Here's my situation. I attended college about a fifteen years ago. After I graduated I had difficulty finding work and I recall requesting an unemployment deferment, IIRC for two years. I eventually found a decent job and in the ensuing decade repaid about 90% of loans outstanding. I then decided to pursue a graduate degree which I have recently finished and for which I took out new loans. According to the official student loan website an individual can request a hardship deferment for "up to three years" but after extensive searching I can't find out what that means exactly. Is that a lifetime limit per person? Is it a limit per loan? What happens if loans that were subject to a deferment are consolidated with other loans that were not? Do the one that were in deferment contaminate the ones that were not?
http://www.direct.ed.gov/postpone.html Is unhelpful and I can't find anything better via Google. Thanks in advance for any assistance.
