discharged for that condition.
Note that PLUS loans obtained by a parent on behalf of a student are not
dischargeable on the basis of the student's disability.
What to Do:
If you believe you qualify for a disability discharge, you and your
doctor must complete, and sign, a discharge application form. You can
request this form from the party that holds your loan, or you can
download it now.
Check a recent demand letter or bill for this loan; if the address to which
you are requested to send payment is the National Payment Center in
Greenville, TX, you should submit your completed form to:
U.S. Department of Education
P.O. Box 5609
Greenville, Texas 75403-5609
You may request a copy of the discharge application form by calling
1-800-621-3115.
Note: in order to guard against fraud, the U.S. Department of Education
(Department) will contact your doctor directly to confirm the nature and
severity of your disability if you apply for a disability discharge.
Death
A loan can be discharged if the borrower dies or if the borrower of a PLUS
loan (whether a student or parent) dies. A PLUS loan made to a parent borrower
is also discharged in the event of the death of the student on whose behalf the
loan was obtained.
What to Do:
The party that holds the loan must receive an original, certified copy, or a
clear, accurate, and complete photocopy of the original or certified copy of the
death certificate. The U.S. Department of Education cannot accept a faxed copy.
Check a recent demand letter or bill for this loan; if the address to which you
are requested to send payment is the National Payment Center in Greenville, TX,
you should submit this documentation to:
U.S. Department of Education
P.O. Box 5609
Greenville, Texas 75403-5609
Closed School
You may be eligible to have your loan discharged, if you did not complete the program of study and either of the following is true:
- the school closed while you were attending, or
- the school closed within ninety days after you withdrew from the school
What to Do:
You must complete and submit a closed school discharge application form. You
can request this form from the agency that holds your loan, or you can
download it now.
Check a recent demand letter or bill for this loan; if the address to which you
are requested to send payment is the National Payment Center in Greenville, TX,
you should submit your completed form to:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FEDERAL STUDENT AID
Processing Group Regional Office, Room 8633
50 Beale Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-1813
You may request a copy of this discharge application form by calling 1-800-621-3115.
Unpaid Refund
If you received a loan to pay for a period of enrollment at a school that
you did not attend or withdrew, you may be eligible for discharge of some or
all of your
loan(s). If the school was required to make a refund of your
loan under federal regulations but failed to do so, you may be eligible for
discharge of some or all of your loans. Whether you qualify for a discharge
and the amount that may be discharged will depend on when you last attended
the school and how long you attended.
What to Do:
You must complete and submit an unpaid refund discharge application form. You
can request this form from the agency that holds your loan, or you can
download it now. Check a recent demand letter or bill for this loan; if the
address to which you are requested to send payment is the National Payment
Center in Greenville, TX, you should submit your completed form to:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FEDERAL STUDENT AID
Processing Group Regional Office, Room 8633
50 Beale Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-1813 You may request a copy of this discharge application form by calling 1-800-621-3115.
False Certification of Ability to Benefit
You may be eligible to have a loan discharged (forgiven):
- if you did not have a high school diploma or general equivalency
diploma (G.E.D.) at the time you borrowed the loan, or
- If the school did not determine your ability to benefit in
accordance with the federal requirements that were in effect at the time
you were enrolled, or
- If you did not complete a remedial education course or obtain your
G.E.D.
Different standards may apply depending when you borrowed.
What to Do:
You must complete and submit a false certification of ability to benefit
discharge application form. You can request this form from the agency that
holds your loan, or you can
download it now. Check a recent demand letter or
bill for this loan; if the address to which you are requested to send
payment is the National Payment Center in Greenville, TX, you should submit
your completed form to:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FEDERAL STUDENT AID
Processing Group Regional Office, Room 8633
50 Beale Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-1813
You may request a copy of this discharge application form by calling
1-800-621-3115.
False Certification of Ability to Benefit -
Disqualifying Status
You may qualify for discharge of a loan you received if, at the time you
enrolled at the school and borrowed, you had a physical or mental condition, a
criminal record or other status because of which State law would prohibit you
from being employed in the field for which the training was designed to prepare
you. For example, if you attended a truck-driving school but did not have a
driver's license and could not obtain one because you are legally blind, you may
qualify for a discharge.
What to Do:
You must complete and submit a false certification of ability to benefit due
to disqualifying condition discharge application form. You can request this form
from the agency that holds your loan, or you can
download it now.
Check a recent demand letter or bill for this loan; if the address to which you
are requested to send payment is the National Payment Center in Greenville, TX,
you should submit your completed form to:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FEDERAL STUDENT AID
Processing Group Regional Office, Room 8633
50 Beale Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-1813 You may request a copy of this discharge application form by calling 1-800-621-3115.
