Student Loan Repayment and Relief Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Summary. Ten sequences from inventory through discharge, with the irreversible decisions flagged.

1. Build the inventory (do this first)

Log into the federal student aid database; download the complete loan list.
Pull all three credit reports; identify any private loans.
Build a table: loan · type · servicer · balance · rate · status · current plan.
Note any loan you do not recognize (see §9).
Record each servicer's contact information and your login credentials securely.

Identify each loan as Direct, FFEL, Perkins, or private.
If pursuing forgiveness and holding FFEL or Perkins: consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan.
Before consolidating, check how consolidation affects existing qualifying payment counts under current rules.
Understand: the consolidation rate is a weighted average — it saves no interest.
Understand: consolidation is generally irreversible.
Do not refinance federal loans into a private loan without writing down every protection surrendered: income-driven repayment, forgiveness, deferment, disability and death discharge, rehabilitation.

Can you comfortably afford the standard ten-year payment, with no forgiveness in play? → standard.
Pursuing public service forgiveness? → an income-driven plan is generally required.
Payment unaffordable? → income-driven repayment, before any consideration of forbearance.
Confirm the plan you enrolled in actually took effect two weeks later.
Note: a $0 income-driven payment counts toward forgiveness.
Report household size accurately — everyone you support.
If married, run the payment under both joint and separate filing.
Check whether forgiveness under your program is taxable.

Recertify income and family size — calendar reminder, every year. Missing it raises the payment and can capitalize interest.
File the employment certification form — every year and at every job change.
Request the qualifying payment count in writing and compare it to your records.
Ask specifically: which months did not qualify, and why?
Download the full payment history and store it outside your computer.
Screenshot balances and counts before and after any servicer transfer.

Say the words: "I want to apply for income-driven repayment. I am not requesting forbearance."
Check deferment eligibility — on subsidized loans the government pays interest during deferment.
Understand the difference: forbearance months do not count toward forgiveness; $0 income-driven months do.
Recertify immediately on an income drop — do not wait for the annual date.
Confirm the new payment amount in writing.

Confirm the default status and the current balance including collection costs.
If a wage garnishment notice arrived: request the hearing before the deadline — it generally suspends garnishment.
Raise financial hardship and any repayment agreement at the hearing.
Choose the exit:
- Rehabilitation — 9 on-time income-based payments in 10 months; removes the default from the credit report; available once per loan.
- Consolidation — faster (weeks); default notation remains.
Insist the rehabilitation payment be set on income, not a collector's opening demand.
After curing the default, enroll immediately in an income-driven plan so it does not re-default.
Check whether a tax refund or Social Security offset is in place and request review if a discharge application is pending.

Closed school — school closed while enrolled or shortly after withdrawal, no teach-out completion. Full discharge plus refund.
Borrower defense — misrepresentation about placement rates, accreditation, credit transfer, licensure, or cost. A pending application generally pauses collection.
False certification — ineligible student certified, disability making the job unavailable, or a signature that was not yours.
Unpaid refund — school failed to return money after withdrawal.
Total and permanent disability — physician certification, qualifying Social Security determination, or VA unemployability determination.
Death — federal loans on the borrower's death; Parent PLUS on the death of the parent OR the student.
Gather now: enrollment agreement, marketing materials, recruiter communications, transcripts. These vanish when a school dissolves.

Understand: discharge requires a separate adversary proceeding and an undue hardship showing.
Know the three-part standard: minimal standard of living, persistence, good-faith effort.
For private loans, check whether they are "qualified education loans" — loans exceeding cost of attendance or for ineligible programs may be dischargeable without any hardship showing.
Consult a bankruptcy lawyer who has handled these proceedings.

Private loans:

Identify the statute of limitations in your state.
Do not make a payment on a stale debt without knowing whether it restarts the clock.
Never ignore a summons — a default judgment is the worst outcome.
Demand the promissory note and the complete chain of assignment.
Read the note for a cosigner release provision and apply if eligible.
Ask about hardship programs before delinquency; options shrink after charge-off.

Loans you did not take out:

Request the promissory note; compare signature, address, disbursement records.
File an identity theft report and a police report.
Apply for false certification discharge.
Dispute with all three credit bureaus and the furnisher; request a block of identity-theft information.
Place a fraud alert or security freeze.
File the dispute — do not simply stop paying.

Communicate through the servicer's secure message system — dated record.
Include dates, dollar amounts, the instruction received, and the document that contradicts it.
Escalate in order: servicer → Department ombudsman → Consumer Financial Protection Bureau → state attorney general → consumer lawyer.
Verify every change actually processed, two weeks later.
Instruct in writing that any extra payment be applied to principal, not to advance the due date — then confirm.

Every federal application is free. Never pay for one.
Refuse: upfront or monthly fees; claims of special access; urgency; promises of immediate cancellation.
Never give out your federal student aid credentials.
Never sign a power of attorney or route payments through a third party.
If already enrolled: change your password, confirm your plan and address with the servicer directly, revoke the power of attorney in writing, and complain to the CFPB and your state attorney general.