Your Student Loan Servicer May Change: Here's What It Means
{% description %}Millions of consumers will have new companies servicing their federal student loans in 2022. Learn if your loans will have a new servicer and how you can prepare.%}
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Some big changes have happened while Federal student loan payments have been paused since March 2020.
Two of the biggest student loan servicers—companies who handle loan billing and payments—are ending their contracts with the U.S. Department of Education. This means millions of borrowers will start making payments to new companies when the pause on payments expires in January 2022.
You may be impacted if you have a federal student loan serviced by Navient, who's transferring loans to Maximum, or Granite State, whose loans will be handled by Edfinancial.
A third servicer, Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority, who operates as FedLoan Servicing, will transfer loans to other servicers by December 2022.
What to Expect
In the weeks leading up to the change, you should receive the name and contact information for your new servicer. Make sure you're watching your mail and email so you won't miss the notice.
Automated recurring payments you set up with your old servicer likely won't transfer to the new servicer. You'll also need to create an online account with the new servicer if you want to check your balance and make payments online.
Your current payment plan, including forbearance and 0% interest under the CARES Act, remains in place. If you need to request additional forbearance or change your repayment plan after your loan is transferred, you'll work with your new servicer.
How You Can Prepare
Make sure your current loan servicer has your most recent contact information so you won't miss important communications about your loan or new servicer. If your loan hasn't been transferred yet, you may still have time to log into your online account or call to verify your information.
Download copies of your previous loan statements so you have a record of your balance, interest rate, and payment history. Over the years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received thousands of consumer complaints about receiving bad loan information from loan servicers. Having your own records gives you a chance to verify the account details you get from your new servicer.
It's worth checking your credit report a few months after the switch to verify that your loans are reporting correctly. Errors with your loan reporting can impact your FICO® Score and your ability to get approved for loans and other credit-based products. Dispute any inaccuracies with the credit bureaus or directly with the loan servicer.
Scams often increase around major changes like this, trying to trick people into sending money or giving up personal information. Be wary of scams related to student loan forgiveness, consolidation, or lower interest rates.
Expect to receive your first billing statement from your new servicer a few weeks after the forbearance ends. Log into your Federal Student Aid account at StudentAid.gov if your servicer was Navient or Granite State and don't receive details about your new servicer. You also can also call 1-800-4-FED-AID to speak with someone.
LaToya Irby is a financial writer with over 14 years of experience. She's been quoted and published as a credit expert in several major publications including USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, TheBalance.com, and The Chicago Tribune.