Web-site enhancements prevent loan defaults, help borrowers avoid additional costs
USA Funds offers online help for student-loan-payment problems
INDIANAPOLIS — USA Funds®, the nation's leading education-loan guarantor, has announced the addition of new online features to help education-loan borrowers resolve payment problems. The latest enhancements to the "Loan-Payment Problems" section of the USA Funds Web site help borrowers with past-due accounts select from among three possible options: make a promise to pay, temporarily postpone their loan payments or reduce their monthly payment amounts.
"Our Web resources help education-loan borrowers learn the status of their accounts, understand their options and assist them in taking prompt action to avoid additional costs and the consequences of loan default," said Carl C. Dalstrom, USA Funds president and CEO.
By making a promise to pay, borrowers can spread over a period of up to 30 days the payments they need to make to bring their accounts current and thereby reduce the number of collection calls they receive.
The new Web features also help borrowers cut through the confusing array of deferment options and requirements. Borrowers can view the deferment options for which they are eligible based on the dates their loans were issued. An online "decision tree" guides borrowers to the deferment option for which they are likely to qualify. They then can view a summary of the eligibility requirements for that deferment type and either download the deferment-request form or ask that the form be mailed or faxed to them. To help borrowers file their deferment requests, the site permits them to view and print addresses, phone numbers and fax numbers for their lenders and loan servicers.
For unemployment and economic-hardship deferments — frequently requested deferment options that require submission of a form — online form "wizards" step borrowers through the completion of the deferment request and permit them to print a completed form that is ready to sign and submit to their lender or servicer. The economic-hardship deferment-form wizard offers the added benefit of automatically calculating a borrower's eligibility for the deferment based on the borrower's income and payment amount.
For borrowers who do not qualify for deferment, the Web site offers instructions for requesting forbearance from their lender.
Borrowers who might benefit from reduced monthly payments can view a summary of loan consolidation, use an online calculator to estimate their payments on a consolidation loan and download a consolidation-loan application.
"These online services are the latest additions to the powerful collection of default-prevention tools that USA Funds has developed," Dalstrom said.