Question: My daughter and I should be eligible for a combined $30,000 in student loan relief under the new program, but we have been making steady payments for years so our debt is less than that now. Can either of us get a refund on the difference?
Answer: No, except for payments made during the “pause” from March 13, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2022, during which payments on eligible federal student loans were not required. Some borrowers continued to pay down their loans during that period anyway, and they will be refunded to the extent that their available relief exceeds their eligible loan balance, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Otherwise, the department emphasizes, eligible borrowers may receive “up to” $10,000 or $20,000 in debt relief, not more than they owe.
For example, if you are eligible for up to $10,000 in debt relief but have $9,000 left to pay on a federal Parent PLUS loan, you’ll get the remaining $1,000 as a refund only if you made payments equal to or surpassing that amount during the payment pause. If you made no payments during the pause, your debt relief would erase your balance of $9,000, and that would be the end of it.
To be clear, you and your daughter each must apply for relief at www.studentaid.gov. A student’s and parent’s applications aren’t combined, even when a parent’s loans paid for the student’s education. The application for one-time student debt relief based on income officially opened Monday, after beta-testing over the weekend.
This program would erase $10,000 in federal student debt each for people with annual income less than $125,000, or household income below $250,000. Students who received Pell Grants would get another $10,000 written off, for a total reduction of up to $20,000 each. Pell Grants are for lower-income students.
Q: My grandson took out federal loans for college and ended up with a large debt. I paid off the balance in 2019 as his graduation gift. Will I get some of my money back under this program?
A: No.
Q: When my student loan is reduced, will my monthly payment go down on what I have left to pay?
A: Possibly. Your monthly payment will be recalculated based on your new loan balance after debt relief is applied; your loan servicer will let you know the new amount, according to the U.S. Department of Education. No payments will be required until after the payment pause ends Dec. 31, it says.
No student debt has been canceled yet under this program, which faces legal challenges.
Q: Is there a limit on bulky pickup? I am cleaning out my mom’s old house.
A: Yes, “only one appointment per address can be made per month except for Waikiki, where residents can make weekly appointments,” according to Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services. At a single-family home, you may leave out five bulky-waste items per appointment; this includes items such as couches, beds and other furniture. Metal appliances require a separate appointment, and you can leave out two metal appliances at a time. So single- family homes outside Waikiki are limited to having seven items a month picked up, five left out for bulky collection and two left out for appliance collection. To make an appointment, follow the links from honolulu.gov/opala.
Auwe
People are on edge enough already. Stop blowing up things on a regular weeknight and calling it “fireworks.” Have some respect.
— Frustrated neighbor
Mahalo
Thank you very much to the good Samaritans who pulled my friend and me from my totally wrecked car at the base of the Kapalama Canal on Oct. 7 and called an ambulance to take us to Queen’s trauma center.
— Grateful kupuna
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
