Originally posted on 10/22/2019 (reformatted).

 Earlier this year, young and new lawyers of the American Bar Association (ABA) convened in Washington, D.C. for an excellent conference for legal nerds, with visits to the Capitol and the Supreme Court. Beyond the inspirational talks given by politicians and public servants, I learned about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. I work for a nonprofit and have law school debt, and am hoping to be able to take advantage of PSLF. Over the last 3 years of working in public service, I have had a rocky relationship with my loan servicer, MyFedLoan. 

    Here is the advice given by the Governmental Affairs Office and Legislative Counsel of the ABA on making sure you can qualify for PSLF. Make sure you have a direct loan, if you attended law school prior to 2009 (or around that time), your federal loans may not be a direct loan. Make sure you are in an income-based repayment plan. Before you accept a job at a nonprofit, make sure the nonprofit would qualify for PSLF. Submit at least 1 Employment Certification Form per year. I try to submit a form every six months, or sooner if I have switch jobs. Make exact you pay only what the loan servicer asks you to pay each month and make the payment on time. You may be tempted to pay more than you owe, but this will backfire on you because it will put you in what is known as ‘paid ahead status.’ For example, if your payment monthly payment is $100 and you receive a cash gift and one month you pay $200 to your Federal Loans, you will be paid ahead for one month. If you keep paying $100 per month with an ACH payment, you will always be ahead. And each month that you are paid ahead, that month will not count towards your 120 payments towards loan forgiveness. 

    There is some hope for those who are at the end of their 120 payments and worked for a qualifying nonprofit, apply for loan forgives and were denied. Those individuals could take advantage of the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This program may apply to you if you applied for loan forgiveness and were denied because you were not paying under a qualifying repayment plan. Additionally, the ABA won an important judgment in favor of 3 public service borrowers who received many years of approval as a qualifying nonprofit working for the ABA in a capacity similar to a civil legal aid attorney, but were later denied. In ABA et al. v U.S. Department of Education et al., the judge ruled that the department changed its definition of public service in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it denied the applications. I hope that public service loan forgiveness continues and expands or makes it easier for borrowers, but there is reason to be concerned about this program. So contact your local official and tell them your horror story with the program and encourage them to simplify and expand the program.

– Amy Krieg, Attorney and Compliance Officer, Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley