Lenders May File Claims With Copies of Death Certificates

USA Funds^® now will permit lenders to file with each death claim a copy of an original death certificate, or a copy of a certified copy of the certificate. The policy is in accordance with new federal student-loan regulations published Nov. 1, 2007.

USA Funds is implementing this policy change immediately, as is permitted by the regulations.

Previous regulations required a lender to file a death claim with only an original death certificate or a certified copy of a death certificate. Lenders were permitted to file a claim using alternate documentation only in limited, exceptional circumstances. These documentation requirements often caused difficulty for the surviving family of deceased borrowers in the Federal Family Education Loan Program, and in some cases delayed the filing of the claim.