Student Debt

July 28, 2020

Video Transcript

Hello QR community. It’s Adam Quatrini, here an associate at QuatriniRafferty, and some might say, your favorite Quatrini for another installment of Legal Tip Tuesday. Reminding you also to wear your mask, which has become a decorative piece, a replacement of lapel in our COVID era. Today. I want to talk to you about student debt, something we know all too much about and something that we all struggle with day in and day out. The idea is that if you take out a student loan, you will work the rest of your life in order to pay it back and that you will be able to earn enough money to pay it back. However, what happens when you become disabled and you’re no longer able to pay back that federal student debt?

Well, there are programs that allow you to discharge that federal student debt. And let me be clear this is federal student debt, which is very distinctive from whether you took a loan out from a private Bank or Credit Union. Today, I’m talking solely to the idea of discharging federal student debt. And let me begin by giving you the website that gives you a far more thorough breakdown of the requirements and the application process to do so it is www.disabilitydischarge.com. There are three ways in order to discharge your federal student debt, the first beginning, if you are a veteran. Veterans who we represent here at QuatriniRafferty, if you are found to be 100% service-connected disabled, you are eligible to have your debt discharged. Also, if you are a veteran and you have been found to be individually unemployable, you can also file to have a discharge of your federal student debt.

Second, if you are receiving social security disability or supplemental security income, you too can file an application to be considered for discharging your federal student debt. Third, you can have a doctor your physician, write a note and again, the requirements are listed at www.disabilitydischarge.com who can say that you are unable to work in a substantial, gainful, activity due to a that you are unable to work in a substantial, gainful, activity due to a condition. Those are the three main ways that you can have your federal student debt discharged. Now there aren’t many specifics about discharging your private loans again through a PNC, a Citizens Bank or a Credit Union that you might have taken your loan out on.

However, I encourage you to call that individual institution and ask them, if you are disabled, what are the requirements to have that discharge or even forgiven or they might even accept a lesser payment each month due to the disability. It can never hurt to ask. So, thank you for listening today. I wish you all safety and happiness and hopefully I’ll see you next Tuesday for another Legal Tip Tuesday.