No grace period

[ovarydoc]

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Somehow some of my consolidated loans have no grace period and go into repayment a few days after I graduate medical school this May. The rest of my other loans have the typical 6-month grace period. Can I request economic hardship before I start residency or do I have to wait until July? It looks like from the forms, you have to demonstrate your pay stub and have someone from your residency program fill out forms verifying your status as a resident to apply. Correct me if I am wrong. So then, am I stuck paying my loans for a few months? Can I apply for forebearance in the mean time or would applying for forebearance elminate my opportunity to claim economic hardship?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I believe that you can go into forbearance before the deferment is granted. Theoretically your right to deferment is based solely on the numbers (your loan amounts and your income), so being in forbearance before deferment shouldn't have any effect.

 

[chris03333]

Somehow some of my consolidated loans have no grace period and go into repayment a few days after I graduate medical school this May. The rest of my other loans have the typical 6-month grace period. Can I request economic hardship before I start residency or do I have to wait until July? It looks like from the forms, you have to demonstrate your pay stub and have someone from your residency program fill out forms verifying your status as a resident to apply. Correct me if I am wrong. So then, am I stuck paying my loans for a few months? Can I apply for forebearance in the mean time or would applying for forebearance elminate my opportunity to claim economic hardship?

You can apply for economic hardship under the box that says unemployed if you turn in your paperwork before you start residency

 

[Doctor Bagel]

You can apply for economic hardship under the box that says unemployed if you turn in your paperwork before you start residency

Did you do that? It seems sort of misleading because you really don't have a period of unemployment prior to starting residency. Also, don't you have to register at your local unemployment office and note jobs you've applied to? That's how it was a few years ago when I thought I might need to request an unemployment deferment.

 

[Leforte]

You are correct, consolidated loans have no grace period. Repayment begins as soon as you graduate unless you can defer.

Remember to include the other payments for the non-consolidated loans in your worksheet, else you may not qualify for the economic hardship deferral (depending on the amount you owe).

I am not sure if you can claim no income and unemployed - I would guess that it would depend on when your first st. loan is due and when you start residency.

 

[chris03333]

Did you do that? It seems sort of misleading because you really don't have a period of unemployment prior to starting residency. Also, don't you have to register at your local unemployment office and note jobs you've applied to? That's how it was a few years ago when I thought I might need to request an unemployment deferment.

I did not have, to but if you graduate in may and your residency doesn't start until July (now I am a vet not MD/DO so I do not know if this happens in the situation of PG med years) you are basically unemployed (no income source for 3 months) this qualifies you for economic hardship for those three months. Once you start residency and thus have a salary then you have to apply for the income: debt.