How many times/years can I defer my Direct loans?

[zerobacan]

How many times/years can I defer my Direct  loans?

I ve done it for 3 times/years already and I need to do it again.

Share your stories with me

[mmmlive1999]

You can do it as many times as you need but watch out for the interest capitalization on unsubsidized loans!!!! Every time you come out of deferral and don't pay the interest that has accrued for that time period it gets added to the principal amount you owe. Then you are paying interest on interest and that is throwing money out the window.

Ask for longer deferments 6mos-1yr and pay the interest as it accrues even if you can't pay the loan amount, and paying this will not take you out of deferral status.

Good luck

[zerobacan]

Thanks! I would defenatly do that.

if I pay the interest, would it bring my deferent status back to pay as agreed?

[mmmlive1999]

No, on your credit reports you will still be listed as deferred, even though you are making interest only payments.

[SCF]

The answer is "it depends."  There are many types of forbearance and deferment.  Some are guarenteed (for instance, if you back to an "in-school" status) and some are granted at the discretion of the lender (like a forbearance based on a short-term financial hardship).  Most lenders do set a limit on the number of times you can use each type of deferment/forbearance, but it may vary somewhat from servicer to servicer (especially with those discretion-based options).

I would reccomend calling your servicer and asking.  Also, know that your loans are likely accruing interest and that the longer you wait to start paying, the more you will pay and the longer it will take to be debt-free.  It might be a better option to start looking at reduced payment plans, like the graduated plan (if you know your income will improve after a year or two), or the income-based or income-contingent plans.  Your servicer can also tell you about those, and help you determine what your payment amount would be if you qualify.

[bahbahd]

Yes. If you are not careful you could run out of deferment and forbearance options. There are consecutive time limits on certain types of options. If you are on economic hardship deferment or unemployment forbearance, then you could run out of options after two or three years of doing them back to back. You need to be careful and talk to your servicer and your guarantor. They will be the only people who can give you a straight answer. You do not want to find out like I did way after the fact. Nelnet gave me zero notifcation as to why my forbearance requests was being denied. I was 6 months behind before I finally found out from a CRS why they were did not grant any of my requests.