Texas residents have found themselves confused and frustrated with the latest news about student loans. This is a saga that dates all the way back to the days of COVID in 2020, when borrowers were granted relief during the pandemic.

President Trump halted all payments due from student loan borrowers as we navigated it. President Biden then tried on numerous occasions to completely forgive the student loan debt. While that was ultimately stopped by the courts from happening, the payments due remained on hold.

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Student Loan Payments To Restart

The current President Trump administration has now put an end to the leniency and the payments due are set to start back up again. However, it's coming with a lot of confusion and irritation as many student loans are showing they're in default.

According to The Guardian, they are going to begin collection on the student loan accounts in default next month.

How Many Accounts Are Defaulted

At this time, the number of people that are showing their student loans in a default status are 5.3 million, and collection day is coming for those accounts.

According to The Guardian article, starting May 5th, the education department will begin involuntary collection of the loans due.

What Are Involuntary Methods Of Collection

These are methods in which the person who owes the debt doesn't have a choice on how it gets paid. It's run through the treasury department, and it'll include several different methods to obtain the money owed from the loans.

Ways of collection include tax offsets, where they keep the amount due from your tax return, federal salaries, and other benefits.

Another method will be garnishing wages from the person via their employer. A 30-day notice will be given to the person who owes the debt before that happens.

How Many More Could This Affect

According to data from the education department, there are another 4 million people who are in the 91-180 days late on their payment range. An account goes into default when it hits 9 months past due, so it'll be imperative for those in that range to work on catching up with their payments as soon as they can.

Less than 40% of student loan borrowers are actually current and in good standing with their loans, and no doubt that number is so low due to the confusion of when the forgiveness ended for these loans.

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Gallery Credit: Bethany Adams

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