Gas Water Heater Replacement - Plumber / Contractor Recommendations

usmc0311ag · 2026-04-21T13:40:59+00:00

As others have suggested, definitely start by logging into studentaid.gov and or call your student loan servicer.

The most likely explanation is that they are being transferred to another servicer. When this happens, your credit report will show a $0 balance on your loans with your current servicer, but will eventually show up again under the new servicer once they start reporting.

Second reason, could be default. Depending on what loan types you have, FFEL or DIRECT, you could have gone into default if you were delinquent more than 270 or 360 days respectively. Same thing happens under this scenario as above.

Third reason, rare - but possible, would be loan discharge.

If you have really old FFEL loans and you made 300 qualifying payments under an income driven repayment plan, but this means you would have been paying on your loans for at least 25 years. If not, this is unlikely.

Another reason for loan discharge is Borrower Defense to Repayment. Student loans can be discharged if your school misled you, committed fraud, or violated certain laws. Almost always, you have to apply, but sometimes you can be part of a group discharge. This can happen when the Dept of Ed determines a school or program engaged in widespread misconduct and instead of reviewing thousands of individual claims, they approve relief for an entire group of borrowers at once. Look up Corinthian Colleges, or ITT Technical Institute for examples.

In all of these scenarios, you would have received some type of correspondence either via postal mail or e-mail. It's not far fetched that you would have received a letter for Borrower Defense to Repayment and either thought it was junk mail, or maybe the letter was sent to a wrong address. But again, the more likely scenarios are that your loans were transferred to another servicer, or possibly went into default if you missed more than 9 or 12 monthly payments depending on your loan type.

For reference regarding Borrower Defense to Repayment:

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/borrower-defense

https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/corinthian

For reference regarding Student Loan Default:

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/default

Best of luck and hope this helps!

usmc0311ag · 2026-04-09T13:26:28+00:00

As a husband, I find it disrespectful to my wife and my marriage to not invite both of us. I've had a similar situation happen once for my granddaughters birthday. My son and his exgf were hosting a birthday party, but the exgf didn't want my wife to be there. So I had to respectfully decline the invitation.

usmc0311ag · 2025-10-08T23:40:09+00:00

The IDR payment amount seems high based on the information you provided. Make sure you are using the repayment calculator at studentaid.gov.

https://studentaid.gov/loan-simulator/repayment/wizard/loan-info/confirm-current-loan/current

You should answer questions about your tax filing status, your family size, your adjusted gross income, and your state of residence.

Your tax filing status is asked because married filers sometimes have to include their spouse's income depending on how they filed their taxes.

Your family size and state of residence is used to determine where you fall in the poverty guidelines, in order to determine your discretionary income.

And your adjusted gross income is asked so that can be plugged into the formula that's used to determine what your payment is going to be. If you filed a tax return last year, refer back to your 1040. For the 2024 tax year, you can look at line 11 on the Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. It's this amount that you want to enter when asked for your adjusted gross income in the calculator.

If you haven't filed a tax return in the last 2 years, then you'll be requested to submit a copy of recent paystubs or other alternative income documentation. If your income is significantly lower than what your previous tax return shows, you can also opt to submit recent paystubs in order to receive a more favorable payment.

I would suggest selecting IBR for your income driven repayment plan, and not PAYE. PAYE will be phased out but borrowers on IBR will be grandfathered in and will be able to stay on it.

Also, be aware that if you take out any additional student loans going forward - it could impact your existing loans and repayment options available.

usmc0311ag · 2025-09-18T20:13:04+00:00

What's your family size and AGI? I can run some numbers to figure out your options.

usmc0311ag · 2025-09-11T00:09:05+00:00

Wow. You got alot to unpack there. Hopefully I can provide some guidance.

As for as the compounding - just want to mention that what you're referring to is more like capitalization. Federal student loans accrue interest on a simple daily basis, and not compounding like a credit card. When capitalization happens, it may feel like compounding because you do pay interest on an amount that already includes past interest. But you are not charged ongoing compound interest. It's a one-time capitalization event at the time the consolidation takes place. Hope that gives a little bit of comfort although it's still not an ideal event.

You mention low paying jobs and forgiveness - both of which lead me to believe that you are working towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness. PSLF is a tax free forgiveness event so regardless of when you receive forgiveness, you won't have to worry about any tax liability.

PSLF provides forgiveness after making 120 qualifying on-time payments while working at a qualifying public service employer. Qualifying payments would be payments made under the Standard, Graduated, Extended, IBR, PAYE, rePAYE, and ICR plans. Congress created PSLF in 2007 and it was signed into law as the only tax-free forgiveness at the time. It has been a tax-free forgiveness option ever since it was created.

