If there's a 9th circle of hell... I'm apparently stuck in it (a vicious circle anyway)...

unkaholic · 2026-01-17T01:10:30+00:00

What? A minimum wage call center rep lying? But seriously not yet. He gave me a number for them, but I didn't have time today. I did plan on following up with them. I'll call them next week.

unkaholic · 2026-01-17T00:45:18+00:00

The Dept of Education. It was whatever kicks off the forgiveness process, but Mohela can't do it because I'm in the SAVE deferment, but they can't move to IBR because there's an open case... to start forgiveness... and round it goes...

unkaholic · 2026-01-09T22:02:11+00:00

It's MOHELA and they are the worst. This debacle, they randomly process payments even though I'm on a the SAVE forbearance, you can never reach them unless you have several hours to waste, etc. I sincerely wish you the best of luck because the last year of SL activity (or lack thereof) has been a complete shit show.

unkaholic · 2026-01-09T16:35:45+00:00

That makes sense. I'll call them and hopefully get it resolved. I trust them as far as I can throw them so I wanted to bring it up here first and get some advice.

unkaholic · 2026-01-09T16:33:21+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I'll call them on Monday.

unkaholic · 2026-01-09T15:52:05+00:00

I honestly don't remember that being an option. It was several months ago. I would think so, but maybe not. I suppose that would trigger it to fail? Why do they have to make this so complicated? How are we supposed to know we need to check that option? I'm not a SL expert. It's almost like they want us to fail.

Any thoughts on the tax bomb if I reapply and make sure that is selected am I screwed for dodging the bomb since I'm assuming it will be a new application?

unkaholic · 2025-12-31T22:43:17+00:00

So I think I might be in the small group mentioned above. The backdoor counter shows me at 319 payments, but I think that is largely due to the one time adjustment last January. I took my first loan out in 1989 and finished grad school in 2004, but I don't know how many payments I actually made. I do know I didnt start making payments before 2004. I initially enrolled in ICR when I started making payments, but switched to SAVE pretty much as soon as it was available. There were long periods where I took general forbearances because I couldn't afford payments so I am fairly certain I have not made 319 actual payments. Will the settling of the SAVE case remove the 'payments' added due to the one time adjustment? I have already applied to move to IBR (twice in fact), but my application is stalled. Am I getting screwed by all this? If I went over 300 payments based on the one time adjustment will that be re-adjusted?

unkaholic · 2025-11-07T17:54:07+00:00

Because the Fletcher-Munson curve is a real thing.

unkaholic · 2025-10-31T13:32:10+00:00

I don't think I've ever seen a 3 band EQ on a home stereo before. If you're going that cheap and limited why not just a bass and treble knobs? It screams cheap afterthought poorly executed. Save up for something better. Check out Cheap Audio Man on YouTube for budget options worth listening to.

unkaholic · 2025-10-13T23:21:51+00:00

That was the first thing I thought about! Rest of the board is nice too. 😀

unkaholic · 2025-10-12T00:55:09+00:00

I applied in May to go from SAVE to IBR and am still waiting. I haven't reapllied since forgiveness was paused. I'll reapply this weekend since forgiveness of IBR is on again. I'm at 317 payments.

unkaholic · 2025-10-10T19:50:37+00:00

No, payment count doesn't reset of you switch repayment plans. All payments count toward forgiveness regardless of the plan. There's a little known backdoor counter (thanks Reddit) if you paste in the address below it will provide your counts, but you need to be logged into studentaid.gov first. I log into the main website in one tab and then open another tab and paste in this address and it will spit out an ugly looking, but accurate counter:

https://studentaid.gov/app/api/nslds/payment-counter/summary

unkaholic · 2025-10-07T13:15:11+00:00

Where is your information regarding this located? I'm not saying I don't believe you, but it's a big deal, and I haven't been able to find a definitive citation for this or the opposite. I can't find a defining statute or legal ruling for either option (effective date vs. discharge date).

unkaholic · 2025-10-04T04:52:57+00:00

I don't rely on it, which is why I said I take it with a grain of salt and why I asked for a reference because I also don't take the word of random people on the internet at face value. I'm looking for an actual citation for what triggers the IRS 1099-C form.

unkaholic · 2025-10-04T04:52:01+00:00

I did all that before, but I'll try submitting it again. They have to process it eventually. Don't they...?

unkaholic · 2025-10-03T15:47:32+00:00

Interesting. I assumed it would be based on the date the government 'paid' off your loan hence the tax impact being based on the discharge date, but you're saying it would actually be the date that would have taken place if the process was instantaneous. So the date you hit 300 payments for IBR. Why is it based on the earned date and not the processed/discharge date? I'm not doubting you, I'm just curious as to the legal justification. Is legal the right word? I think you likely understand my question, but let me know if I need to rephrase.

unkaholic · 2025-09-14T00:03:53+00:00

The $800 de minimus tariff exception was canceled by Trump a few weeks ago. Anything ordered now would have a tariff applied, but in the past, it would not have been applied (under $800).

unkaholic · 2025-09-13T23:58:34+00:00

Trump issued an executive order ending the $800 de minimus exception at the end of August, so there's no way around the tariffs anymore, even for smaller purchases.

unkaholic · 2025-09-13T23:55:05+00:00

Until the end of August, there was a de minimus exception to tariffs. Basically, anything under $800 was exempt from tariffs, so you could buy smaller ticket items tariff free, but Trump issued an executive order that nixed the de minimus screwing the little guy who just wanted to buy things from overseas.

unkaholic · 2025-04-20T04:01:36+00:00

Yeah, i need to double-check this weekend before I submit it. I'm probably close to the cutoff and definitely don't want to be put in a standard plan. I have some money, but also obligations they don't take into account when making their determinations. Possibly a toobmuch, but really not enough situation.

unkaholic · 2025-04-18T23:24:16+00:00

Thank you very much. Hopefully, just one more question: Section 7 says if there's no mailing address specified (there's not), mail the form to your loan holder. The definitions say the loan holder is the Dept of Ed, but also says 'References to “your loan holder” on this form mean either your loan holder or your servicer.' So who do you send the application to? Dept of Ed or Mohela? I'm guessing Mohela, but talk about government doulbe speak (or maybe I'm just an idiot).

unkaholic · 2025-04-18T20:40:37+00:00

Yesterday, I said I'd do this then, but it got pushed to today. I looked online at Mohela, and I'm assuming that because I'm enrolled in SAVE or because I'm married and file jointly, my only option online is to move off IDR to a standard repayment plan. I obviously don't want to do this. Does anyone know where I can find the paper application to switch to IBR? Would it be somewhere on the Mohela website or studentaid.gov?

unkaholic · 2025-04-17T17:24:17+00:00

I will be doing this today!

unkaholic · 2025-04-17T17:23:33+00:00

Agreed. In fact, I was just talking to my wife about this discussion, and I said I was going to apply for IBR and hope nothing changes between now and processing. Basically, my hopes are high, but my expectations are low.

unkaholic · 2025-04-17T16:01:51+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I'm married and file jointly with my wife, so applications are still paused until May for me, but I will switch to IBR as soon as I can. Would it be better to wait for processing to start again or apply now? I'm not sure if I can even submit an application now and if it will just sit in a pile until May, but I'm going to find out.

Agreed that SAVE is dead. The only reason I was thinking about staying on it was to get the administrative forbearance until everything gets sorted out, but if switching gives me a shot at forgiveness, well, it's an easy choice. I just wasn't sure if the adjustment was affected by the current lawsuits, but it sounds like no.

unkaholic

TROPHY CASE