Defense of Infancy
Student loans cannot be avoided on the basis of a borrower's age. Section
484A(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. § 1091a(b), bars this
claim for Federally-reinsured loans, and State law typically does so as well.
Statute of Limitations
Section 484A(a) of the Higher Education Action provides that no statute of
limitations bars enforcement action to collect Federal student loans, including
collection by offset, lawsuit, or enforcement on student loan judgments. 20
U.S.C. § 1091a(a). State law that would otherwise limit these actions is
superseded by Federal law and cannot bar collection action.
Bankruptcy
Whether a bankruptcy discharge relieves an individual of his or her
obligation to repay a student loan or grant overpayment is now determined by
whether a court has ruled that repayment would impose an undue hardship on
the borrower and his or her dependents. If the bankruptcy was filed on or
after October 8, 1998, the loan or grant obligation is not affected by a
bankruptcy discharge unless the debtor received an undue hardship ruling
from the court.
Prior to October 1998 changes in bankruptcy law, whether a loan or grant
overpayment was discharged in a bankruptcy depended on different rules,
depending on when bankruptcy was filed, how long the student loan had been
in repayment, and what kind of student loan the debtor had received.
Generally, loans or grant obligations owed and in repayment for more than
five years, and later seven years by the time the borrower filed for
bankruptcy relief were dischargeable by reason of the age of the debt. Debts
owed and in repayment status for shorter periods were dischargeable only if
a court ruled that repayment would pose an undue hardship. In addition, a
general discharge received in a Chapter 13 (wage earner plan) bankruptcy
that was filed before November 5, 1990 was sufficient to discharge a student
loan or grant obligation without regard to how long the debt had been owed,
even if the debtor failed to prove that repayment would pose an undue
hardship.
You should present documentation regarding your bankruptcy case to
Department representatives, who can advise whether the Department considers
bankruptcy law to relieve you of the obligation to repay this debt. You may
seek advice from your bankruptcy counsel in this matter as well.
If your bankruptcy petition was dismissed rather than discharged, then
none of your debts, including your loan, were discharged.
What to Do:
You must submit to Department representatives the following documents to
show when, and under what provision of law, you filed for, and received,
relief in bankruptcy:
- Court ruling, if any, regarding whether repayment would impose an
undue hardship
- Copy of the notice of the first meeting of creditors
- List of creditors filed in the bankruptcy proceeding (schedule A-3)
- Final Discharge Order
Be sure to include a cover letter stating your name, social security
number and the identification number(s) of the loan or grant obligation you
believe was discharged.
Check a recent demand letter or bill for this loan; if the address to
which you are requested to send payment is the National Payment Center in
Greenville, TX, you should submit your documentation to:
U.S. Department of Education Unit
Educational Credit Management Corporation
P.O. Box 8809
Richmond, VA 23225
Balance Disputes
A Federal student loan or grant obligation, like any other financial
obligation, accrues interest over time as it remains unpaid. In addition,
because Federal law holds the defaulter liable for collection costs incurred to
collect these debts, the amount needed to satisfy in full the financial
liability on a defaulted student loan or grant obligation includes the amount
incurred to collect the debt. For both reasons, unless sufficient payments have
been made, the amount that you currently owe will be larger than the amount you
borrowed or received as a grant.
You should also keep in mind that you may have taken out several loans,
sometimes from different lenders and serviced by different parties. Thus,
payments that you may remember making may have been credited toward a
different loan than the loan(s) held by the Department.
What to Do:
If you have proof that you paid a specific loan or grant obligation, you
must send a copy of the record of that payment to the Department or other
party that is demanding that you now repay that obligation.
If you believe that one or more of the payments you have made toward your
debt has not been duly credited, you must send proof to the party that holds
the debt. The kind of proof you need to submit depends on how the payment
was made; see below for more information.
If you sent payment via...
- Personal check. Submit a copy, front and back, of the cancelled
check.
- Cashier's check, money order or Western Union Quick Collect payment.
Submit a copy, front and back, of the cancelled payment instrument. You
will have to obtain this from the bank or agency that issued the check
or money order. A copy of your receipt is not sufficient.
- Treasury Offset Program. Submit a copy of the notice from the U.S.
Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS), from the Internal Revenue
Service, or State Department of Taxation notifying you that your federal
and/or state tax refund and/or other payment was offset. If you do not
have this notice, you may obtain a copy by calling FMS at 800-304-3107.
- Credit Card. Submit a copy of the credit card's billing statement
that shows the transaction in question.
Be sure to include a cover letter with any proof you submit that includes
your name and social security number.
