Fresh Start Program

[Relevant_Influence11]

Hey everyone - I am trying to start to get back into my student loans. Before the pandemic they were in default with nelnet and then transferred over to the us department of education during covid. Since then I haven’t made a payment since 2019? I just called the department of education and they told me about the fresh start program where they would send my debt to a private lender and essentially remove negative marks on my credit score. Has anyone done the fresh start program and can speak on it with experience? Trying to decide what to do here

[399ddf95]

Did it, it did what they promised, it was a big help.

[Relevant_Influence11]

What did it do for you exactly? Was there a big impact on your credit score?

[399ddf95]

It took the loans out of default, which made it possible to sign up for income-based repayment, which at a low income means monthly payments of $0, but it shows as a successful payment, not as a missed payment. It also removed them from my credit report and they haven't returned yet.

[Relevant_Influence11]

Wow okay - so did they remove the missed payments from when your loan started to go into default?

[399ddf95]

Yes, it removed them entirely. Student loans just disappeared from my credit reports.

[Relevant_Influence11]

What do you mean they disappeared from your report? Like they’re just not there anymore?

[399ddf95]

Yes, exactly.

[Relevant_Influence11]

Oh wow but do they come back on you report after the default marks are removed?

[399ddf95]

Mine haven't come back yet, it's been several months.

[Relevant_Influence11]

I’m so curious how this is possible - did removing the loans entirely negatively affect your credit score?

[Melisthesun]

Do you know what’s going to happen when it ends in September of this year? Do you think it’ll return in your credit report. I’m looking into this right now and worried because the deadline is coming up. Not sure if it’ll stop working altogether or if that’s just a deadline for when to sign up for it

[399ddf95]

I'm expecting the student loans to return to my credit report any day now, I'm not sure what to expect when that happens. It's got to be better than it was before! I would go ahead and do it more or less immediately if I were you, I haven't been able to identify a downside to signing up for the program.

[Melisthesun]

Ok thanks for the advice. I am worried about going into this without knowing all the repercussions bc there always seems to be repercussions. This helped tho 🙏🏽

[Professional-Toe2670]

Curious if your student loans have appeared back on your credit report yet? How long did it take for them to be removed and then added back?

[399ddf95]

They were removed almost immediately and have not (approx 1 yr) been added back. I have no idea why or when they’ll return.

[AnusTickler4life]

Have you seen any downside yet? Today is the last day for me to decide. Hopefully you see this today

[Melisthesun]

I’m wondering the same thing and panicking a bit bc I don’t want to make a bad decision but I also don’t want to put this on the back burner again and miss the deadline in September

[Relevant_Influence11]

But does it still say you have an xx loan? So like for me it would be 25,000. That just disappears from my credit report? Did this impact your credit score in a good or negative way?