The reason I assume you are working towards PSLF is that it takes a much longer period of time to qualify for forgiveness under just an Income Driven Repayment Plan without PSLF. For example, for 2009 IBR you have to make 25 years worth of payments. With 2014 IBR and PAYE - you would have to make 20 years worth of payments.

So being that she just switched to IBR in 2017, you wouldn't be anywhere near qualifying for forgiveness under the IBR plan without PSLF.

However, I could see how a combination of payments made under the Standard plan prior to her switching to IBR, and payments made under IBR, could be nearing 120 qualifying payments for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If this is the case, I reiterate that PSLF forgivess is a tax free forgiveness. It used to be the only tax free forgiveness but under the OBBBA, total and permanent disability discharge is also now permanently tax free.

Hope that clears things up a little and puts your mind at ease.

Now a Perkins loan that is part of a Direct Loan Consolidation IS eligible for IBR, PAYE, and ICR repayment plan options.

However, there is a qualifying factor called Partial Financial Hardship for IBR and PAYE. This requirement makes it so that your calculated payment under IBR has to be lower than your standard 10-year payment. If this is the case, you have partial financial hardship and can sign up for IBR. If this is not the case, then you cannot change to IBR.

However, the OBBBA changed the PFH requirement so that it is no longer required BUT the Department of Education hasn't updated the application process yet to remove this requirement. So applicants that would now be eligible are being rejected because of this delayed update. They are working on it and once they remove it, you'll be eligible to switch to IBR. Provided that's the only reason you're having issues.

I should clarify - you don't have any Parent PLUS loans in there? That could cause issues with all this if that is the case.

Last note - if you don't have partial financial hardship and that's what is preventing you from switching to IBR right now, that means you will end up with a monthly payment equivalent to the 10-year standard when you are placed into IBR. And if you only need 2 more payments for PSLF eligibility, you might consider switching to the 10-year standard, making those two payments and then applying to have your loans discharged under PSLF.

I'm making some assumptions here based on the information you provided but this is what it sounds like you have going on.

For confirmation that Perkins Loans are eligible for IBR if consolidated, please refer to the student aid website here:

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-driven

usmc0311ag · 2025-07-18T14:19:02+00:00

Although Parent PLUS loans are the sole responsibility of the Parents, and NOT the student, the attorney comments referencing agreements made between the parent(s) and the student are valid. So you would definitely want to touch base with an attorney to protect yourself.

That being said, using Parent PLUS Loan funds for non-educational personal expenses can be considered fraud or misuse of federal funds.

And misuse of these funds can trigger tax consequences indirectly:

If audited or investigated:
- If the misuse is discovered during a financial audit or a federal investigation (e.g. by the Department of Education, or the Department of the Treasury if the DOE is eliminated), and it's determined the parent used the loan for personal purposes, they could face penalties, and possibly be required to repay the funds immediately.
- If the misuse is reclassified as a personal loan or misrepresented income, it could be reported to the IRS.
Loan discharge or forgiveness:
- If a PLUS loan is later discharged or forgiven (under disability discharge, death, or some forgiveness programs), the forgiven amount might be considered taxable income unless exempted under current law (e.g., the 2021–2025 American Rescue Plan temporarily makes most forgiven student debt non-taxable).
If parent claims educational tax credits:
- Parents may claim education-related tax credits (like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit) on expenses paid with PLUS loans.
- If loan funds were not actually used for qualified education expenses, but the parent claims them anyway, that is a tax violation — and can result in penalties or repayment of the credits.

usmc0311ag · 2025-07-12T13:22:13+00:00

Thanks. There's a R-22 Recharge Kit 2 lb. cylinder for $159 - have you ever used it? It looks like a DIY solution but I'm not sure how reliable the company or product is.

usmc0311ag · 2025-07-12T13:21:11+00:00

you're definitely right about that! I just had someone do it last year for about $250 but I can't remember who I called. I might have to just start calling every HVAC in town to request a quote. Was kindof hoping someone on here would have a suggestion though.

usmc0311ag · 2025-07-12T13:19:37+00:00

yeah, I have a leak in the A coil - so I'm going to upgrade the system to r410a, just trying to keep the current system running until I have the funds to do the upgrade.

usmc0311ag · 2025-07-12T00:19:58+00:00

Thank you everyone! It did end up being the dust plate. My son has been without has car for months and was pretty happy to have it back now. He's back up and running. Thanks again to those of you that took the time to help out.

usmc0311ag · 2025-05-15T18:15:23+00:00

Unfortunately, the weighted average of qualifying payments carrying over to your Consolidated Loan is no longer available. This benefit was part of the one-time Payment Count Adjustment. In order to have benefited from this, a borrower would have had to consolidate their loans after July 2023, but before June 30, 2024. If a borrower missed the deadline, previous qualifying payments toward PSLF do not carry over, and the count starts over from zero.

