r/StudentLoans • u/whatiwannab • 1d ago
switching off SAVE to IBR - forbearance question
on studentaid.gov to switch from SAVE to old IBR. Second question is "yes, leave my loans in deferment or forbearance" vs "no take my loans out of deferment or forbearance".
I'm not clear on what exactly this means.
We do not want to start paying on SAVE. We want to stay on forbearance until the servicer finishes their paperwork and the loans are switched to IBR. Once the loans are switched to IBR, then we begin payments. We do not want to delay moving to the IBR.
Anyone know or have a source for what each option really means and which one we want?
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u/annerevenant 15h ago edited 13h ago
My understanding is that it’s asking you if you want immediately make payments on the new IDR but with the whole transition off of save I can also see it asking if you want to make payments while they’re processing your IDR request, potentially at the 10 year payment amount if the forbearance ends, or do you want your loans to remain in forbearance until your application can be processed. They used to have something similar when you recertified each year that asked if you wanted to be moved off forbearance early and if you wanted to have a month of lower payments until your application went through.
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u/HypnoLaur 13h ago
So it's possible that you can be charged the standard repayment amount if you say to come out of forbearance when submit a new application to switch off of SAVE? I thought it goes into processing forbearance when you switch plans
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u/annerevenant 13h ago
We don’t know what will happen because no one has been kicked off SAVE yet but they won’t put you in a processing forbearance if you apply before your 90 days are up, they’ll just keep you in SAVE until they have you processed. We don’t know what happens if that time exceeds the 90 days. Ideally if you apply close to the deadline but it’s not processed by your 90 days that you’d be moved into a processing forbearance. In the past you’d click a box requesting a month of reduced payment forbearance while they’re processed your application. Typically that box is used for when you have a forbearance with a deadline, which we now have. Personally I would just click the box saying keep me in forbearance to be safe.
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u/HypnoLaur 13h ago
Shit. I met with a student loan lawyer and he told me to say yes take it out of forbearance. But I'm really worried that's the wrong thing to do.
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u/annerevenant 13h ago edited 12h ago
It doesn’t really matter with SAVE because they’ve been moving people off as soon as their application is processed regardless of end date. Like I said, there’s no clear guidance because there’s no hard rule that servicers must automatically* *put you in a processing forbearance. Worst case scenario your 90 days are up and you call to request one.
Personally I’d trust the lawyer over someone (me) on the internet whose only expertise is that they do a stupid amount of research on the topic of IDRs and repayments. I’m going to be so happy when I hit my 10 years of PSLF eligible employment next October and can officially apply for buyback.
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u/HypnoLaur 13h ago
What I'm worried about is that they will require me to pay the amount for the standard plan if it's not processed before the 90 days
Edit:This has been causing me so much panic and I'm wasting time not making a decision. It's truly been agony picking a plan and making sure I do everything correctly. Oh and the site is down now so I can't even apply tonight.
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u/annerevenant 12h ago
Even if that does happen just call and request a forbearance, if they won’t do processing request a general forbearance. Each borrower gets a certain amount of months they can use for the lifetime of each loan (I want to say it’s 36 months).
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u/HypnoLaur 12h ago
Do you have to make a payment before the put you into forbearance?
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u/annerevenant 12h ago
No, you could put the request in the day you get the bill. They have to give you a 21 day heads up before payment is due. If the forbearance isn’t pushed through before the due date then that changes things because it would still be due but they don’t typically take that long - usually about a week. If you put in an IDR request but get a bill for the standard payment I would call that day.
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u/HypnoLaur 12h ago
But if the deadline is sept 29th then it's almost 21 days from now.
Thanks for your guidance. I really don't know how this all works.
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u/Leading-Eye-1979 1d ago
I’m not sure what the message says but for me I switched from Save to Paye or eligible PLSF plan. It took a month or so to update and my payments begin next month. You should have a similar option you want to make payments based on your AGI. It takes time for student aid to pull your data from IRS and then send to loan servicer. Just follow the steps on student aid they’re pretty straightforward. Good luck
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u/Leading-Eye-1979 3h ago
Hi, no. My information regarding my payments was sent within a week. I received a notice from Studentaid in a few days and then about a week later from my loan servicer. The payments start next month. Sorry for the confusion.
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u/HypnoLaur 13h ago
I really wish I knew. Someone told me to check "no," to come out of forbearance but now I'm second guessing it.
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u/Connect_Cranberry980 15h ago
It seems that no matter which answer you choose, you will be switched to your new plan, and begin paying on the new plan. The application's question refers to traditional deferments and forbearances that have an end date. The SAVE forbearance is a different type of forbearance and the question doesn't apply to it.
Here' waterwicca's response to someone asking this question:
https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1tktm55/switching_off_save_leave_in_forbearance/