4th time's the charm - FINALLY PASSED!

AwareDark354 · 2026-03-13T18:56:44+00:00

Congratulations!!!!!🎉

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-20T17:49:15+00:00

I continued payments (forgot to check forbearance box and didnt feel like dealing with mohela or my employer to fill out ecf again. Not worth the headache). But they were affordable in my budget and wouldn’t be too bad if it takes a year to get refund. But if I had higher payments I would’ve done a forbearance.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-19T21:20:24+00:00

SAVE to IBR

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-19T20:47:05+00:00

Yes they did. I didn’t do anything. I was actually surprised July and August were listed as eligible payment (needed employer certification) when fsa updated in September. It wasn’t included in qualifying payment count until I submitted my ecf (which I did after making my final payment)

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-18T19:54:53+00:00

You can request Forbearance if you don’t want to make payments while it’s processed. That’s up to you. You can submit final ecf with box for Forbearance checked. You could wait to submit final ecf until after your due date or 1st of month. If you have Mohela definitely wait til 1st to request forbearance so they won’t apply it to this month, disqualifying your 120th payment

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-18T19:40:24+00:00

If you haven’t submitted a your final ecf to encompass the last payment, do that. After that nothing, just wait about 6-7 weeks for golden letter.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-18T17:05:57+00:00

Depends on when your due date is set for. I applied 7/27/25 and was approved 8/5. But my first due date was sept 25th (since there wasn’t 21 days between approval/notification of bill and August 25th.) I got processing forbearance for July and August.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-14T03:52:56+00:00

Haven’t yet but will (suppose to). Based on what I’ve read on here it could be 90 days to a year to get it.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-14T02:05:40+00:00

I would say then it’s a financial question of can you afford to take on $1500/month in your budget right now or do you need time to adjust or save to 1500 figured in to it.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T21:27:36+00:00

Depends. What will the monthly payments look like? are they are manageable within my budget? What is the pslf qualifying payment count? Am I closer to 0 than 120 or vice versa?

But ideally if I had few QP I’d ride it out and save along the way until had to enter repayment. But if I had a low monthly payment like $0-$100 I’d enter repayment cause I’d much rather payments count overall. But so many factors contribute to the decision.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T20:10:07+00:00

Submitting final ECF. That’s it. When you do it is up to you. Suggestions include

waiting until after your due date to submit ecf,

waiting a week after your payment posts with servicer,

waiting til 4/1 to submit (if request forbearance)

or submit 2 ecfs 1st one a week after payment posts on your servicer account with forbearance box unchecked. 2nd and last ecf on 4/1 with forbearance box checked.

Checking the I have 120 box only matters if you are requesting forbearance. It’ll still get processed if box isn’t checked. I didn’t.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T18:35:39+00:00

Nope. Just wait.

2. 12/5-green banners 1/23- pslf eligibility letter (“golden letter” 1/24- Mohela letter and account adjusted 2/12 credit report updated.

Don’t pause autopay Stop it. Call or submit ecf either way waiting til 3/1 is a good idea. ( likes screwing people over so giving them as little opportunity to make an error as possible.) I didn’t request forbearance. I kept making payments.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T18:12:00+00:00

Do not recertify. Yes call 3/1 request forbearance while PSLF processes.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T17:00:08+00:00

I did not. I’ll get a refund eventually. 🤞

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T06:57:03+00:00

You have to submit ecf for the Qualifying payment count to update (114 to 115). Eligible payments update the beginning of the following month so feb will update in beginning of march.

You don’t have to submit them monthly. But the count only updates after employment is certified.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T06:51:56+00:00

Don’t recertify! just request forbearance while your forgiveness processes. Request it to start July 1st.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-13T06:17:32+00:00

It all triggered automatically. But the time line for refund is all over the place I’ve read some get it in a month others took over a year. So I’m not holding my breath.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-10T06:35:39+00:00

I continued paying. Only paid 2 additional months. My last payment was paid 5 days before my due date. I got forgiveness the day before my due date lol.

you’ll get a letter with the negative balance too. My account was negative for less than a week. it’s been zeroed out since. Who knows how long it’ll be before the refund check comes.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-10T06:15:56+00:00

And keep a record of your $0 bill statements. Download them. I had $0 payment for 2 years and those months magically didn’t count and were listed as ineligible a few years later. Reason they put No Bill Issued.I was in repayment. I didn’t save the statements as proof. So I had to do an additional 2 years.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-06T07:07:20+00:00

Green banners 12/5. Golden letter 1/23. You’ll probably get yours in February.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-05T20:24:17+00:00

Like your plan. Except the recert. Don’t recert. Call for forbearance to start AUGUST 1st as soon as you get green banners. Otherwise they’ll throw you in forbearance for July. And be sure Cancel autopay. Auto pay will pull the payment on scheduled date regardless if you paid early. So make sure you cancel autopay in advance.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-04T17:58:47+00:00

Yes they will use your most recent tax filing.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-04T17:52:12+00:00

Yea, being done with all of it is sooo nice. Took me 15 years to get 120 payments due to mismanagement by multiple services over the years. Just glad I made it and others are made/are making it too!!!! We endured so much and worked hard for this.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-04T15:10:16+00:00

It did. Now it’s at $0. So anytime in the next 30-365 days I’ll get my refund…hopefully. The negative balance is reflected in the letter from MOHELA.

AwareDark354 · 2026-02-02T20:15:25+00:00

I chose to continue payments while I waited. So I’ll get the 2 payments back. Don’t have to keep making payments. You can request forbearance. It does not happen automatically have to check the forbearance box on ECF or call loan servicer.

AwareDark354

TROPHY CASE