5 Ways To Make Your Parent PLUS Loan Balances Shrink Or Disappear

The business of selling a “college experience followed by a lucrative job” dream to prospective students and their families is a huge industry.  Students are not the only ones whose dreams are dashed once the student loan bills begin arriving.  Parent PLUS loans are among the most insidious types of student loans.  Most applicants receive loans, and there is no limit to how much you can borrow.  Any parent who is foolhardy enough to think that they can repay the loans can borrow as much as they choose.  As you get closer to retirement age, these are some ways that you can get your Parent PLUS loans forgiven; some of them are easier to achieve with the help of a Philadelphia debt collection abuse attorney.

Income-Contingent Repayment

Income-contingent repayment (ICR) is not the fastest path to loan forgiveness, but if you fulfill the requirements, the government forgives the remaining balance of your loan.  For Parent PLUS loans, ICR requires you to pay 20 percent of your discretionary income toward loan repayment for 25 years, and then any balance that remains at the end gets forgiven.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Fewer than one out of every 50 applicants for public service loan forgiveness has had their loans forgiven.  To be eligible, you must first enroll in an ICR program.  You must also be an employee of a government entity or qualifying nonprofit organization.

The Closed School Defense

Use can use the closed school defense if the institution that your child attended closed while your child was enrolled.  You might also be able to use this defense, which is also called the “borrower defense to repayment” if the institution your child attended used sufficiently deceptive practices in persuading your child to enroll and you to borrow the Parent PLUS loans.

Disability Discharge

Health problems that arise in middle age or later can affect your ability to work.  If you were doing fine with your Parent PLUS loan payments before getting your diagnosis, then disability discharge might be the right kind of loan forgiveness for you.  Your doctor must verify that your state of health qualifies you for disability discharge.

Refinance the Loan in Your Child’s Name

Refinancing your Parent PLUS loan so that your child becomes the borrower is not exactly loan forgiveness, but it could be just what you need to do in order to be able to make a dent in your other debts.  This is especially a good option if, since graduating, your child has gotten a stable job and is in a better position to make payments on the loan than you are.

Let Us Help You Today

If you borrowed money to fund your children’s college or postgraduate education, a consumer law attorney can help you develop a comprehensive loan repayment strategy, which may involve applying for forgiveness of Parent PLUS loans.  Contact Louis S. Schwartz at CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Resource:

marketwatch.com/story/parent-plus-loans-for-college-are-easy-to-get-but-hard-to-shake-here-are-some-options-for-forgiveness-11627060401?siteid=yhoof2