Temporary Hardship Forbearance

[LGT]

Anyone have any luck getting a 12 month temporary hardship forbearance lately, esp with Edfinacial or NTHEA?

I tried with Edfinancial and they only allow 6 months at a time. They said that was a result of a law change. However, Direct Loans (I'm considering consolidating with them) said they are still granting 12 month forbearances.

Any response is greatly appreciated!

[LynnInMN]

Forebearances are administative  and each program (FFELP vs Direct Loans) have there own guidelines. If you have not consolidated with Direct  Loans,  I would highly recommend it. 

[Anonymous]

There are different types of forbearance.

The kind that borrowers usually get by asking for one is a discretionary"hardship" forbearance. These can be granted in increments of up to 12 months at a time, and, as the name suggests, these forbearances are granted AT LENDER DISCRETION.

This means that each lender can have their own policies about discretionary forbearance, as long as they're uniformly enforced, and that the lender is NEVER obligated to give you a discretionary forbearance.

MOST (but not all) FFELP lenders, and Direct Loans, will grant up to a TOTAL of 60 months discretionary forbearance, given in increments of up to 12 months. Many will approve and process a forbearance verbally over the phone.