South Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer

Struggling with Student Loans

As a graduating college student in today’s troubled job market you may find that getting gainful employment is not exactly easy to come by. When your grace period has passed and it comes time to repay your students loans, you should be familiar with your options. Should you not be able to enter into repayment you have the option of cancellation, deferment, or forbearance.

Obtaining a Deferment

A deferment is a delay based on a specific condition like returning to school, economic hardship, or being unemployed while seeking employment. It excuses you from making payments for a set period of time. On some loans both the principal and interest can be deferred so that during the deferment period your loan balance will not increase. You must apply for a deferment by contacting the holder of your loan.

Forbearance

Through forbearance your loan holder gives you permission to stop making payments for set period of time. You will not have the option of stopping interest, meaning that your balance will go up during the forbearance period. They are easier to obtain than deferments and can be granted for a number of reasons including poor health, unforeseen personal problems, or collective monthly payments totaling more than 20% of a borrower’s monthly income. Forbearance can be granted even if you have defaulted on a loan before.

Bankruptcy

A harder to come by solution is to discharge your student loans in bankruptcy. Generally, you can only do this by proving that repaying the loan be a severe hardship for you, a very difficult standard to meet.

Speak with a Boca Raton Bankruptcy Lawyer

If you are a recent college graduate who has become overburdened by failing finances, filing for bankruptcy may be the option to get you back on your feet. Contact the South Florida bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561.353.2800 to speak with an attorney today.