Check a recent demand letter or bill for this loan; if the address to
which you are requested to send payment is the National Payment Center in
Greenville, TX, you should submit your proof to:
U.S. Department of Education
P.O. Box 5609
Greenville, Texas 75403-5609
Defense of Laches (Unreasonable and harmful delay in
demanding payment)
Because default on a publicly-financed debt, such as student loan or grant
obligation, harms the taxpayer, Federal law precludes the debtor from
avoiding repayment by claiming that the debt should not be enforced because
of delays in demanding its repayment. Moreover, where the debt is a student
loan, the borrower has agreed in the promissory note to apprise the holder of the loan
of his or her current address. Thus, a claim that the debt, or interest owed
on the debt, should not be enforceable because of delays in demanding
payment is also barred because the borrower, not the lender or the
Department, was legally obligated to notify the holder of his or her correct
address.
Hardship Caused by Offset of Social
Security Benefits, Federal and/or State Income Tax Refunds, or Other
Payments
Before the Department referred your defaulted student loan(s) or grant
claim(s) to the Department of the Treasury for offset, the Department offered
you - either directly or through the guaranty agency that holds your loan - an
opportunity to avoid offset by either agreeing to repay the debt or proving that
you do not owe the debt. As explained in that notice, unless you took one of
these actions by the 65-day deadline, the Department would request that any
federal and/or state tax refunds and other payments owed to you, be withheld and
applied to satisfy the debt.
If you claim that this withholding action is causing you and your
dependents financial hardship, the Department may consider modifying or
suspending withholding action. To present your claim, you must contact the
Department or the guaranty agency that holds your debt, and must submit
documentation satisfactory to the holder of the debt to support your claim.
The Department or the guaranty agency, as its designated representative,
will consider your claim and may agree to modify the withholding action. You
may be required to complete a statement of financial status, which you can
download now.
Injured Spouses
If you filed a federal income tax return jointly with your spouse, the
entire refund from that return, including the part that came from
withholdings on earnings of your spouse, is subject to offset. The
non-liable or "injured" spouse may reclaim his or her portion of the refund
by filing an injured spouse claim form (IRS Form 8379) with the Internal
Revenue Service. You may download this form at the
IRS Web site or may
request one from the IRS by calling 1-800-829-1040. You also may be able to
obtain the form at your local library, IRS office or from your tax preparer.
Only the IRS will be able to answer questions about whether you qualify for
an injured spouse refund and how much you may receive. Borrowers filing
joint state tax returns should check with their state Department of Taxation
to determine if similar relief is available for state tax refunds.
Earned Income Tax Credit
The entire amount of the refund, including any portion based on an earned
income tax credit can be legally offset and applied to satisfy your defaulted
federal student loan or grant obligation.
Hardship Caused by Wage Garnishment
Federal law authorizes the Department or the student loan guarantor that
holds a defaulted loan to collect the debt by non–judicial wage garnishment – a
withholding order issued by the Department or the guarantor without the need for
entry of a court judgment against the debtor. Prior to garnishment, the debtor
must be offered an opportunity to repay the debt voluntarily or to obtain a
hearing at which the debtor may object to garnishment either because the debtor
believes that the debt is not owed, or that garnishment would cause financial
hardship. To avoid garnishment, a debtor must object within the deadline
explained in the notice – failure to do so will result in issuance of the
garnishment order. A debtor who misses the deadline may obtain a hearing on a
financial hardship objection, but withholding may start and continue through the
hearing process. Hardship objections must be presented to the party – the
Department or the guaranty agency – that sent the notice. If a debtor misses the
deadline but requests a hearing, garnishment may start but cannot continue for
more than 60 days from the hearing request date, unless a decision is issued
that garnishment should continue.
Hardship Caused by Unreasonable Payment Requirement
When a Federal student loan goes into default, or a grant overpayment is
identified, the party to whom that debt is owed can demand that the debt be paid
in full immediately, and the Department, school, or guaranty agency that holds
the debt you owe has the legal right to demand that repayment in full
immediately, and to take enforcement action to collect the full amount if not
paid in full.
The debtor is then responsible for satisfying that demand from his or her
own funds or assets, from funds borrowed from third parties or from
Federally-financed loan programs, or agreeing to repay the debt on
installment terms that are satisfactory to the Department, school, or
guaranty agency that holds the debt. A debtor who claims that he or she
cannot afford to repay a particular installment amount bears the burden of
proving that the amount exceeds what he or she can afford based on his or
her total financial circumstances, and that some lesser installment amount
can be repaid. To do so, the debtor must provide a complete statement
showing the income and expenses of the debtor and his or her household
members. If your debt is owed to the Department, you can download this
Financial Disclosures Statement now. You should also understand that any
payments you make voluntarily while you are negotiating a payment
arrangement would both reduce the amount you owe and will demonstrate that
you are acting in good faith.
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