If You Live In an Area Hit By California Wildfires, You Can Pause Your Student Loan Payments | Global News Avenue

If you live in an area affected by the California wildfires, you may be eligible for temporary relief from your federal student loans.

According to AccuWeather, wildfires that started in early January have caused as much as $275 billion in damages and economic losses to Southern California as of January 13. residents of one of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)– Designated areas can request disaster assistance through the federal government. Most federal student loan borrowers in these areas can have their payments paused by their servicers for at least 90 days.

The Department of Education said federal student loan servicers are getting updates from FEMA and will contact borrowers to share relief options. In some cases, loan servicers will automatically classify borrowers who have missed payments and whose zip codes are in disaster areas. enduresaid Megan Walter, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Aid Administrators.

“I would say the best practice for borrowers who are affected and are in disaster zip codes is to contact your servicer when you realize you can’t make your payments and request a 90-day deferment,” Walter said.

The three-month grace period can be extended to one year, but borrowers should note that interest will still accrue and the grace period months will not count toward loan forgiveness.

“If you can pay, generally speaking, my advice is: Keep paying,” Walter said. “If you know you can’t afford the repayments, it’s better to be patient than default on the loan.”

In addition, some private loan servicers offer disaster relief programs to borrowers. However, options are different for private loan servicers compared to federal servicers, and relief may not be as generous, Walter said.