How Student Debt Impacts Homeownership
Many thanks to Satinder Haer of Zillow for contributing this post! -Heather Buying a house is the biggest milestone after graduating college for many people. But if you’re facing a mortgage-sized student loan payment each month, homeownership may feel impossible. One common belief is that student loan debt prevents many from saving for a down payment. However, new numbers show student loan debt might not be a major hindrance to homeownership. As long as you obtain a four-year degree or higher, student debt has a minor impact on your…
Who Will Benefit from the Expansion of Pay As You Earn (PAYE)?
Negotiated rulemaking, affectionately referred to as Neg Reg, is underway! Committee members met to discuss a proposed agenda, and the Department of Education will release the committee’s final agenda before they reconvene on March 31st. Over three months the negotiators will discuss, among other things, how to implement the President’s directive to expand Pay As You Earn to five million additional borrowers by the end of this calendar year. The Department of Education has proposed creating a new plan, PAYE2, for Direct Loan borrowers…
Lawyers Representing Student Loan Borrowers
I am delighted to provide free general information for student loan borrowers and the people who love them, but as an attorney, I must be very careful not to inadvertently establish a client-lawyer relationship with folks I don't represent. I am licensed to practice in the state of North Carolina only and lawyers are specifically prohibited from practicing in states in which we are not licensed. Also, lawyers can establish a client-lawyer relationship even without agreeing to do so. That's why I…
How Student Loans Affect Your Credit
Your credit report is a history of accounts that includes information about how you pay your bills. It's smart to download your credit report free from annualcreditreport.com. Creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses use your credit report to evaluate lots of things that mater (like your applications for credit, housing, and employment). Your credit score is a three-digit number intended to predict whether you will pay your bills over the next couple of years. A high credit score helps you get access…
Department of Education Extends Contract for Debt Collector Previously Under Fire
Despite heavy opposition from student, union, and trade groups, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the U.S. Education Department will extend the contract of Navient Corporation, a student-loan servicer and collection agency that was formerly a division of Sallie Mae, despite allegations it has overcharged borrowers. Navient’s work for the federal government was worth $106-million last year, and its contract would have expired this month. Sallie Mae, which in April was divided into two companies, Navient and Sallie Mae Bank, agreed…