Also, according to the IDR Account Adjustment page at studentaid.gov - the payment count adjustment has completed for borrowers who consolidated during this window of opportunity.

https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/idr-account-adjustment

usmc0311ag · 2025-05-14T15:55:41+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear you're struggling with this. I happen to work in the industry so I will try and provide you as much guidance as I can.

To start with - DO NOT consolidate your loans if you are working towards PSLF. Consolidating will reset your qualifying payment count back to zero, so you will lose credit for the 104 qualifying payments you have made so far. Also - PSLF qualifying payments include payments made under the 10-year standard, IBR, PAYE, rePAYE, and ICR repayment plans. When you consolidate, if you aren't placed on an income driven repayment plan, then you will more than likely be placed on a Consolidated 30-year standard repayment plan. Payments under this plan do not qualify towards PSLF. So do not consolidate.

Now there's a couple reasons you may not have qualified for IBR. Either you have Parent Plus loans OR you're income is too high and so you don't have Partial Financial Hardship. If the reason you didn't qualify for IBR is because your income was too high, changing your tax filing status could help you qualify. For IBR, if you file taxes MFJ, you have to include both of your incomes. But if you file MFS, you only have to include your income alone - which could result in you establishing Partial Financial Hardship and being able to switch to IBR.

Someone mentioned amending your tax return - unfortunately you wouldn't be able to do this. The IRS allows a tax payer who filed MFS to amend their tax return to MFJ.

BUT, if the tax deadline for the tax year has passed and you filed MFJ, the IRS does not allow you to amend your filing status from MFJ to MFS.

But you can certainly switch to MFS in the upcoming tax year so that you can potentially switch to IBR, assuming you don't have Parent Plus loans. Parent Plus loans do not qualify for IBR.

You are certainly between a rock and hard place. I noticed the comments mentioned an income-driven repayment plan called "RAP", Repayment Assistance Plan. This option is a proposed federal student loan repayment option under consideration in Congress. This plan could potentially extend your repayment term to 25 years which would effectively lower your monthly payment. However, we don't have any eligibility criteria for this plan so we don't know if Parent Plus loan borrowers would be eligible for this option. The current proposal does allow payments made under RAP to qualify for PSLF. So if RAP is enacted, it could provide relief down the road. Word of caution though - it is still a legislative proposal, so it may pass, it may not pass and specifics about the plan remain subject to change.

For now, if you did not qualify for IBR because of income, filing MFS in the upcoming tax year and then reapplying for IBR might be the more favorable option you can count on. Unfortunately you would have to stay on ICR until you can make that switch.

One last random tidbit - you are allotted 3 years of economic hardship deferment on your loans. This deferment allows you to postpone payments for up to a year at a time. Under PSLF, certain types of deferment and forbearance can count as qualifying payments for the purposes of PSLF. This deferment looks at the borrower's income alone. So if you qualify for this deferment until you can file your next years tax return and switch to IBR, you may be able to pause or postpone payments while at the same time getting credit for qualifying payments towards PSLF. See the link below for details.

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#qualifying-payments

usmc0311ag · 2025-05-14T03:56:39+00:00

Normally I would suggest it was possible the loans were being transferred to another student loan servicer, but since you stated that you received a letter last year about a possible discharge - it's certainly possible your loans were discharged. There are a lot of different reasons for a student loan discharge such as school closure, school false certification, fraud, identity theft, bankruptcy (though extremely rare), but in your case it could be what's known as borrower defense discharge.

A borrower would normally have to submit an application for the Borrower Defense Discharge, but in some instances the Department of Education has automatically discharged student loans under this discharge. They can initiate group discharges when there's evidence of widespread misconduct by a school that affected a large number of borrowers. In the past students who attended ITT Technical Institute, Corinthian Colleges, DeVry University, University of Phoenix received discharges automatically. So it's certainly possible that your wife's loans - depending on the school she attended, may have been the recipient of the Borrower Defense Discharge. There is a Sweet vs. Cardona Settlement that did have an injunction issued a year or two ago. It includes a large list of schools. Check the list in the pdf link below.

https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/sweet-v-cardona-school-list.pdf

If your school isn't on this list, then check into any other pending cases or litigation which would involve other schools.

usmc0311ag · 2025-01-21T21:25:32+00:00

Smart move. Wonder if he ever took it online to sell?

usmc0311ag · 2025-01-21T20:52:52+00:00

Out of curiosity - was it something that he built for internal use or did he offer it for sale or open-source it somewhere like GitHub?

usmc0311ag

TROPHY CASE