{"id":1273,"date":"2016-11-13T00:35:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-13T00:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fitpt.fitbux.com\/?p=1273"},"modified":"2020-06-30T19:12:40","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T19:12:40","slug":"la-times-highlights-why-you-should-contact-fitbux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitbux.com\/fitpt\/pt-student-loans\/la-times-highlights-why-you-should-contact-fitbux\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Times Highlights Why You Should Contact FitBUX"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Los Angeles Times recently published an article<\/a> exposing a handful of major faults that occur with Federal student loan servicers. Many borrowers detect these faults and try to correct them.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there is not many places borrowers can turn to for help.\u00a0 Even worse, many individuals do not even know these things are happening.<\/p>\n

This is one of the reason why we created FitBUX.\u00a0 To help you the borrower understand your choices and insure that your strategy is being implemented correctly.\u00a0 If you would like to sign up for our beta test, please visit FitBUX.com<\/a> or click on the link to the right.\u00a0 Below is a re-post of the LA Times Article.\u00a0 As the article states, one problem is understanding if you are making prepayments correctly.\u00a0 FitBUX has videos detailing how prepayments should be made and how to check if they are being paid correctly.\u00a0 Visit our Knowledge Center<\/a> to check out the videos.<\/p>\n

Some student loan servicers block access to borrower assistance plans<\/h1>\n

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<\/a> has found that some servicers of federal student loans are denying borrowers access to income-driven repayment plans or failing to approve those applications.<\/p>\n

Income-driven repayment\u00a0plans\u00a0are intended to help borrowers manage their monthly federal payments by capping them at a percentage of their incomes.<\/p>\n

Any amount that\u2019s unpaid after 20 to 25 years of making qualified payments on those plans will be forgiven. The report released last week\u00a0covers federal and private student loans as well as auto loans, mortgages and fair lending.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite [having] the right to an income-driven plan, borrowers still struggle to enroll,\u201d CFPB ombudsman Seth Frotman\u00a0said. \u201cGenerally, processing your application should take no more than two weeks. However, many borrowers have told us that their applications sit under review for months at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When borrowers are prevented from participating in affordable repayment plans, the consequences can be costly.<\/p>\n

Payments on the standard repayment plan, for example, typically are higher than on an income-driven repayment plan, so it\u2019s easier to fall behind. That can lead to unnecessary costs, such as capitalized interest if a loan goes into forbearance, or they potentially can put borrowers at risk of\u00a0default. Borrowers may also lose out on months of qualified affordable payments that would count toward loan forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Lauren Asher, president of the nonprofit\u00a0Institute for College Access &\u00a0Success, said\u00a0the CFPB report highlights how important it is that\u00a0student loan servicers\u00a0alert struggling borrowers to this option, instead of ushering them into forbearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncome-driven repayment won\u2019t be the best choice for every borrower, but it\u2019s essential that every borrower know that IDR is an option,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Other student-loan servicing issues highlighted in the report:<\/p>\n